A new rail link between Brussels and Paris has been announced: OUIGO. The novelty: going slower than before. OUIGO will link the two cities three times a day in each direction, but at a lower price than its competitor.
Some have already enjoyed the comfort of the Thalys link, recently renamed EuroStar: about 28 daily connections between Paris and Brussels in 1:22 h travel time. Between 95 – 110 € per trip, the “Plus” version for about 20 € more gives you more comfortable seats and the “Premier” version for 30 – 50 € a very decent meal on your seat. If your company signs a frame contact, these get even cheaper and the service used to be excellent: you arrive at the train station, take the next available train which runs about once an hour, enjoy the newspapers and the meal – travelling like in the good old times.
Thalys was a joint-venture between the French railway SNCF and the Belgian SNCB and soon run more lines up to Germany and Amsterdam. In 2022 it was merged into EuroStar, part of a holding company created by SNCF Voyageurs, Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, SNCB, and Federated Hermes Infrastructure.
But now, SNCF has extended their cheaper OUIGO service to Brussels. Fares start from 10 € to a maximum of 59 €, and vary depending on train occupancy. Tickets include one piece of hand luggage as well as one piece of cabin luggage. The train will run three times per day and takes three hours. They will stop in Creil, d’Aulnoye-Aymeries (France) and Mons (Belgium).
Photos: EuroStar, SNCF, Belgaimage
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