Thalys, the high-speed rail service connecting Brussels with
Paris, Amsterdam and Cologne, last week began taking reservations for private,
onboard meeting rooms, available from Jan. 12, 2011. Dubbed Le Salon, each room
will include four large armchairs, a conference table, Wi-Fi access and power
outlets.
The price of renting Le Salon is approximately 10 percent
higher than four full-fare, first-class Thalys tickets. The price for a room on
the Brussels-Paris route, for example, is €600 each way, including four train
tickets, compared with €552 for four first-class tickets purchased
individually.
Thalys service between Brussels and Paris is 1 hour and 22
minutes, and has almost completely eliminated airline competition on the route.
The Brussels-Cologne rail journey is 1 hour and 47 minutes while elapsed time
on Brussels-Amsterdam services is 1 hour and 53 minutes. Although Brussels is
the central point of its network, Thalys is 62 percent owned by French rail operator
SNCF, with the Belgian operator SNCB owning 28 percent and Deutsche Bahn 10
percent. Total passenger count during the first half of 2010 jumped about 14
percent versus a year earlier.