All language subtitles for Ch4 The Worlds Most Famous Train 1080p.eng

Ladies and gentlemen, good morning.

On behalf of the crew,
welcome on board.

The Venice-Simplon Orient Express is
marketed

as the world's
most luxurious rail journeys.

I'm obsessed with the Titanic,

and this is the closest thing to
like that sort of...yeah, luxury.

With 18 carriages from the 1920s

and its very own champagne bar...

the train is a historic hotel
on wheels.

It's amazing.

In today's world it is very
easy to do fake luxury.

It's very difficult to do
real luxury.

The most popular route is from
London to Venice.

Across a nine-month season,
the train travels through some

of Europe's most spectacular
scenery.

Have to keep pinching myself.
It's...it's like a dream come true.

I can't believe I'm here.

From alpine lakes to steep
mountain passes.

Loving the champagne...on the most
romantic train in the world.

But in an age of budget airlines
and high-speed travel,

who are the passengers that spend
thousands

to board this unique train?

Put it this way,
unless I win the Lottery,

I don't think we'll be
doing it again soon.

With only bunk beds to sleep in...

We've booked the brothel car,
we're made up about that!

..and no Wi-Fi or ensuite toilets.

It needs some showers.

Tomorrow morning I'll be
getting a bit fruity.

And what are the challenges
for the staff

trying to provide
the height of luxury

on a train travelling at 100mph?

Go, go, go, go!

Like Mission: Impossible
on the train.

8am in London's Victoria Station,

and whilst most travellers

rush to work,

for those who are
willing to pay over £2,000

for a one-way ticket to Venice,

a very different trip awaits.

We actually got engaged 30 years
ago next weekend.

And we're on the same carriage
this time, as well.

So what was the name of it?
Perseus.

Perseus.

This trip is on my bucket list,

and pretty soon I'll be able to
check it off.

This is very much a romantic weekend
for us, my wife and I.

The only fly in the ointment,
though, is it's a bunk bed, so I

think there are certain limitations

on how romantic this is going
to get.

For these passengers, the first leg
of their extraordinary journey

is on a connecting train known as
the Belmond British Pullman.

It will transport them to
Folkestone,

where they will cross
the Channel

to Calais and join the
Venice-Simplon Orient Express,

which will take them the 1,100 miles

and 36-hour trip to Venice.

It's going to be my first time, yes,
but not for David, though,

David's been once before.

I did come ten years ago
with my previous wife.

But thought I would bring my new
wife along on this special journey.

THEY LAUGH

The Venice-Simplon Orient Express
harks back to the 1920s and '30s.

A golden age of rail travel

when luxurious trains offered
the height of sophistication

to an exclusive passenger list.

But by the 1960s, cheaper air travel
had made these trains obsolete

and many of the old carriages had
been consigned to the scrapyard.

However, in 1982, after an £11
million restoration project,

a recreation of the famous trains of
the 1920s was born.

Built from 18 historic carriages,
including some

from the original Orient Express
service.

Today, the London to Venice route

is part of a multi-million pound
business

that has attracted some of
history's most iconic figures.

We had Nelson Mandela. We put
Nelson Mandela in this carriage.

He was actually sitting number 18,
just at the top corner there.

This was the Queen Mother's
favourite carriage.

She didn't really like the sound
of chinking ice in her glass

when she had a gin and tonic.

So we used to make round ice cubes,
they didn't chink so much.

Many of the onboard staff have put
in years of service.

Would you mind working for me, just
to put the table up, if you please?

We are selling joy here,

we are selling happiness,
so I mean, if I come on a...

on a bad mood with a, you know,

bad facial expression, I guess

I can't really help the happiness
in my carriage - definitely not.

I'm in costume all day,
I'm on stage.

I'm just doing my show.

Every passenger is different
and as soon as you walk up to them

and present yourself, you have to
synchronise...

You have to immediately, in those
few minutes, you have to understand

their emotion and try to synchronise
your emotion with theirs,

so you can actually treat them
the way they want to be treated.

But trying to provide five-star
service

on a train travelling at 100mph

takes a bit of practice.

I find if we focus too
much on standing upright

you fall over or you forget.

My tip to passengers is usually
just walk a bit like a duck.

You sort of have to
spread your feet apart

and not to focus on it too much.

So I say think like a duck and sort
of waddle from side to side.

The train has been running for
33 years.

But this season, its fortunes
are in new hands.

Pascal Deyrolle first stepped on
board over two decades ago.

It started 23 years ago.
I got a job as a cabin steward.

I was really scared. I didn't know
how to do a gin and tonic.

I knew nothing about hospitality,
so I was scared.

Now he's back as the new general
manager

with grand plans to
develop the business.

You have millions of general
managers in hotels,

you only have one general manager
of the train.

Every month, Venice-based Pascal
joins the train to meet with staff

and make a thorough inspection
of the carriages.

Need to redo the brass.

When you start looking, you start
seeing little things.

A former sergeant in the Air Force,
he prides himself

on his meticulous eye for detail.

See, they're going to look at these
tomorrow.

It's a military atmosphere.
We all live in very confined space.

So it can get a little bit tense.

The seasoned staff know there's no
slacking when Pascal is around.

The management is, you know, is
always on us because they want good

for the customer, but, well,
we are working well to get there.

I am looking to see if the logo
on the bottom sheet is...

facing upwards and not inside out.

It's just the way
it should be done.

That's it.

And a little bit of pride.

OK, so we're going to the champagne
bar right now.

Pascal's biggest change so far
has been to restore

an original champagne bar
as a new source of revenue.

I'm Pascal. I'm the general manager.
Calvin.

Very nice to meet you.
Neely, pleased to meet you.

Despite costing up to
£288 a bottle,

every season around 1,700
are consumed.

Following the Great Gatsby movie
that I had seen,

I wanted to recreate the scene
of the 1920s, 1930s era

when you have big parties,
everybody is dressed up.

People have the headbands,
the feathers, charleston dresses,

and you could only do it with
champagne.

The train is made up of a collection
of unique carriages,

including two from the historic
Orient Express service -

featured in the film
of Agatha Christie's

Murder On The Orient Express.

At two o'clock...

..the murder was afoot.

The original service became
synonymous with the romance

of the 1920s and '30s,

transporting
the rich and royal across Europe.

Today's train is sold as
the train of love.

We're on our honeymoon, so it's...
very special.

And despite a healthy price tag,
having to share a toilet

along the corridor and no showers...

This is the bathroom and sink area,
which is here, which is really nice.

It's adequate.

..couples find good reason to
celebrate.

Beautiful number.
Can't wait to wear it.

Lovely. Can't wait to see it.
SHE LAUGHS

We sat down, obviously,
before the wedding and thought

where shall we go on our honeymoon?
And you wanted to go to Dubai.

And I wanted to go to Venice.
So obviously I won.

HE LAUGHS
Yeah.

I'm obsessed with the Titanic.

So it just reminds me of it,
so he was like this is the closest

you're going to get to, like, that
sort of, yeah...luxury.

I play football for Millwall. Yeah.

I wasn't going to mention that,
though.

I was going to say
I hope the boys don't see this.

Each season there are around
30 proposals on board.

And today, there's about to
be another.

This is the train of love.
Everything can happen.

There is a gentleman is
going to ask,

propose to his fiancee to marry.

And he's very worried about it.

Let's see what is going on.

It's not just an important moment
for the couple - maitre 'd Paolo

has the responsibility of
delivering the ring.

Please. I think there is
something special.

Ohhhh!

You make me
the happiest man in the world.

Oh, my goodness. I don't know what
to say. I mean, yes.

THEY LAUGH

Originally, we just
planned it as my...

a 50th celebration,
because I've just turned 50. Yes.

The more I thought about it,
the more it sort of struck me

as just the right place to do it.

Oh. So beautiful.
I wanted it to be really special

and I thought, it doesn't get much
more romantic than this, really.
Oh, gosh, no.

Congratulations.
Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Paolo's mission is accomplished.

Very nice. She say yes.

HE CHUCKLES

But standards can never drop,

especially when your boss has
his own cabin.

The train is my life.
It's part of me.

Everything I do relates to the train
and vice versa,

so...

And I just saw that
the cleaning team

forgot to clean the outside of my
washing cabinet properly.

You should never have a cabin
steward as a general manager.

The Venice-Simplon-Orient Express

markets itself as one of the
luxurious rail routes in the world.

Travellers pay nearly £3,500

for a return ticket from London to
the romantic destination of Venice.

It's the ultimate railway
journey in the world.

And for their money, they get a
chance to step back in time,

which includes the authentic
experience

of no access to a shower,

and a long walk to a shared toilet
at the end of a corridor.

In the Jazz Age of the 1920s,
luxury trains opened Europe

to tourism before reliable air
travel was established.

During the Second World War, some of
the original carriages were seized

by the Nazis, and one was
even used as a brothel.

By the 1960s,

a rapidly modernising world deemed
luxury travel slow and over-priced.

Some of the trains were
reduced to day coaches,

carrying impoverished Turkish
workers and backpackers.

But in the late 1970s, the original
carriages were rescued

from private collectors
and even a back garden.

Over a six-year period, the carriages
were brought back to life

and now 11,000 people a year spend
thousands of pounds

to travel on the vintage train.

Here's to checking off...
The bucket list. Yay!

This season, the fortunes of
the train are in new hands.

General manager Pascal Deyrolle
first stepped on the train

23 years ago, as a cabin steward.

Now he has taken over,

he has brought with him a fresh
business strategy.

Every hotel experience around
the world brings you something new,

something additional.

And things you would take
for granted 20 years ago

suddenly you start thinking,
well, what if we did it differently?

With a ticket costing the price of a
second-hand family car, the staff

are under pressure from Pascal to
deliver the best possible service.

Lobster soup
with caviar toast, enjoy.

Thank you very much.

Everything is on the dot,
on the time, on the space,

and there is no other
way for the train.

It's 7.30am in Paris, and already
Pascal's military precision

is not going to plan.

Just a little stressed, you know.

Head chef Christian
has just 45 minutes

to load the day's fresh
ingredients onto the train.

But half the order hasn't arrived.

Over a season, he passes four tonnes
of food through this little window.

Any delay with these deliveries and
the train has to set off

with 180 hungry passengers,

something Pascal won't put up with.

It's now 8am.

The train is about to leave,
but something important

is still missing.

Go, go, go, go, go!

The kitchens work throughout the day
to prepare the meals.

Head chef Christian owns and runs a
hotel in the South of France,

but has been working on the train
every season for the last 31 years.

The cuisine is critical
to the train's reputation,

but there are limitations to what can
be served in the historic carriages.

Food is included in the ticket
price, but drinks are extra.

And passengers can often spend
hundreds of pounds at the bar.

In charge is 44-year-old Walter,

an Italian who has worked on
the train for eight years.

The bar is open since eight o'clock
in the morning

until late at night.

He's learnt how to handle
the guests...

As a barman, you need to avoid,
in a conversation,

politics, religion, sex, sport,

if you are in Italy ...

..and how to handle the drinks.

Remember, the train is always
moving, so...

to get the right measure is
not very easy.

Sometimes can you pour too much?

Over-pouring sometimes happen,
but...

guests never complain about that.

They are more happy.

7.30 pm and the journey has reached
its high point

with a formal evening dinner.

The dress code is strict.

Guests are asked not to wear jeans
T-shirts and trainers

at any time.

The dinner is black tie, which is
the climax of the trip.

So obviously the food you're going
to have during that dinner element

has to be perfect, has to be
surprising, has to be innovative,

even though we are a train.

In the kitchen, Christian and his
team are under pressure to

get the four-course dinner out to
180 guests.

Like Mission: Impossible...
on the train.

And all this is a kitchen the size
of a small corridor.

Mind, the plate is hot.
Thank you.

Braised lamb with vegetables.

It's perfect.

Enjoy. Salt and pepper
is in the middle.

Once the first sitting is done,
they need to do it all over again.

It's time to go now.
The second battle.

Yes. The second battle.
The war is not finished.

We are at war
and the war is not finished.

While the guests are eating,
stewards like Thibault must

transform the cabins from
day to night.

It's an unrelenting job and it's
against the clock.

The bed-making, the tidying up
and the cleaning, it's around...

let's say 10 to 12 minutes
per cabin.

Over the season, they will spend up
to 4,080 hours on this task alone.

In the beginning it's
always a bit rough.

It's part of the fun, I guess.

With a staff-to-passenger ratio
of four to one,

getting the right team in place

is paramount to making the train
run smoothly.

It's 28-year-old Pierre's first time
on the train

and he is shadowing Thibault.

So the crown has to face
the window...

It's the first time I am doing it.
It's really intense.

Under pressure, of course,

and, yeah, I have to work hard.

I have to work hard
to be part of this family.

Training a new recruit takes
around six weeks

and Pascal has very high standards.

One of my first boss used to say,
"It's very...easy to fire somebody.

"It's very difficult to recruit
the right person."

So we give them
the opportunity to try it out.

And then, after that, they can
make a proper decision

if they're going to be able to join
us for the next season.

Pierre's ability is about
to be tested.

But he's in for a shock.

He's been given the boss's cabin.

WHISPERS: Not bad.

Obviously a little stressed.

And not knowing he was going to do
a single bed versus two.

And doing it for me
is even more pressure.

As long as he's got the logo
the right way and the good lines...

we will make a steward out of him.

OK, sir.
So I think I'm finished.

Your bed is ready.

Let's have a look.

This...and this...

I get two inches here,
I get nothing here.

Your logo should be positioned
in the middle.

This, I've too much.

Let's see if the logo is the right
way. Ah.

Yeah. You got your logo the right
way. Yes? Yes!

Now it's time for Pascal's verdict.

Six-and-a-half is the best I can
give on this bed. Six-and-a-half?

Even for a first bed.
He's the boss.

It's a surprise to do
Mr Deyrolle's cabin.

Bit under pressure of course, and
I feel a bit tired, a bit sweating.

That was a bit
stressful to do

because you're running after time.

It's midnight, and after dinner
the guests move to the cocktail bar,

where Walter is hoping for
a roaring trade.

He usually serves around
300 drinks per trip.

We have a special cocktail that we
do on board our train.

His signature cocktail, The Guilty
12, is named after the plot

of Agatha Christie's Murder On
The Orient Express.

It costs £16, and the ingredients are
a closely guarded secret.

We have here...what I call
the elixir of the ingredients

that I pick up from Paris
to Istanbul.

And there is no one
ingredient green in colour.

This green is a combination
of colours. Another mystery.

That's lovely. Thank you very much.

Amazing. Thank you, Walter.
My pleasure.

Cheers! Thank you, Walter,
thank you.

Delicious. Thank you.

It's 2am, and while the guests are
revelling,

the stewards are
busy attending the cabins.

With no modern heating, they must
stoke the fires to heat

the carriages and supply hot water.

The reserve I have behind me
of coal,

I would have maybe...I think
on the carriage I have 100kg.

Maybe I use a 100kg
on a three-day trip.

I hated this boiler
when I first started,

and afterwards, you know,
the more you're used to it,

the more you know how everything
works, it's just getting routine.

Do you think the stewards
ever go to bed?

That's a good question.
We actually rest.

Going to bed depends on trips.

When he does finally get to sleep,
his rest is short-lived.

INSISTENT BEEPING

Thibault gets to know these
corridors well.

Between London and Venice,
he'll average 11 miles

of walking along the carriages.

Well, you know,

the digestif cup
just before going to sleep.

It's a long season
and an all-consuming job.

Having relationships outside work
can be difficult for some.

How do you say,
married and divorced.

People which are here are really
passionate about their position.

Either, you know,
they fit your job

or they don't fit the job.

But this commitment is not enough
for task master Pascal,

who wants to make the company
even more efficient.

Any dream to be kept alive has
a financial side to it.

Of course we have to
make our numbers.

Of course there is an un-pretty
side, if I may say.

But overall it is a business
and we do run it as a business.

The Venice Simplon-Orient-Express is
constantly cashing in on nostalgia,

transporting people back to a
golden age of travel.

Some guests even dress up
for the occasion.

It's a museum come to life. Yeah.

The magic hasn't changed since
I was a cabin steward

25 years ago.

It's still the same mystique
around the train.

It's always exciting.

Everything has been restored
identically to what it was

back in the 1920s.

More and more people want to find
that experience

which, for a time, will take
them away from every day.

However, the history
of this travel icon

could have been very different.

In the late 1960s, luxury train
travel had gone into decline,

and the once-luxurious carriages
fell into disrepair.

But in the 1970s,

American shipping magnate
James B Sherwood made it his mission

to restore the carriages, creating
the Venice Simplon-Orient Express.

It's been a grand effort.

It cost £11 million to restore,

and I hope you will agree
we've had a grand result.

I now declare the Venice
Simplon-Orient-Express resumed.

The train was launched in 1982,

but the restoration of the
travel icon is an ongoing process.

Today, some guests
are prepared to pay

nearly £3,500 for a return ticket.

But in a fiercely competitive
market,

the company must constantly
invest if it's to remain unique.

Engineering manager Jean Marie Moreau

is responsible for maintaining the
train's enduring character.

Now we're going to the
workshop of the ACC,

where I have the car 3473
in heavy maintenance.

Constant challenge is to keep
the train as it is.

I have the responsibility
of the maintenance of 18 cars.

I don't have the right to
change anything on the train.

I have to preserve
the authenticity of the cars,

to take the car
out of the commercial activity

and put them back in March.

Bonjour.

Each year, one of the train's
18 carriages comes off tracks

and goes into the
restoration workshop.

This is a good time for me.

I start to feel a little bit
of pressure but still relaxed.

HE LAUGHS

The company only has this
one vintage carriage in reserve,

and failure to meet its completion
deadline could result in

millions of lost revenue.

When the car arrives
in the middle of November,

we take everything out,
and for the end of February,

we have to put back everything
in the car with a better state.

This is the challenge we have to do.

It costs up to £2.5 million per year
to maintain the train's authenticity.

Jean Marie has spent over half a
million on this carriage alone.

I have 60 people who are
working constantly with me,

and we have to do this
challenge in only three months.

Voila.

We talk a lot about details
and there is a big...

a huge detail in this car.

You can see all the heads
of the screws there, aligned.

Here, you can see
they are all verticals

because we have the wood
in vertical,

and on that panel,
all the wood is horizontal,

and you can see all the screws,
they are aligned horizontally.

And this is done by hand.

And this is the final
touch of the car.

With this kind of detail
that you can put, let's say,

the essence of the car.

An essential element of the
train's authenticity

is it's original heating system.

Now we check the boiler
and then we get here

a temperature of 60 degrees,
which is quite good.

That means it's not too high,
otherwise we will get boiling water.

This is good for the tea
but not for the heating of the car.

The boiler uses almost 40,000kg
of coal each year.

OK, it's warm here.
This is perfect.

It's warm.

That means all the water is going
around in the car,

till the end,
and come back to the boiler.

This is the technology
from the year 1930

and this is still working,

and we are keeping this system
because it's excellent.

I think the passengers,
when they go on the train,

when they see the
beauty of the train,

they have the feeling
that the train is perfect.

And I think that they feel this.

You can feel the life of the car.

And you really feel
something in this train.

You feel the history.

I'm touching everything because you
can feel the quality of the finish.

It's not just seeing it.

You have to touch it, because
here we have 15 coats of varnish.

INTERVIEWER: 15?

15. 15 coats of varnish, yes.

And this is the level we need.

THEY SPEAK IN FRENCH

When I see that now they are
fixing, let's say, the last letter,

I can breathe and say, "Oh, my God,
the work is almost finished."

And now I will go, so close
the door of the train, lock them

and the train can leave.

The carriages are restored with
500 litres of varnish,

two tons of polished brass
and bespoke upholstery,

all crafted using original materials.

C'est bon.

On y va.

After 6,500 hours
of skilled craftsmanship,

the carriage is now ready to
return to service.

But first, it must pass general
manager Pascal's rigorous inspection.

Except, we are missing
a screw over here.

This is the new system.

We don't see...
No, we don't see anything.

Wow, it's perfect.

You can see the screws are all
horizontal and all vertical.

It's nice. It's very nice.

So are we going to do it like
this for all the cabins?

Yes. OK. Good.

All the new improvement we've made,

especially on the chrome
and in the marquetry,

has never looked as good,

since 1982, when the car was
put back on the track.

He can relax until next winter.

Couple of...
couple of more weeks,

and then we'll have more
carriages back in the workshop

and then we'll do it again.

For many passengers travelling on
these vintage carriages,

it's seen a once-in-a-lifetime
experience.

I've always wanted to
travel on a train like this.

I feel like I'm on a movie set.

But for some, the journey has much
more significance.

Two years ago, I was diagnosed
with pancreatic cancer.

And of course, it was a big shock.

I was still working at the time.

It's pretty much terminal,

but right now,
they have extended my life

with this particular chemo
treatment that I'm responding to.

The doctor told me

that I could take off the entire
month of October for just fun.

So I was really
looking forward to that

and I decided this is my big chance.

And I am going to go to
places I've always wanted to.

Book the trip.

Certainly have always wanted to
forever, just about. Since my 20s.

This has just been so worth it.

It's been just the experience
of a lifetime. I've loved it.

Every bit of the experience
has been phenomenal.

For those looking for
a memento of their trip,

guests can visit
the onboard gift shop.

The company is always looking
to push its profits

with souvenirs costing up to £5,000.

The boutique has become
a key revenue stream

and is vital for driving
the business forward.

It's probably the most
profitable boutique in the world

per square foot.

We transport 11,000 passengers every
year, from different backgrounds,

different nationalities.

Everybody wants a little
piece of the train,

so since you can't physically
take a piece of the train,

then you'll go to the boutique
and take a piece of the boutique.

It is a business.

Because it's a tiny space,
that generates a lot of revenue.

We have something for everybody.

For the last two decades,

the boutique has
been managed by Massimo.

He first came to work for the train
in 1993, when he was just 28.

This is the gift shop.

We have things used on board,
like our glasses,

dishes, we have the bathrobes.

You can buy the things that you use.

First of all,
the things I sell the most -

the Agatha Christie book.

For those wanting to
take home a piece of history,

Massimo has a gift for all budgets,
from the smallest to the largest.

Eight euros for this pen.

Diamond bracelet, 7,700 euros.

Now I show you
the most wanted thing.

Him.

Our teddy bear...

..that you can
name after your cabin steward.

I call him Wolfie,
just like our head cabin steward.

Then you can give the name of yours.

So this is what everybody wants.

So I have one square metre to move

and to make the most
profitable shop in the world.

But it works. It works.

There is a great competition
between me and Walter,

because I want to make some
more revenue than Walter.

If he works more than me,
I'm not happy at all.

I get quite angry
and I won't say goodbye to him.

Last year, Massimo's boutique
brought in profits of £120,000,

and for him,
the job inspires devotion.

I don't really have a family life.
This is my family now.

Yeah, of course I have my family,
I have my mother and my friends,

but I see them from time to time.

I would say my family is the train.

This is not just a job.
It's my life.

Returning passengers are important
to the future of the company.

I think it might become
a theme for...

Once a year,
I think we need to do this.

But for some guests,
the train becomes an obsession.

It's our 22nd year now.

Super fans Jurge and Sandra
from Lichtenstein

began their love affair
with the train

on their honeymoon 22 years ago,

and they've returned
every year since.

She loves this train too, I think.

Yes, it's true.

If you once have experienced it,
you always want to do it again.

We have a favourite restaurant car.
It's the Lalique Pullman, 4141.

Each year we come,
we meet a lot of familiar faces.

I have great passion for
railways since my childhood.

Jurge and Sandra's addiction
has cost them over £50,000

the equivalent of nearly
1,000 budget airline tickets.

When I tell about our holidays,
my friend often smiles

and he might think that we'll
be a little bit crazy.

Yes. It's true!

That's... That might be true, yes.

As the season enters
its final quarter,

the 42 staff on board must
try to maximise

every money-making opportunity,

but to stand out in an
industry full of choice,

the train must do more
than just revive history,

it must also look to the future.

It doesn't matter
that it's not a hotel,

or that it's not a boat,
or a private villa.

It has to be perfect.
It has to be surprising.

It has to be innovative,
even though we are a train.

In some ways, the work never stops.

Sea bass?

After a nine-month-long season,
the Venice-Simplon Orient Express

is on its final journey to Venice.

The snow is always
the end of the season.

Now that we can see
on the top of the...

on the top of the mountain,
you know it's the end of the season.

Although the journeys are coming
to an end, general manager, Pascal,

is constantly looking for
new innovations

to bolster business
and increase profits.

I was on board 25 years ago.

We're not the same people in some
ways, we don't have the same habits.

We need to make sure
we keep incorporating into the train

all those different way or life,
or new way of life.

One of Pascal's latest ideas
is the celebration breakfast

for which willing couples can
shell out an additional £140 for two

on top of the cost of
the already pricey journey.

Guests have the possibility

to come and have breakfast
in the dining car,

passing by the most beautiful
scenery of the trip
from London to Venice.

You have the mountain
in the background, snow on top,

and the train track just follows
all the Swiss lakes.

Rick and Annabelle have come
from north London

and have saved up all year
for their honeymoon on the train.

This morning, they're sampling
the new celebration breakfast...

Cheers. Cheers. ..whilst travelling
through breathtaking scenery.

Continue the drinking.

This is nice.

Whereabouts are we?
Do you know where we are right now?

Yeah, now is the start of
the first part of the lakes.

That's the weirdest thing -
not knowing where you are,

like, all the time.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Shall we take them home, love?

We've not sort of stopped working
all year, so...

Yeah, so now that we're here,

it's just really want to appreciate
it and take it all in.

You know it's going to be over
in a flash as well, so... Yeah.

Try and embrace everything.

What's the difference between
white truffle and black truffle?
I'm not sure, actually.

I don't even like lobster,

but I might have to get it
because it was so good last night.

Yeah, I woke up quite a lot
with the old creaking and...

Yeah, I got a top bunk. There's
a technique to that, to use like...

folding my pillow half way up the
wall to give me that extra inch.

Despite the promise
of picturesque views...

Looks amazing.

..they've ended up eating lobster
in a rural train station.

It's really good.
I don't normally like it.

It's so good. So fresh.

Rick's going to make it for me
when we get home.

Every Monday morning she's going
to have lobster from now on

for breakfast. Get used to this.

I don't want it to end.

This is perfect.

Today's customers aren't just
interested in champagne
and lobsters.

And on a train with no Wi-Fi
and only shared toilets,

Pascal is already thinking of
the next season to maximise revenue.

We're the curators of the train
for the next generation.

So people want to travel with us
and find the golden era of travel,

but at the same time
we need to innovate,

we need to come up with new ideas,

we need to come up with new things,
but it's a big debate.

Some of the guests told us,
"Don't put air conditioning.

"We would rather suffer
in the middle of the summer."

However, we do have to be realistic
with the modern world

and the way we all live today versus
the way our great-grandparents lived

and what they would accept,
and what we will accept.

With hundreds of thousands
of calories consumed every journey

throughout the season,
and with rich food readily available,

a fitness instructor
has been drafted in

to put willing passengers
through their paces

in the three-square-metre cabin.

We're spending our children's
inheritance, which is, you know,

one of the best things to do.
Famous ski trips.

THEY LAUGH

Really simple exercise
called marching in place

and you can use it to get
your 10,000 steps in. All right.

Three, two, one, and go.

OK. That's it.
Fall out of the window!

This definitely
wasn't in the brochure!

Keep picking it up.
You've got 30 more seconds to go,

so let's really pick that pace up.

Scrambled eggs with smoked salmon.

Excellent.

Jean, get those knees higher, I want
it right in line with your hips,

then you get worked
in your butt more.

A selection of the cakes for you.

Think I'm like a Ninja.

You look like you're using
that chair as a trampoline to me.

Lovely job. You want to get
that intensity up to a nice six.

You are super light and fit.

Lobster. Tomato sauce...

I think we've earned
lobster for lunch, is it?

I believe so. Yeah. Absolutely.

Different carriages of this train
have lived through two world wars

and the rise of commercial
air travel.

But in an era of austerity, low-cost
flights and time-efficient transport,

the future can be uncertain
for this type of luxury tourism.

Like any rail company,
it remains to be seen

if this train can stay competitive.

30 marriage proposals
and 150,000 kilometres later,

the journey is finishing for
a whole season's worth of passengers

and Pascal will have some time off
to see his family.

Right now,
priority is my little girl.

It's not always easy
to have the balance.

My ten-year-old daughter
hasn't been on the train yet,

but I'm waiting for the right time,

so she can remember it
for the rest of her life.

OK. I'm ready.

This is the Freedom Bridge here
that we are crossing now.

It's the only bridge that connects
Venice to the mainland

and it's actually the...

the dictator Mussolini,
he is the one who built this bridge.

It has been a hectic season.

Looking forward for the season to be
over, so I can spend some time

with the family and have some...
some good rest.

The train is bringing
this atmosphere.

Every time I see the train
arrive in Venice,

I fell in love every time
again and again and again.

Congratulations.

For passengers across the season,

journey's end is a return
to all mod cons.

A fantastic journey,
but it's nothing like home

and your own bed, and a shower.

LAUGHTER

Watch your step.

OK. Mind the gap, you mean? Yeah.

We just had great, great fun.

Thank you very much, madam. The
birthday girl. You take care, yeah?

It's a love-hate relationship.

After many, many hours,
you can't wait to get off the train.

Thank you. Bye. Bye.

Et voila!
This is the last trip of the season.

2015 is finished for us now.

Now everybody goes back
to a different life

and then the train is going to go
away for its beauty sleep.

Subtitles by Ericsson