What famous train ran between Paris and Istanbul?
Istanbul ultimately became famous as the eastern terminus of the Orient Express from Paris. Regular service to Bucharest and Thessaloniki continued until the early 2010s, when the former was interrupted for Marmaray construction and the latter was halted due to economic problems in Greece. After Istanbul's Haydarpaşa Terminal opened in 1908, it served as the western terminus of the Baghdad Railway and an extension of the Hejaz Railway; today, neither service is offered directly from Istanbul. Service to Ankara and other points across Turkey is normally offered by Turkish State Railways, but the construction of Marmaray and the Ankara-Istanbul high-speed line
Balkan Express (train) Balkan Express (train) The Balkan Express is an overnight train operating between İstanbul and Belgrade, calling at Edirne, Plovdiv and Sofia. The train connects with the "Bosphorus Express" at Dimitrovgrad, Bulgaria and continues to İstanbul. The Balkan Express was launched on 1 January 1916 as a sleeping car service between Berlin and Istanbul. The twice weekly service had a schedule of 58 hours for the , and it ran through Dresden, Vienna, Belgrade and Sofia. Departures were from Berlin on Wednesdays and Saturdays, and Istanbul on Tuesdays and Saturdays. The train was discontinued in October 1918. From 1927 the name