The Thalys PBKA is a high-speed train

High-speed rail

High-speed rail is a type of passenger rail transport that operates significantly faster than the normal speed of rail traffic. Specific definitions by the European Union include for upgraded track and or faster for new track, whilst in the United States, the U.S...

 derived from the French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 TGV

TGV

The TGV is France's high-speed rail service, currently operated by SNCF Voyages, the long-distance rail branch of SNCF, the French national rail operator....

. It operates the Thalys

Thalys

Thalys is an international high-speed train operator originally built around the high-speed line between Paris and Brussels. This track is shared with Eurostar trains that go from Paris or Brussels to London via Lille and the Channel Tunnel and with French domestic TGV trains. Thalys reaches...

 service between Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

, Brussels

Brussels

Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...

, Cologne

Cologne

Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...

  and Amsterdam

Amsterdam

Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...

, forming the abbreviation PBKA.

Unlike Thalys PBA sets, the PBKA sets were built exclusively for the Thalys service. Their motor cars are technologically similar to those of TGV Duplex

SNCF TGV Duplex

The TGV Duplex is a French high-speed train of the TGV family, operated by SNCF, the French national railway company. It is unique among TGV trains in that it features bi-level carriages. The Duplex inaugurated the third generation of TGV trainsets, and was specially designed to increase capacity...

 sets, but the trains do not feature bi-level carriages

Bilevel car

The bilevel car or double-decker coach is a type of rail car that has two levels of passenger accommodation, as opposed to one, increasing passenger capacity ....

. They have eight carriages and are 200 m (656 ft) long, weighing a total of 385 tonnes. They have a capacity of 377 seats.

All of the trains are quadri-current, capable of operating under 25kV 50 Hz AC

25 kV AC

The 25 kV Alternating current railway electrification system is commonly used in railways worldwide, especially for high-speed rail.-Overview:This electrification system is ideal for railways that cover long distances and/or carry heavy traffic...

 (LGV

LGV

LGV may stand for:* Large Goods Vehicle in Europe.* Lymphogranuloma venereum* Lignes à Grande Vitesse, French high-speed rail lines:** LGV Atlantique** LGV Est** LGV Interconnexion Est** LGV Nord** LGV Méditerranée** LGV Picardie** LGV Rhône-Alpes...

s and a part of the French lignes classiques), 15 kV 16.7 Hz AC

15 kV AC

The AC railway electrification system is used in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Sweden and Norway. The high voltage enables high power transmission with low losses powering traction motors available since the beginning of the 20th century...

 (Germany, Switzerland), 3 kV DC (Belgium) and 1.5 kV DC (the Netherlands and the remainder of the French lignes classiques).

Their top speed in service is 300 km/h (186 mph) under 25 kV, with two power cars supplying 8,800 kW. When operating under 15 kV AC or 1,500 V DC, the power output drops to 3,680 kW, insufficient to reach 300 km/h in commercial use. Although their power-to-weight ratio

Power-to-weight ratio

Power-to-weight ratio is a calculation commonly applied to engines and mobile power sources to enable the comparison of one unit or design to another. Power-to-weight ratio is a measurement of actual performance of any engine or power sources...

 allows a 250 km/h operation under 15 kV AC, further constraints resulted in imposing a limit of 200 km/h on these trains in Germany.

Seventeen trains were ordered: nine by NMBS/SNCB

NMBS/SNCB

The National Railway Company of Belgium, known as the or the Société Nationale des Chemins de fer Belges is the Belgian national railway operator.It is usually referred to in English as "Belgian Railways" or the SNCB....

, six by SNCF

SNCF

The SNCF , is France's national state-owned railway company. SNCF operates the country's national rail services, including the TGV, France's high-speed rail network...

 and two by NS

Nederlandse Spoorwegen

Nederlandse Spoorwegen , or NS, is the principal passenger railway operator in the Netherlands.Its trains operate over the tracks of the Dutch national railinfrastructure, operated by ProRail, which was split off from NS in 2003...

. Deutsche Bahn

Deutsche Bahn

Deutsche Bahn AG is the German national railway company, a private joint stock company . Headquartered in Berlin, it came into existence in 1994 as the successor to the former state railways of Germany, the Deutsche Bundesbahn of West Germany and the Deutsche Reichsbahn of East Germany...

contributed to financing two of the SNCB sets.

Fleet details

Class	No. in Service	Year Built	Operator	Current Units	Notes
Series 43000	17	1995–1998	Thalys	4301-4307	Owned by SNCB
				4321-4322	Owned by DB
				4331-4332	Owned by NS
				4341-4346	Owned by SNCF

External links

• TGV Thalys official site (English)