All Aboard! Travel Through Time With the New LEGO Ideas Orient Express Set
16th November 2023: The LEGO Group today unveils the LEGO® Ideas Orient Express – a beautiful brick recreation of the one of the world’s most luxurious and legendary forms of travel. Known as a ‘rolling palace’ the Orient Express was the world’s first international luxury train that carried thousands of passengers across Europe to Istanbul from 1883 to 1977.
Released to celebrate the train’s 140th anniversary, the new 2,540-piece LEGO set transports builders back to the Golden Age of travel, with some stunning key features, including the main locomotive, tender, dining and sleeping cars.
The LEGO Ideas Orient Express set also features removable roofs to allow access to detailed interiors, 8 LEGO minifigures including the conductor, a chef, staff, and a variety of passengers that depict different passengers. Decorations of the destinations that the train visited on its original route are also visible across the magnificent set.
The set was designed by 27-year old Paris-based, LEGO fan Thomas Lajon, as part of the LEGO Ideas programme. Once designed, 10,000 people voted for it to be made into a real set. Talking about his design, Thomas Lajon said, “I have always been a great fan of locomotives, sailing ships and ocean liners. As a child, I collected everything related to them. Years later, my girlfriend encouraged me to get back in touch with LEGO bricks and knowing my love for trains, she encouraged me to make one. Obviously, I chose to make the Orient Express. A sumptuous French train, at the heart of many stories.”
The LEGO Ideas Orient Express Set is available from 1st December via LEGO Stores and www.LEGO.com/Orient-Express priced at $299.99/€299.99/£259.99.
Notes to Editors
Product information:
Age: 18+
Price: $299.99 / £259.99/ €299.99
Pieces: 2,540
Product number: 21344
Dimensions: Length: 116 cm/in (APPR) Width: 8 cm/in (APPR), Height: 12 cm/in (APR)
Availability: 1st December 2023, from LEGO Stores and www.LEGO.com/Orient-Express
About the LEGO Group
The LEGO Group’s mission is to inspire and develop the builders of tomorrow through the power of play. The LEGO System in Play, with its foundation in LEGO bricks, allows children and fans to build and rebuild anything they can imagine.
The LEGO Group was founded in Billund, Denmark in 1932 by Ole Kirk Kristiansen, its name derived from the two Danish words Leg Godt, which mean “Play Well”. Today, the LEGO Group remains a family-owned company headquartered in Billund. However, its products are now sold in more than 130 countries worldwide.
For more news from the LEGO Group, information about our financial performance and responsibility engagement, please visit www.LEGO.com/aboutus.
About the LEGO Ideas platform
LEGO® Ideas offers fans the opportunity to submit their own brick creations with the chance to have their concept brought to life with the help of LEGO master designers and a share of the profits. Find out more at www.ideas.LEGO.com.
About Orient Express, part of Accor Group
Artisan of travel since 1883, Orient Express sublimates the Art of Travel with its luxury trains, unique experiences, and collections of rare objects. And coming soon: its first hotels around the world, with the opening of Orient Express La Minerva in Rome and Orient Express Palazzo Donà Giovannelli in Venice in 2025. Another project has also been announced in Riyadh, the first city in the Middle East to announce the arrival of an Orient Express hotel. The luxury travel experience will continue with the launch of Orient Express La Dolce Vita, the return of The legendary Orient Express to railways, and Orient Express Silenseas – the world’s largest sailing ship. Find out more at Orient-express.com accor.com.