Luxury train travel is back - and Saudi Arabia and the UAE are on board

When Italian entrepreneur Paolo Barletta talks about trains, he doesn’t just see carriages and tracks – he sees “hotels on wheels”.

As chief executive of Arsenale Group, the Italian company behind some of the world’s most ambitious rail projects, Barletta is betting big on the renaissance of slow, elegant, overland travel. And the Middle East is quickly becoming its most exciting frontier.

With Saudi Arabia’s Dream of the Desert set to make its debut next year, and a proposed luxury rail line with Etihad Rail expected to roll out by 2028, Barletta says the slow mode of travel is rising in demand around the world.

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“People want to be a little bit more analogic, especially in their travel experiences,” he tells The National. “Nostalgia, sustainability and the possibility to disconnect. This is what it's all about.”

A luxury hospitality company, Arsenale Group manages high-end hotels and develops luxury rail cruises around the world, including La Dolce Vita Orient Express in Italy.

Closer to home, construction of Dream of the Desert – billed as the first five-star train in the Middle East – was signed off in 2022 and began this year. It will feature 31 private suites and two presidential suites, and accommodate up to 66 guests per trip. Travelling from Riyadh along 1,300km of existing railway lines, it will stop at some of Saudi Arabia's most picturesque locations, including Unesco World Heritage Sites.

“The train will traverse the desert, then through the greenery of the Qassim region, the mountains of Al Hail and much more,” Barletta says.

Mock-ups of the Italian-made carriages were showcased at the Future Investment Initiative in Riyadh last week, with interiors designed by Lebanese architect Aline Asmar d’Amman. Alongside the 33 suites, the train will comprise two restaurant cars and a majlis lounge “adorned with finely carved wood finishes, desert-inspired hues and golden accents that reflect the warmth and richness of Saudi heritage”.

Barletta adds: “We wanted to bring the entire culture of the country on board. You will find reference to AlUla, the Red Sea and Riyadh in the design.”

Calling it “a moving masterpiece”, Barletta says the train will redefine ultra-luxury travel, “while carrying the world’s most discerning travellers through the heart of Saudi Arabia’s landscapes and traditions”.

Ticket prices for Dream of the Desert will “align with prices in the ultra-luxury segment”, he confirms, and cost $3,000 to $5,000 per person, per night.

Arsenale Group is also building a luxury service for Etihad Rail, the UAE's ambitious railway network whose passenger service is launching next year. Barletta is hoping to roll out the luxury trains by 2028 “if all goes according to plan”.

“The Etihad Rail infrastructure is getting longer every day, completing important miles,” he says. “We hope that as soon as the network is completed and in operation, we will be able to come with one of our trains a short time after that.”

Barletta envisions the UAE journey as a kind of inland cruise. “It will give you the opportunity to discover the country in a different way … visit all the mountains that there are in Hatta before you get to Fujairah and the beauty of the Empty Quarter in the desert of Liwa. There is so much in the country that can be explored.”

Unlike short-haul flights or motorway transits, trains offer a chance to slow down and take in the landscape.

“You embark in a train, relax in your cabin and the day after you are in a different place, maybe the day after you will be in a different country,” he says, pointing to the resurgence of rail travel in the GCC, which he hopes will lead to growing demand for luxury rail tourism.

He also thinks the luxury line will benefit the UAE’s wider tourism offering. “When you have one of these trains in the UAE, it will offer a different experience to what they are used to,” he says. “Maybe people will stay one night in the hotel, two nights on the train, or one night on the train and another two nights in a hotel.”

Barletta’s company is investing in the region. It is also developing a luxury train along the Nile, opening up a slower, overland alternative to the area’s storied river cruises. And then there's the Samarkand Express, which will take travellers through the Silk Road in Uzbekistan starting next year.

In September, Arsenale Group announced it was acquiring Golden Eagle Luxury Trains, the UK company specialising in high-end rail journeys around the world, particularly on the Trans-Siberian Railroad.

“We will work to upgrade the fleet of Golden Eagle trains and relaunch new journeys,” says Barletta. “We are also looking to other markets in order to keep growing this segment of luxury train travel, of which Arsenale is now one of the leaders.

“We are proud to bring so much attention to an industry that five years ago was not the super-hot trend it is today.”

The appeal of slow travel was never lost – it only needed to be reimagined, he says. “The problem is that there was no one doing innovation. So many of the trains were old and uncomfortable, and not every cabin had an en-suite bathroom,” Barletta says.

“We just created a product with new standards on the most beautiful railways in the world.”