Service was discontinued in March 2013, when Sirkeci station closed for the construction of the Marmaray commuter rail network.

The twice weekly service had a schedule of 58 hours for the 1,200 miles (1,900 km),[3] and it ran through Dresden, Vienna, Belgrade and Sofia.

[7] In May 1955 a new Balkan Express was launched from Vienna via Graz and Belgrade (avoiding Bulgaria) to Athens and Istanbul.

The train also had through cars to Košice, Czechoslovakia and Warsaw, Poland as well as extra coaches that were added and removed during the trip.

[10] The Balkan Express widely avoided the conflict zones of the Yugoslav Wars, but was still victim to sporadic cancellations.

Ridership from Turkey greatly declined at the turn of the century, due to a growing economic crisis along with the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia during the Kosovo War.

The through-cars to Budapest and Prague were then attached to the Transbalkan (460/461), which became the main train connection from central Europe to the Balkan countries.

However, the closing of Sirkeci station for the construction of the Marmaray commuter rail project in 2013, led to the discontinuation of the Balkan Express.

Following the discontinuation of the Balkan Express as an overnight train, the most popular section of the route, between Sofia and Belgrade, remained in service.