Prague’s 'Orient Express' style dining car takes passengers back in time

For a handful of evenings this October, a railway carriage built in Prague 120 years ago will once again welcome passengers for dinner.

The Ringhoffer 1906 dining train departs from Prague Main Station for an approximately 2.5-hour journey around the capital. Inside its meticulously restored carriage, stewards in historical uniforms serve a four-course meal as a steam locomotive pulls diners along a route expected to include the Prague Semmering.

The experience is inspired by the golden age of European rail travel and the service associated with the Orient Express. The carriage itself, however, was never part of that famous train: It is a rare surviving product of Prague’s once-mighty Ringhoffer factory.

The carriage was built in Smíchov in 1906 for the Swiss Dining Car Company, or Schweizerische Speisewagen Gesellschaft. That company had been established three years earlier by Swiss Federal Railways and the Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits, the operator historically associated with the Orient Express.

Ringhoffer supplied the Swiss company with an initial series of 10 standard-gauge dining cars in 1906, modeled after the teak-sided carriages used by Wagons-Lits. Additional cars followed in subsequent years.

The Smíchov manufacturer was one of the Austro-Hungarian Empire’s leading producers of railway carriages. Its products ranged from ordinary passenger vehicles to lavish cars built for monarchs, political leaders and wealthy private clients.

The factory later became part of the ČKD engineering group, while the Ringhoffer name gradually disappeared from industrial use. Its legacy remains visible across Prague, however, particularly in preserved trams and railway vehicles.

The surviving dining car is now operated by the Museum of Old Machines and Technologies, based in a former textile factory in Žamberk. Restorers spent approximately two years returning it to operating condition.

Many components were missing or no longer usable, requiring specialists across multiple trades to recreate them. Surviving pieces of the original marquetry were used as templates, while the team restored or reproduced everything from the wooden paneling and hand-painted decoration to brass fittings and electrical lighting.

The finished interior seats just 40 passengers at tables for two or four. Organizers say it is one of only a small number of comparable dining cars to survive worldwide—and one of even fewer that can still operate on the railway.

JLV, the company that provides dining services aboard České dráhy trains, first tested the Ringhoffer experience during a private journey in September 2025. The initial public departures followed in spring 2026 and sold out months in advance.

Passengers treated the journey as more than a meal. Many arrived in clothing inspired by the First Republic, turning Prague Main Station into a temporary parade of hats, pearls and period dresses.

The train traveled from the main station through Rudná and Hostivice before returning to Prague. Its most scenic section was the Prague Semmering, an elevated railway route winding through the capital’s western hills and valleys.

Named after Austria’s famous mountain railway, the line provides elevated views across Prague that are rarely seen from the city’s ordinary tourist routes. Expats.cz previously explored how the Prague Semmering remains one of the capital’s most scenic—and overlooked—rail journeys.

JLV says the October 2026 route is again planned to include the Semmering, although engineering work or other railway restrictions could require changes. A steam locomotive is expected to pull the train, with a historic diesel available as a substitute if the older machinery cannot operate.

The onboard menu has also changed since the spring journeys. Chef Miroslav Kubec’s current four-course selection begins with homemade liver pâté and fig marmalade, followed by creamy pea soup with bacon and croutons.

The main course pairs slow-roasted beef with root vegetables, red-wine sauce and potato dumplings sautéed with smoked bacon. A cottage-cheese cake with warm forest berries and vanilla ice cream completes the meal.

A welcome drink, coffee, tea and cold nonalcoholic beverages are included. The service draws on early 20th-century dining traditions, although the dishes have been adapted to modern culinary and hygiene standards.

The experience is therefore less a faithful reconstruction of one historical journey than a moving piece of theater combining Czech industrial history, restored machinery and contemporary fine dining.

The Ringhoffer 1906 experience costs CZK 7,990 per person, including the journey, four-course menu and listed drinks. Exact departure times are determined by railway capacity and sent to passengers before the trip.

At the time of writing, places were still listed for Oct. 13, 20 and 27. The Oct. 6 and 21 journeys were sold out. Because availability is limited, prospective passengers should confirm current availability directly with JLV.