Thalys

Before Thalys, there was an express rail service between Paris and Brussels beginning in 1924 on the train service l'Étoile du Nord. In the 1970s it connected the two cities in around 2 hours 30 minutes.

The decision to build a high-speed railway between Paris, Brussels, Cologne, and Amsterdam was made in 1987. On 28 January 1993,[4] SNCF, SNCB/NMBS,[3] Nederlandse Spoorwegen and Deutsche Bundesbahn (which became part of Deutsche Bahn in 1994) signed an agreement to operate the axis jointly through the brand Thalys, and in 1995 Westrail International was created by the French and Belgian national railways to operate the services. On 4 June 1996, the first train left Paris using the LGV Nord until it reached Belgium, taking 2:07 hours to Brussels and 4:47 hours to Amsterdam.[5]

In 1997, the Belgian HSL 1 line, allowing 300 km/h (186.41 mph) and running from the French border to the outskirts of Brussels, was completed for service. On 14 December 1997, the first Thalys train from Paris to Brussels ran on the HSL 1, reducing travel time to 1:25 hours. At the same time service commenced to Cologne and Aachen in Germany, and Bruges, Charleroi, Ghent, Mons, Namur and Ostend in Belgium. On 19 December 1998 the Thalys Neige service started to the ski resorts of Tarentaise Valley and Bourg-Saint-Maurice. In May 1999, the new high-speed line serving Charles de Gaulle Airport opened, and Thalys started direct services from the parisian airport to Brussels, including codeshare agreements with Air France, American Airlines and Northwest Airlines. On 28 November 1999, the company changed its name to Thalys International.

In 2000, Thalys started a daily Service between Brussels and Geneva. With its Thalys Soleil (French for "Thalys Sun"), it started offering direct connections to the Provence, initially to Valence, and extended to Avignon and Marseille in 2002. Service between Brussels and Cologne was improved in December 2002 when trains began running on the new HSL 2 in Belgium. In 2003, services started to Brussels Airport and the Thalys Nuits d'Été service to Marne-la-Vallée. In 2007 Deutsche Bahn purchased a 10% shareholding with SNCF reducing its stake to 62% and SNCB 28%.[5][6]

Beginning 14 June 2009 the journey between Brussels and Cologne was shortened by 19 minutes when the new high-speed line HSL 3 between Liège and Aachen opened using Deutsche Bahn's thrice-daily ICE trains running between Brussels and Frankfurt. HSL 3 was completed in 2007, but Thalys trains had not yet been equipped with the European Train Control System (ETCS) signaling equipment necessary to use the new line. After installation and testing, Thalys began operating on HSL 3 on 13 December 2009. For the same reasons, Thalys started operating on the HSL 4/HSL-Zuid high-speed line between Antwerp and Amsterdam 13 December 2009, two years after the line's construction.

Since 29 August 2011, one return journey to Cologne has been extended to Essen Hauptbahnhof,[7] and since 30 October 2011, one return journey to Brussels had been extended to Brussels National Airport.[8]

In June 2013, Deutsche Bahn stopped selling Thalys tickets, and began a plan to exit from Thalys capital.

Thalys has served Düsseldorf Airport station since the winter 2013 schedule went into effect.[9]

On 12 April 2014, Thalys started a regular service between Lille Europe and Amsterdam Centraal.

At the end of March 2015, Thalys dropped the Paris – Oostende and the Paris – Brussels – Mons – Charleroi – Namur – Liège routes, due to the lack of funding from the Belgian government.

On 30 March 2015, Thalys became a train company (named THI Factory), and operates since under its own train operator certificate.[10]

Starting from 13 December 2015, service in Germany is extended to Dortmund.

In March 2018, Thalys ceased all its operations from Lille-Europe, citing disappointing demand (despite lower-than-average ticket prices) and financial results.

High-speed rail networks in Europe. Thalys line network shown in burgundy.

Beyond Brussels, the main cities Thalys trains reach are Antwerp, Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Liège, Aachen and Cologne. Trains to these destinations run partly on dedicated high-speed tracks, and partly on conventional tracks shared with normal-speed trains. The high-speed lines used by Thalys are HSL 1 between Paris and Brussels, HSL 4/HSL-Zuid between Antwerp and Amsterdam, and the HSL 2 and HSL 3 between Brussels and Aachen. For its seasonal operations within France, other high-speed lines are used.

Journeys from Brussels (Brussels-South) to Paris (Gare du Nord) are normally 1 hour and 22 minutes, for a distance of approximately 300 kilometres (190 mi). Peak speed is 300 km/h (186 mph) on a dedicated high-speed railway track, which is electrified at 25 kV AC OHLE.

The ligne à grande vitesse (LGV) link with Charles de Gaulle Airport allowed Air France to withdraw its air service between Paris and Brussels; instead, Air France books seats on Thalys trains.[15] Thalys has been given the IATA designator 2H. This is used in conjunction with American Airlines and Delta Air Lines. American Airlines has a code-sharing agreement with Thalys for rail service from Charles de Gaulle airport to Brussels-South. The airline alliance SkyTeam also has a code-sharing agreement with Thalys for rail service connecting its hub Amsterdam Schiphol Airport with Antwerp-Centraal and Bruxelles Midi/Brussel Zuid.

Thalys targets a passenger market in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany.

The percentage of income coming from different routes[16] demonstrates on which routes the company is most used:

• Paris-Brussels: 55.6%
• Paris-Belgium (outside Brussels): 8.9%
• Paris-Belgium-Netherlands: 21.3%
• Paris-Belgium-Germany: 11.8%
• Others: 2.4%

52% of customers are from the leisure market; 48% from the business market.

A large segment of Thalys's total sales and income comes from the connection between Paris and Brussels.

Unlike many national train companies, Thalys does not allow children below 12 years old to travel alone.

Since 24 August 2010, there has been a supplement of €7 to Thalys (as well as other international high-speed tickets) tickets bought at SNCB/NMBS ticket offices at train stations (but not on tickets bought over the Internet). This is due to a reduction of a sales fee paid by Thalys and Eurostar to the Belgian rail company.[17] The sales prices have evolved, and in June 2019 that "booking fee" (as it is called) is €9.

A Thalys PBA and PBKA coupled in Paris Nord

Hergé Thalys

Thalys uses two models of trains, both of which are part of the TGV (train à grande vitesse) family of high-speed trains built by Alstom in France.

Class	Image	Type	Top speed		Number	Built	Notes
			km/h	mph
PBA		Electric multiple unit	300[40]	186	9[1]	1996	Tri-current; Operates only on the Paris–Brussels–Amsterdam route.
PBKA		Electric multiple unit	300	186	17	1997	Quadri-current; Operates on Paris–Brussels–Cologne–(Dortmund) and Paris-Brussels-Amsterdam routes.

Thalys PBKA at Köln Messe/Deutz station with an Essen-bound train

• On 9 May 1998, a truck was struck by a Thalys PBKA on an unprotected level crossing; it had attempted to cross the tracks at the crossing when the train arrived. The truck driver was killed in the impact and the train's power unit and first two-passenger carriages derailed; the trainset was left heavily damaged. Six passengers were injured and tracks and catenary were broken in the incident. Passenger carriages R1 and R2 had to be scrapped. The trainset was later repaired with the R1 and R2 carriages from a regular TGV trainset.
• On 11 October 2008, a Thalys PBA set bound for Amsterdam collided with a national ICM train set at Gouda railway station in the Netherlands. The Thalys train set had been diverted via Gouda due to engineering work on its usual route. None of the passengers were seriously injured, but both trains incurred serious damage. An investigation concluded that staff of the ICM was to blame, as they left the platform whilst still under a red signal.[41][42]
• On 21 August 2015, a gunman attacked passengers on an Amsterdam–Paris train near Arras. The incident was treated as a terrorist attack. Three passengers plus the assailant received non-fatal injuries.[43][44]

• Cologne–Aachen high-speed railway
• HSL 1
• HSL 2
• HSL 3
• HSL 4
• HSL-Zuid
• LGV Nord
• Train categories in Europe
• IZY – Thalys low-cost service