Some luxury trains promote tourism in destinations across a region, while others (such as the Maharajas' Express) take passengers on a ride through a single country.
[3] According to Belmond[4] (formerly known as Orient Express Hotels),[5] the company operates the highest number of luxury train tours in the world.
[6] The Venice-Simplon Orient Express, with service from London to Venice, was voted the top luxury train in the world in 2009.
Covering over 2,000 kilometres (1,200 mi)[9] of peninsular Southeast Asia, its two-day journey includes frequent stops at scenic locations.
[14] Spain's state-owned network of luxury trains is operated by Renfe Viajeros and runs from March to October on scheduled and charter trips.
[15] Between 1950 and 1969, Swedish State Railways operated the luxury train service Sunlit Nights Land Cruises, which ran from Stockholm to northern Sweden and primarily targeted foreign tourists.
[16] The GoldenPass Express is a luxury train linking Montreux on Lake Geneva with the Interlaken in the Bernese Oberland.
The Golden Eagle Trans-Siberian Express began operation in April 2007 and takes passengers on a 6,000-mile (9,656 km) trip (the world's longest train journey)[6] across two continents and eight time zones.
It follows the Trans-Siberian Railway, which connects Moscow and European Russia with the Russian Far East, Mongolia, China, and the Sea of Japan.
It makes charter runs along CP tracks in summer and fall, taking passengers into the Rocky Mountains of Alberta and British Columbia.
The Ghan, a luxury train, runs 2,979 kilometres (1,851 miles) through the heart of the Australian continent, from Darwin in the north to Adelaide in the south.