After incidents with two Thalys trains that got stuck on the tracks for hours, the transport company is adjusting its timetable, and cancelled about 10% of its trains for checks and repairs.
Last week, two Thalys trains unexpectedly stopped during their journey because of a technical problem, resulting in hundreds of travellers who had to wait for hours in the scorching heat until the problems were solved.
As a result of the incidents, two trains had to undergo extensive repairs and checks at Thalys maintenance workshops in Paris and Brussels. As a result, Thalys will not be able to use its entire fleet, and the timetable has been adjusted until 2 September.
In most cases, it does not concern trains that are scrapped altogether, but instead trains that will be shortened, meaning that trains consisting of two trains coupled together will be shortened to a single train set, a spokesperson told Belga News Agency.
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However, should a train be cancelled completely, Thalys will provide connections before and after it. That way, passengers with an earlier or later train can still reach their destination.
The affected train passengers will be informed and can either rebook their journey free of charge or request a refund. They have one year to do so, the spokesperson added.
In the meantime, Belgian train company SNCB announced that a Thalys promotion that was supposed to be launched on Friday (today) under the title Crazy Train Days, has been postponed due to the reduced train supply of Thalys. A new promo will be offered shortly.
