Thalys is a train company operating high-speed train services from Amsterdam to Brussels and onwards to Paris as well as from Brussels to Cologne in Germany. The company was launched in 1996 to cut the travel times between the three capitals, just two years after the launch of Eurostar, connecting London with continental Europe using the tunnel under the English channel.
Thalys has created a premium product not very different from the premium services offered by many airlines, including lounges at the major railway stations, dedicated first class carriages, proper first class seats with more legroom, Wi-Fi onboard the trains, power sockets at the seat, and a train attendant serving food and drinks t. Thalys also runs a loyalty program called ‘Thalys TheCard’ with the possibility to earn and redeem points on train tickets. There are four tier levels in the program – Silver, Gold, Platinum and Platinum+.
This is a review of a train journey from Amsterdam to Brussels in Thalys “Comfort 1”.
Departure experience
The ticket was booked from Amsterdam but as I noticed the train also stopped at Schiphol airport I decided to board the train there instead. The price turned out to be the same anyway.
The ticket was booked on the Thalys webpage and I could print the ticket myself at home. I was assigned a seat already during the booking process. I could indicate what kind of seat I wanted, in my case a single window seat, but I did not get the option to choose a specific seat or change the seat after the booking was made.
Passengers in Comfort 1 are entitled to lounge access at the major railway stations before departure. In The Netherlands the lounges are run by the national train company NS and surprisingly there is even a lounge at Amsterdam Schiphol, which I did not expect. The lounge is located on the arrivals level of the terminal building and although it is clearly signposted it is rather well hidden in a shopping arcade.
I had very little time before departure so I never bothered to enter, but based on previous experiences the NS lounges usually offer coffee, tea and soft drinks, some newspapers and free internet access.
The train to Brussels and Paris departed from platform 5. The train was five minutes late, which turned out to be the case on all southbound trains this late morning.
On the platform an electric board indicated where the different carriages would stop on the platform, to facilitate the boarding process for passengers. According to the board there would be three first class carriages and five second class carriages.
As the train arrived and stopped a train attendant got off and greeted each passenger by the door to the carriage while at the same time briefly checking our tickets so we boarded the right carriage.
I had been assigned a seat in Coach 1, seat nr 74. A single window seat, exactly the preference during the booking process. Roughly 50 percent of the seats were taken.
Seat and comfort
The carriage had 33 seats in a 2-1 configuration, in contrast to second class (Comfort 2) which has a 2-2 configuration. Coach 1 also differed from the other two first class carriages as it also had a separate conference compartment called “Le Salon” with four seats at the far end of the train. The other two first class carriages instead have 39 seats.
Each carriage had a toilet and one or two baggage racks for larger bags. There were also newspapers and magazines available as well as free wireless internet. The password was available on the ticket.
The design was mainly in red and metal and overall felt slightly old and worn.
The first class seat is larger and wider than the seat in second class. The seat back can be reclined to some extent and also has a personal tray table. Each seat also has a power socket which is very useful for those who want to work onboard.
Food and drinks
A couple of minutes after departure from Schiphol the service started and the train attendant passed through the carriage with a trolley, virtually at the same time as our tickets were checked.
Before the snack service all passengers were offered a refreshing towel.
Given a departure at 11.30 am, arriving in Brussels at 1.08 pm, I had expected a proper lunch to be served onboard, something along the lines written on the Thalys webpage: “In Comfort 1, during any international journey lasting more than 50 minutes, our on-board crew will offer you a meal service at your seat!”
The Thalys website also listed the eight different menus available onboard, for example this one:
Coffee choux bun
However it turned out this was not a lunch train service, this was a snack train service. Instead of serving a three courses lunch the attendant asked me to choose something to eat from a tray, including a very small sandwich, a cake and a pastry. I chose the tiny sandwich with cheese and ordered a cup of coffee and a bottle of white wine, a Sauvignon Blanc from France.
I was rather disappointed but also puzzled why a train departing just before noon and arriving just after 1 pm would not have lunch onboard. After a quick stop in Rotterdam the trolley passed a second time through the carriage, clearing the tables and offering refills. I asked for another bottle of wine.
I spent most of the remaining time working, making use of the free internet in first class. Just like on most trains (and aircrafts) the speed varied considerably during the trip, from perfectly acceptable in the beginning in urban areas to very slow later during the trip when passing through some rural areas, even making some simple mobile websites hard to access. The service is certainly not meant for those who wish to stream videos or download large files onboard, but it works find for sending and receiving e-mail messages or visiting simple mobile webpages.
I also noticed there was only one toilet in each carriage. The one in our carriage seemed to be broken and as we were approaching Brussels, where many people would get off, there was no chance of using any of the remaining toilets onboard as they were all occupied with people waiting.
Arrival experience
The train made a last stop in Antwerp before arriving at Brussels Midi station just after 1 pm, right according to timetable. The Midi/Zuid station, also known as Brussels South, is located in the southern part of the city centre and is used by all international train companies. However passengers going to the main city centre need to take a local train to Brussels Central or take the Metro.
As we arrived the train attendant bid each passenger goodbye at the door.
Final impression
The Thalys high-speed train service was designed to be an attractive alternative to the plane. Routes such as Amsterdam-Brussels and Brussels-Paris are really too short to fly when you also need to get to and from the airports and allow time for check-in, security control, boarding formalities and baggage reclaim.
The service as such was fine. Amsterdam to Brussels in just over 90 minutes is hard to beat. The seat was comfortable and the train attendant friendly and approachable. However the ‘meal’ was a major disappointment. Even as a snack that sandwich was tiny and left me hungry and as we arrived at 1 pm I had to start my visit to Brussels by looking for a place to eat at the railway station.
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