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Thalys (French: [talis]) is a French-Belgian high-speed train operator originally built around the LGV Nord high-speed line between Paris and Brussels. This track is shared with Eurostar trains that go from Paris, Brussels or Amsterdam to London via Lille and the Channel Tunnel and with French domestic TGV trains. Thalys also serves Amsterdam (via the HSL-Zuid, a service part of NS International) and Cologne. Its system is managed by Thalys International — 70% SNCF, 30% NMBS/SNCB [2] — and operated by THI Factory — 60% SNCF, 40% NMBS/SNCB.[3]
Contents
1 History
1.1 Merger with Eurostar
2 Routes
3 Market
3.1 Accessibility
3.2 Thalys Lounge
4 Rolling stock
5 Accidents and incidents
6 See also
7 References
8 Further reading
History
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]
