Hungary to run luxury trains to Tehran

With ticket prices of between 10,000 and 23,000 euros, guests will receive “five-star” treatment.

“Iran has been opening up towards the west recently, so we thought the time was right to set this up,” Marcella Beke, sales director of the “Nostalgia” branch of the Hungarian state-owned rail operator told AFP Monday.

The first “Golden Eagle-Danube Express” train, which comprises 13 lavishly-decorated wood-panelled 1950s carriages and berths for about 70 guests, will set off from Budapest on October 15.

The two-week trip will cross Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey, and take passengers through the ancient Iranian cities of Shiraz and Persepolis before reaching the capital Tehran.

All the berths on the maiden journey have already been snapped up, mostly by British and Australian passengers; another 5 trips are scheduled for 2015.

The last Orient Express ran in 2009, with the luxury Venice Simplon-Orient Express continuing to run services between London and Venice.