Belgians took 8:30 a.m. on Sunday to travel from Paris to Liège by train. A Thalys with 300 passengers was stuck for several hours near Paris with faulty air conditioning. This is the third time in a few weeks that Thalys trains have been blocked for several hours between Paris and Brussels.
Two major breakdowns thus took place in 5 days in very hot weather. What happened ?
“The two incidents are technically independent. The first is related to the production of compressed air. The second is electrical”says Jacques Damas, CEO of Eurostar-Thalys. “The temperature is probably a factor that played into the blackout last Tuesday evening.“
Each time, the same complaints from the passengers. Very little information and an endless wait. Have they been handled correctly?
“The treatment is never beyond reproach. The first concern is to limit the consequences for our travelers in circumstances that are extremely difficult for them. We are fully aware of this. The scenario that was chosen was the most effective given the circumstances”adds Jacques Damas.
The rail system has been weakened by the pandemic. Especially with a lack of staff. Can Eurostar-Thalys still offer quality service to its customers?
“We were careful, we knew that this summer was going to be difficult. The first measure was to lower the transport plan a little bit to try to recover as quickly as possible in the quality of our service and restore confidence as quickly as possible. of our travellers”concludes Jacques Damas.
The company says it has taken steps to compensate the travelers.
Yes, compensation but not accurate the amount. The train was délayer almost two hours and they offer a compensation of only 25% of the ticket to me. Incompetence even in the calculation of the compensation which should be 50% of the ticket. I tried to rectify but they have already processed it. I felt ill during the trip because of the bad ventilation.