I'm going from Brussels to Amsterdam in Sept and was thinking of taking the Thalys hi-speed train. But it doesn't seem very high speed! For a roughly 100 mile journey it takes about 2 hours. It only takes 45 minutes longer by the pokey inter-city and is significantly less expensive since the cheap 25E Thalys fares are gone.
Does anyone have reasons to take Thaly anyway over the inter-city? Thought I'd better check with people who've done one or the other, before I decide.
Comes down to an issue of time...if you want to save 45 minutes use the Thalys. Most of time time savings are for those passengers that take the whole journey from Paris to Amsterdam. The reason the Thalys trains can't go any faster is because the stations in Holland are close to one another...it takes time for a high-speed train to slow down.
The IC trains require no advance reservations and you're not locked into a specific departure, as with the Thalys.
if comfort is important, take the thalys. we just yesterday returned to paris from amsterdam on the thalys (by way of brussels) as we waited on the platform for our train, the other side of the platform was being loaded with a 'pokey inter-city' train. i gaped at how many people were crammed on--many standing or sitting on the stairs (these particular trains were double deckers) the sign above our platform (thankfully) stated 'reserved seats only'--the other did NOT. it functioned like a metro train--and looked like one during rush hour! so you could end up on a crazy crowded inter-city train...for two hours and 45 minutes. standing. crammed in with way too many people. we're on a budget, but i'd pick the more expensive, more civil trip any time. but then, that's me! (and before you ask, yes, we fly coach. and had second class rail fare everywhere. but we had seats--and so did everyone else on the train.)
