Traduction automatique. Texte original en: EN - afficher l'original Thalys was established as a premier international high-speed rail brand in 1996 to provide a seamless connection between France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany. Born from a joint venture between the national railways of France (SNCF), Belgium (SNCB), and later the Netherlands (NS) and Germany (DB), the service was designed to replace the classic Trans-Europ-Express (TEE) and EuroCity trains.

On June 2nd, 1996, the first Thalys-branded train departed from Paris Gare du Nord, significantly reducing travel times: Paris to Brussels dropped to roughly 2 hours (and later 1 hour 22 minutes), while Paris to Amsterdam was cut to under 5 hours.

The TGV PBA is the international variant of the TGV Réseau, specifically configured for the Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam corridor. While based on the standard 8-car articulated TGV Réseau design, these sets were custom-built to be triple-voltage (1.5kV DC, 3kV DC and 25kV AC) to navigate the different electrification systems of the three partner countries.

Originally consisting of 10 trainsets, the fleet was reduced to 9 active units (4532 - 4540) after set 4531 was returned to SNCF’s domestic fleet and renumbered as TGV Réseau 4551. / Sources: https://www.railtech.com/policy/2021/06/02/25th-anniversary-of-thalys-how-did-it-start/, http://the-mediarail-chronicles.blogspot.com/2010/03/thalys-fact-sheet.html, https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/TGV_PBA