I travelled on Thalys recently - an extremely poor experience as a passenger.
It was a Sunday afternoon journey in Comfort 1. The stock seemed tired. Food offering on departure was measly - the tiniest filled roll, a single drinks run - and that was it. I wondered if this was because it was a Sunday, but on chatting with a fellow passenger, apparently this was normal on the route into Germany.
There was then an issue with my ticket. Despite having a valid printed ticket for travel, which clearly displayed all the required information (seat, train number etc), when scanned my ticket was not registered on the conductor's hand held device. He was rude, obnoxious and gave the impression that this was all my fault. He was unhelpful and started demanding that I buy a new ticket. If I were not a more relaxed person, I'd have got quite agitated and had I been a nervous traveller it would have been a very worrying experience.
Eventually, by negotiating with him in French I managed to convince him to check with his control centre. He took my ticket, and returned an hour later saying "everything is fine" before walking off.
The toilets were disgusting and smelt foul - myself and another passenger reported this, but the crew were not interested.
I would not choose Thalys again, and wish I'd altered my plans slightly so I could travel by ICE (the times weren't favourable).
Very poor for an international rail service, and sadly, an e-mail complaint to them has gone unanswered. I understand they have a monopoly on the route from Paris to Amsterdam - perhaps this is the reason for my experience, or maybe I was just unlucky?
It was a Sunday afternoon journey in Comfort 1. The stock seemed tired. Food offering on departure was measly - the tiniest filled roll, a single drinks run - and that was it. I wondered if this was because it was a Sunday, but on chatting with a fellow passenger, apparently this was normal on the route into Germany.
There was then an issue with my ticket. Despite having a valid printed ticket for travel, which clearly displayed all the required information (seat, train number etc), when scanned my ticket was not registered on the conductor's hand held device. He was rude, obnoxious and gave the impression that this was all my fault. He was unhelpful and started demanding that I buy a new ticket. If I were not a more relaxed person, I'd have got quite agitated and had I been a nervous traveller it would have been a very worrying experience.
Eventually, by negotiating with him in French I managed to convince him to check with his control centre. He took my ticket, and returned an hour later saying "everything is fine" before walking off.
The toilets were disgusting and smelt foul - myself and another passenger reported this, but the crew were not interested.
I would not choose Thalys again, and wish I'd altered my plans slightly so I could travel by ICE (the times weren't favourable).
Very poor for an international rail service, and sadly, an e-mail complaint to them has gone unanswered. I understand they have a monopoly on the route from Paris to Amsterdam - perhaps this is the reason for my experience, or maybe I was just unlucky?