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Thalys PBA

The Thalys PBA was a high-speed train that was introduced as part of the Thalys network, which connects France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany. The PBA designation stands for Paris–Brussels–Amsterdam, the main route these trains initially served. In the early 1990s, the Thalys high-speed train service was developed as a collaborative project between the national railways of France (SNCF), Belgium (SNCB), and the Netherlands (NS) and built by Alstom. The Thalys PBA trains were based on the TGV Réseau design used by the French TGV but were modified to operate on the different railway electrification systems and signaling used in France, Belgium, and the Netherlands:  25 kV AC (France), 3 kV DC (Belgium), and 1.5 kV DC (Netherlands). The first Thalys services began operating in 1996, connecting Paris, Brussels, and Amsterdam, along with some extensions to Cologne (Germany). They have a maximum speed of 300 km/h (186 mph) on high-speed lines. Initially, the Thalys PBA trains were the backbone of Thalys services, but as demand grew, Thalys introduced a newer model known as Thalys PBKA (Paris–Brussels–Cologne–Amsterdam) in 1997. With the introduction of new high-speed infrastructure (like HSL Zuid in the Netherlands), some PBA trains were later used for other services, including IZY, the low-cost Thalys brand. In 2022, Thalys merged with Eurostar, forming a single European high-speed rail operator under the Eurostar Group. As part of this integration, some of the older Thalys PBA trains were gradually phased out.

February 15th 2025

 

 
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