Anyone who wants to take a ride on the Thalys is now almost too late. From Sunday, the name will disappear from trains after more than a quarter of a century. The high-speed line between Amsterdam, Brussels and Paris will continue to be known as Eurostar.
No, the 25 Thalys trains will not suddenly change completely. The well-known burgundy red with silver gray remains normal. Repainting all equipment in Eurostar blue and yellow is too expensive, Eurostar spokesperson Nicolas Petteau said. However, from Saturday September 30, the first trains with the name Eurostar will be running. “All trains will have the Eurostar logo in the coming months. That operation is ongoing and should be completed by the end of this year.”
The biggest change that travelers will notice from Saturday is the replacement of the Thalys.com website and the Thalys app. Tickets must now be purchased via Eurostar.com. “There will also be a joint loyalty program.”
The name change is the direct result of the merger between Eurostar and Thalys, which was announced in 2019. It is better for travelers if they can go to one provider, the French and Belgian railways, shareholders in both carriers, stated at the time. An equally important reason for the merger is the lower costs: after all, only one ticket system is needed and marketing costs decrease.
“Eurostar better known”
The merger almost did not go ahead: due to the corona pandemic, passenger numbers plummeted after 2020 and Eurostar fell into dire straits. Two years later, the two carriers resumed their plans, after which the merger was finally completed last year.
The Thalys flashes over the Hollands Diep. © Ton Poortvliet
The name Thalys is a victim of this and disappears. “Although both Eurostar and Thalys are well known in Europe, Eurostar is better known outside Europe,” the Belgian railway NMBS explained its decision two years ago.
Most travelers will not regret the demise of the Thalys name. The name, which means nothing else, was coined in the mid-1990s after the French, Belgian, Dutch and German railways joined forces in 1993. The goal: high-speed connections between Amsterdam, Brussels, Cologne and Paris.
French name
Brand agency Globrands was then commissioned to come up with a brand name. The name had to sound French: after all, the French SNCF was the major shareholder and was in charge. The result had to be ‘dynamic, businesslike, feminine and innovative’ and radiate ‘attainable luxury’.
The fast PR guys then came up with Thalys. “The result, the Thalys brand concept, is surprising and idiosyncratic in many respects and shows courage,” Globrands continues to congratulate itself online on the discovery. More than ten years later, Globrands also came up with the name Fyra, the failed high-speed route between Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Brussels.
The Thalys route between Amsterdam, Brussels and Paris. Since 2019, the fast train also visits Disneyland Paris.
The first Thalys then runs on June 2, 1996 between Paris Gare du Nord, Brussels and Amsterdam. Since the Belgian and Dutch high-speed rail lines have not yet been constructed, the top speed of 300 km/h can only be driven on the French route. The journey therefore takes almost five hours, 4:47 hours to be precise.
At the end of December 1997, half an hour will be reduced when the 73 km long stretch of high-speed rail between Brussels and the French border is completed. The HSL track between Antwerp and Amsterdam was only opened in December 2009. Since then, travelers can travel from the capital to Paris in 3 hours and 20 minutes. From Rotterdam it is more than 2.5 hours.
Disneyland Paris
Nevertheless, the connection has been a huge success since its inception in 1996. Thalys has transported 144 million passengers in the past 27 years. Last year, 6.5 million people bought a ticket, a record. The direct connection between Amsterdam and Disneyland Paris, which was launched in 2019, has proven to be a bull’s eye.
There were also bad days. The Thalys was world news in 2015 when a Moroccan jihadist opened fire on the train filled with hundreds of passengers. Heroic action by three American friends, all of whom happened to be military, prevented a massacre. They overpowered the gunman who boarded in Brussels and handed the suspect over to the police at the Arras station in northern France. Only four people were injured.
The foiled attack was made into a film three years later by none other than Clint Eastwood. Americans Spencer Stone, Anthony Sadler and Alek Skarlatos also received the Legion of Honor from French President Francois Hollande and were received at the White House by Barack Obama.
Since September 30, all Thalys trains have been operating under the Eurostar flag. The Eurostar Group will make it an official moment on Wednesday, October 18. “We will officially inaugurate the new Eurostar to Paris at Amsterdam Central Station,” said spokesperson Petteau.
The Thalys at Brussels South on May 24, 1996, just before the maiden voyage, in an archive photo from the AD.
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2023-09-30 17:43:52
#Goodbye #Thalys #Highspeed #train #years
