17 April 2023 , 14:53
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The UK leg of the most famous train in the world is about to be scrapped thanks to Brexit.
The Orient Express has a reputation that exceeds all other trains – thanks in no small part thanks to the Agatha Christie murder mystery set on a journey on it in the 1930’s.
Its gilded walls, classic bunker rooms and Art Deco glamour captured the minds of millions of people desperate to spend a journey basking in its splendour – and plenty of Brits dream of travelling on the stunning train.
Unfortunately for British rail and luxury enthusiasts, that is about to get that much harder.
The company behind the Orient Express train service has scrapped the UK leg of the journey because of Channel crossing delays caused by Brexit.
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The train is arguably the most famous in the world (NurPhoto via Getty Images)It has dropped the London-to-Folkestone leg of the route because it has become too difficult to cross the Channel, reports The Guardian.
The journey had seen passengers travel in Art Deco carriages from London Victoria to the Channel, boarding coaches to cross to France then joining Belmond trains in Calais to continue the journey across Europe.
New post-Brexit rules mean everyone has to get off a coach and have their passport checked before crossing the Channel.
This Easter saw coaches delayed at Dover for up to 14 hours thanks to new post-Brexit security checks, and there are fears those delays will get worse.
The chance of the journey being disrupted is not one Belmond is willing to take, given that a compartment in one of the vintage 1929 cars costs from £3,530 to £10,100 per person.
A Belmond spokesperson said: “We want to avoid any risk of travel disruption for our guests – delays and missing train connections – and provide the highest level of service, as seamless and relaxed as possible.”
Leaving the EU has made travel to the Continent that much harder for Brits.
Traffic queues form at the Port of Dover at Easter (Stuart Brock/LNP)Holidaymakers wanting to visit Europe from the UK will also soon need to submit pre-travel authorisation forms and undergo biometric tests, potentially further adding to the delays.
Passport holders were recently given a nine month warning about a new European Union wide set of policies that are poised to come into force.
From November tourists returning from Europe will no longer have their travel documents stamped, as British passport holders have had to since the UK left the EU.
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The new process - which is designed to measure and control how long people from third countries, such as the UK, are allowed to stay in the Schengen Zone - is a move towards check-point digitisation, and has been dubbed Entry/Exit System (EES).
It includes the installation of passport-reading machines at external points of the Schengen Area that will replace manual passport stamping.
Travellers will need to scan their passports or other travel documents at an automated self-service kiosk prior to crossing the border.
European Commission’s department for Migration and Home Affairs said: "EES will replace the current system of manual stamping of passports, which is time consuming, does not provide reliable data on border crossings and does not allow a systematic detection of overstayers."
The system will log the following information for every traveller:
- Facial image
- Surname or family name
- First name or given names
- Date and place of birth
- Nationality or nationalities
- Gender
- Passport number, date and country of issuance as well as the expiry date
- Valid ETIAS or Schengen visa along with its duration and/or validity
- Travel information including the visitor’s points and dates of entries and exits, as well as overstays within the Schengen Zone
- Fingerprints
The 27 Schengen countries include Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.
It was originally due to launch in 2022, but was delayed until May 2023 and again until November.