The Thalys PBKA is a TGV variant ordered and operated by Thalys between its namesake cities Paris, Brussels, Cologne (German: Köln) and Amsterdam, forming the abbreviation PBKA. The sets have eight carriages and are 200 m (656 ft 2 in) long, weighing a total of 385 tonnes. They have a capacity of 377 seats. They were intended to be Thalys' sole rolling stock, but their extreme cost and complexity led SNCF to order a simpler sister class, the Thalys PBA, a TGV Réseau derivative, with which they can work in multiple.

All of the trains are quadri-current, capable of operating under 25 kV 50 Hz AC (LGVs and a part of the French lignes classiques), 15 kV 16.7 Hz AC (Germany), 3 kV DC (Belgium) and 1.5 kV DC (the Netherlands and the remainder of the French lignes classiques).

Their maximum speed in regular service is 300 km/h (186 mph) with 8,800 kW (11,801 hp) under 25 kV AC, 250 km/h (155 mph) with 5,160 kW (6,920 hp) under 15 kV AC, and 220 km/h (137 mph) with 3,680 kW (4,935 hp) under 1,500 V DC;[1] further constraints resulted in imposing a limit of 200 km/h (124 mph) on these trains in Germany.[2]

Seventeen trains were ordered: nine by SNCB/NMBS, six by SNCF and two by NS. Deutsche Bahn 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
4331-4332 Owned by NS
4341-4346 Owned by SNCF

See also

References

  1. ^ Alain Jeunesse and Michel Rollin (March 2004). "La motorisation du TGV POS" (in French). Retrieved 2007-07-04.
  2. ^ "railfaneurope.net". 2009-03-07. Retrieved 2009-03-15.

External links