Brussels-Paris-Aachen within 2.5 hours: Thank you Thalys!

The high speed Thalys train is a wonderful way to travel through Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and France.

Last week I had the pleasure of again traveling from Aachen to Brussels and Paris then back again to Aachen (Aix-la-Chapelle in French) and loved it. The convenience of taking the train is without question - adding the fact that the train only takes approx. 2.5 hours from Paris to Aachen is a big plus. Fortunately for me, Aachen is one of the two stops the train makes in Germany (Aachen and Cologne)

Granted there was a major accident outside of Brussels on February 16th of this year, the Thalys's history is almost untarnished--especially since the train typically departs and arrives on schedule. The high speed train service was first conceived in 1987 and operations began between Paris and Brussels on June 4, 1996. So exactly 14 years to the day of its first operation, I traveled from Paris to Brussels to Aachen.

Thalys International operates the trains and is mostly owned by the French rail company SNCF so it is divided between SNCF (the major capital owner), SNCB, and DB.

Check out the main site to learn more about the train and operations :

http://www.thalys.com/