From: stephen@sprunk.org

On 13-Apr-15 14:10, Stephen Sprunk wrote:
> On 13-Apr-15 13:23, Marc Van Dyck wrote:
>> jimmygeldburg@gmail.com used his keyboard to write :
>>> Stephen Sprunk wrote:
>>>> I traveled overnight from Paris to Amsterdam in a couchette,
>>>> and I really liked that concept.  There was absolutely no
>>>> privacy (5 other strangers in the same room), but it was a
>>>> _lot_ cheaper than having a room to myself and more comfortable
>>>> than a coach seat; I probably wouldn't have made the trip at
>>>> all if that option weren't available
>>>
>>> The Thalys makes that trip in 3:18.  Why do you need an
>>> overnight train?

It wasn't 3:18 then.  When Thalys first started in 1996, that trip took
4:47--about 50% longer than today, not much faster than conventional
trains.  That went down ~40mins with HSL-1 (1997) and another ~50mins
with HSL-4 and HSL-Zuid (2009).

(Compare to US intercity rail, which gets _slower_ every year.)

>> As far as I remember, the Thalys and the overnight train never
>> coexisted. As usual with SNCF, when TGVs came in, all other trains
>> on the same journey disappeared. So Stephen did not have the
>> choice. There were daytime trains that took approximately 6 hours
>> for that journey.
>
> At the time, there were both CoRail night trains and Thalys day
> trains on that route; perhaps the former hadn't been discontinued yet
> because SNCF itself didn't (and AFAICT still doesn't) operate TGVs
> there.

FWIW, that should have been in late 1999; I remember the millennium
countdown clock on the Eiffel Tower.  None of my (film) pictures from
Amsterdam have dates, and my passport doesn't have any Belgian or Dutch
stamps--I assume due to Schengen, so I can't be more exact.

S

--
Stephen Sprunk         "God does not play dice."  --Albert Einstein
CCIE #3723         "God is an inveterate gambler, and He throws the
K5SSS        dice at every possible opportunity." --Stephen Hawking

--- SoupGate/W32 v1.03
 * Origin: LiveWire BBS -=*=- UseNet FTN Gateway (1:2320/1)