The Chemins de fer Orientaux (English: Oriental Railway; Turkish: Rumeli Demiryolu or İstanbul-Viyana Demiryolu) (reporting mark: CO) was an Ottoman railway company operating in Rumelia (the European part of the Ottoman Empire, corresponding to the Balkan peninsula) and later European Turkey, from 1870 to 1937. The CO was one of the five pioneer railways in the Ottoman Empire and built the main trunk line in the Balkans. Between 1889 and 1937, the railway hosted the world-famous Orient Express.
The railway was charted in 1870 to build a line from Istanbul to Vienna. Because of many political problems in the Balkans, construction started and stopped and ownership changed or split often. Not until 1888 did the CO complete its objective, but after the First Balkan War in 1912, the railway was limited to only Eastern Thrace. The CO continued operations as a regional railway until 1937, when the Turkish State Railways absorbed it.
Headquarters
The company headquarters was in Paris (1869–78), then Vienna (1878–1912) and finally in İstanbul (1912–37). The reporting mark was CO.
History
Background
By the second half of the 19th century, the once powerful and dominant Ottoman Empire was declining greatly. The empire's territory in Europe extended from Constantinople to the Danube River and the Carpathian Mountains. However, due to the rise of nationalism in the Balkans, mostly provoked by Russia, the Ottoman Empire was slowly losing its control over the area. The Crimean War had just ended and gave the aging Empire a slight break against Russian influence over the Balkans. The Sultanate in İstanbul looked to strengthen its sovereignty in the region and help its declining economy during the short peace. Trade by sea was dominated by the British naval monopoly, so the Sublime Porte had to look at other ways of transport. Railways showed their effectiveness in western Europe and the Ottomans sought to bring this technology into the empire. The Sultanate looked to build a railway from Constantinople to Vienna. A trunk line such as that would allow easier deployments of troops in the European part of the Empire and would open up many new trade opportunities with western Europe. However, the railway would also bring Austrian influence into the Balkans.
The decision for a railway was finalized and Abdülaziz awarded a concession to Van der Elst and Cie, a Belgian construction company, on 31 May 1868, with the help of André Langrand-Dumonceau. Langrand-Dumonceau quickly took over the concession from Van der Elst and started the works himself. However. he ran into financial difficulties and could not continue construction of the line, so the Sultanate cancelled the concession on 12 April 1869. The concession was then given to Maurice de Hirsch, a German financier, to build the line. Hirsch had partnered with Dumonceau in the past on several railway works. The charter included a main line from Constantinople to the Austrian border at Dobrljin via Edirne, which would connect to the Austrian Southern Railway. This route was chosen over a more direct route through Belgrade in order to avoid building the line through Serbia, which was semi-independent. Austro-Hungary also was in favor of this route to increase their influence over Bosnia. This charter also included the construction of branch lines to Burgaz, Selanik and Dedeağaç. Hirsch then founded the Imperial Turkish European Railway, headquartered in Paris, to build the line in 1869. The company hired Wilhelm von Pressel, from the Austrian Southern Railway, to be the chief engineer of the project. In January 1870, construction started simultaneously in Constantinople, Dedeağaç, Selanik and Dobrljin. Operation of the line was to be given to the Austrian Southern Railway; but since negotiations failed, Hirsch founded the Oriental Railway (Chemins de fer Orientaux), also headquartered in Paris, to operate the line.