Thalys (French: ) was a brand name used for high-speed train services between Paris Gare du Nord and both Amsterdam Centraal and German cities in the Rhein-Ruhr, including Aachen, Cologne, Düsseldorf, Duisburg, Essen and Dortmund, both via Brussels-South.
Thalys was created out of a political ambition formalised in October 1987 to establish a network of international high-speed railway services between the cities of Paris, Brussels, Cologne and Amsterdam. The Thalys name was created in January 1995. The company procured a fleet of Alstom-built TGV trains to operate its services as they were viewed as the only existing rolling stock suitable to the task.
On 4 June 1996, the first Thalys-branded train departed from Paris. Early services were more reliant on slower conventional lines as many of the intended new high-speed lines were still under construction. Service speeds improved with the opening of Belgium's HSL 1 line in December 1997 and the Dutch HSL-Zuid in December 2009, alongside other infrastructure works. Thalys's busiest route was the Paris–Belgium corridor; various airlines, such as Air France and KLM, opted to discontinue flights directly competing with Thalys's high speed services.
From 1996 to April 2022, the service was managed by Thalys International, which was 70% owned by the French national railway company SNCF and 30% owned by the Belgian national railway company NMBS/SNCB. It was operated by THI Factory, which was 60% owned by SNCF and 40% owned by NMBS/SNCB. which in turn was acquired by the holding company Eurostar Group during the following month. From April 2022 to September 2023, Thalys services were operated by the Eurostar Group. Since 29 September 2023, the services operate under the Eurostar name; sometimes referred to as Eurostar Red, based on the colour of the trains.
History
Background and establishment
Prior to the creation of Thalys, an express rail service had long been operating between the capital cities of Paris and Brussels, the earliest being run in 1924 in the form of the train service l'Étoile du Nord. By the 1970s, the conventional service connecting the two cities had a journey time of around two hours and 30 minutes. In the following decade, interest in an international high-speed train service along a similar route was gaining traction amongst various governments.
During October 1987, the political decision to create a network of high-speed services among the cities of Paris, Brussels, Cologne, and Amsterdam was made in Brussels.
In 2000, Thalys started a daily service between Brussels and Geneva. With its (French for 'Thalys Sun'), it started offering direct connections to 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. During 2003, Thalys services started to Brussels Airport and the Thalys Nuits d'Été service to Marne-la-Vallée. In 2007, Deutsche Bahn purchased a 10% shareholding, while SNCF reduced its stake to 62% and SNCB to 28%. While HSL 3 was completed during 2007, Thalys trains had not been initially equipped with the European Train Control System (ETCS) signaling equipment necessary to use the new line. Following the completion of installation and testing work, 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 on 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,
Since the winter 2013 schedule, Thalys has operated services stopping at Düsseldorf Airport station.
At the end of March 2015, Thalys dropped the Paris – Oostende and the Paris – Brussels – Mons – Charleroi – Namur – Liège routes; this withdrawal was reportedly due to a lack of funding from the Belgian government.
On 30 March 2015, Thalys was restructured as a conventional train operating company, adopting the name THI Factory, and has since operated under its own train operator certificate.
On 21 March 2016, services in Germany were 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.
Merger with Eurostar
thumb|Two Eurostar (formerly Thalys) trains coupled in [[Gare du Nord|Paris-Nord station on 19 October 2023: one of them still wears the Thalys logo.]]
In September 2019, the shareholders of the cross-Channel high speed train operator Eurostar and Thalys introduced a plan to merge the two companies, named project Green Speed. Both companies already operate in France, Belgium, and the Netherlands, with Eurostar also operating in the United Kingdom, and Thalys also operating in Germany, while SNCF already held a majority stake in both operators. The project was promoted as reducing costs and providing a more seamless experience to passengers via the use of a single ticketing system and loyalty program. On 28 March 2022, the European Commission approved the merger. The rebranding of Thalys services commenced in the autumn of 2023, and was planned to be completed by early in 2024. All services of the Eurostar brand will carry a common Eurostar logo, but with the cross-channel trains retaining their dark blue livery, and Thalys's rolling stock retaining its deep red livery. In April 2022, THI Factory was acquired by a new holding company, Eurostar Group; its former shareholders received a corresponding stake in the new holding company.
The change of logo on the trains took time to complete; during a transition period, some PBA/PBKA trains with the new "Eurostar" logo could be seen together with others still wearing the older "Thalys" logo.
Routes
right|thumb|300px| High-speed rail networks in Europe. Thalys line network shown in burgundy.
Beyond Brussels, the main cities Thalys trains reached were Antwerp, Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Liège, Aachen and Cologne. Trains to these destinations ran partly on dedicated high-speed tracks, and partly on conventional tracks shared with normal-speed trains. The high-speed lines formerly 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 were used.
Journeys from Brussels (Brussels-South) to Paris (Gare du Nord) were normally 1 hour and 22 minutes, for a distance of approximately . The peak service speed was while travelling a dedicated high-speed railway track, which is typically electrified at 25 kV AC by an overhead line.
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 transferred connecting passengers onto Thalys trains.
Market
Thalys targeted a passenger market in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany.
The percentage of income coming from different routes
On 24 August 2010, a supplement of €7 was charged for Thalys's (and other international high-speed services') tickets bought at SNCB/NMBS ticket offices at train stations (but not on tickets bought over the Internet). This was to compensate for a reduction of the sales fee paid by Thalys and Eurostar to the Belgian rail company.
|6.70
|7.20
|7.51
|7.85
|2.7
|2.5
|6.5
|-
|Revenue
|60
|457
|509
|527
|
|}
<small>All figures in millions. Revenue in millions of euros. </small>
Accessibility
Thalys trains were wheelchair-accessible, with the assistance of the train staff. Bicycles were not allowed on Thalys unless disassembled or packed in a special wrap. Folding bikes were allowed.
Thalys Lounge
Thalys operated station lounges in Brussels and Paris. Opened on 9 July 2015, the lounge in Paris' Gare du Nord, located on
, offered travelers with a valid My Thalys World membership (Thalys's loyalty program) a variety of services, including free WiFi and a luggage storage service. For business travelers, a fully equipped meeting room was available for up to six people.
Partnership with Airlines
Prior to September 2023, Thalys had codeshare agreements with the following airlines:
- Brussels Airlines
- Delta Air Lines
Prior to September 2023, Thalys had Interline agreements with the following airlines:
- KLM
Rolling stock
Thalys used two models of trains, both of which were part of the TGV (train à grande vitesse) family of high-speed trains built by Alstom in France.
{| class="wikitable"
|- style="background:#f9f9f9;"
! rowspan="2" | Class
! rowspan="2" |Image
! rowspan="2" | Type
! colspan="2" | Top speed
! rowspan="2" | Number
! rowspan="2" | Built
! rowspan="2" | Notes
|- style="background:#f9f9f9;"
! km/h
! mph
|-
|PBA
|100px
|Electric multiple unit
|300
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Further reading
External links
- Official website