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.[1] It was operated by THI Factory, which was 60% owned by SNCF and 40% owned by NMBS/SNCB. Between 2007 and 2013, the German national railway company Deutsche Bahn had also held a 10% stake in the company.
On 30 March 2015, Thalys was restructured as a conventional train operating company, becoming less reliant on SNCF and NMBS/SNCB. During September 2019, a plan was announced to merge Thalys and the cross-Channel high-speed train operator Eurostar. Approval of the merger was issued by the European Commission on 28 March 2022. In February 2022, Thalys International was integrated into THI Factory,[2] 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.[3]
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.[3] However, in 1991, the Dutch parliament initially rejected the project; continued discussions led to an agreement being reached with Belgium for a route via Breda instead of Roosendaal. The building of the HSL-Zuid high speed line in the Netherlands was finally approved in 1996.[3]
Routes
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 300 km. The peak service speed was 300 km/h 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. Thalys had been given the IATA designator 2H. This is used in conjunction with American Airlines and Delta Air Lines. American Airlines had a code-sharing agreement with Thalys for rail service from Charles de Gaulle airport to Brussels-South. The airline alliance SkyTeam also had a code-sharing agreement with Thalys for rail service connecting its hub Amsterdam Schiphol Airport with Antwerp-Centraal and Bruxelles Midi/Brussel Zuid. Thalys and the Dutch flagcarrier
Market
Thalys targeted a passenger market in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany.
The percentage of income coming from different routes demonstrated on which routes the company was most used:
52% of customers were from the leisure market, while 48% were from the business market. A large segment of Thalys's total sales and income came from the connection between Paris and Brussels.[9]
Unlike many national train companies, Thalys did not allow children below 12 years old to travel alone. Children onboard Thalys services had to be accompanied and possess appropriate travel documents as required by the relevant national authorities pertaining to the journey being made.[22]
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. The supplement increased over time and by June 2019 had risen to €9.
All figures in millions. Revenue in millions of euros.
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.
Accidents and incidents
- 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 the 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 train was to blame, as they left the station while still under a red signal.
- 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 along with the gunman received non-fatal injuries.
See also
- 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
Further reading
External links
References
- A company on a human scale Thalys, retrieved 22 January 2020^
- Données de l'entité enregistrée kbopub.economie.fgov.be, retrieved 30 March 2022^
- 25th anniversary of Thalys: how did it start? railtech.com, 2 June 2021