Travelling from Brussels to different locations in Germany aboard the high-speed Thalys trains is cheaper from Tuesday.
From Tuesday onwards, the price of the Standard Mini ticket- Thalys' cheapest ticket category- will drop from €19 to €16.
This decrease in price is the result of a VAT reduction in Germany, specifically related to tickets for long-distance journeys by train, Belga news agency reports.
The price decrease is "an important signal to convince more people to travel by train," said Thalys CEO, Bertrand Gosselin.
Importantly, however, the price decrease only applies to the 'Standard Mini' ticket category- which is non-exchangeable and non-refundable. Prices for the other ticket categories- Standard, Comfort and Premium- will not change.
"If we applied [reductions] proportionally to all rates, the price decrease [on the tickets] would be too limited. That is why we have chosen to [apply] the full savings on one rate," a Thalys spokesperson explains.
Moreover, the number of tickets available within the Standard Mini category will stay the same, the spokesperson added.
Thalys' high-speed trains connect Brussels up to five times per day with the German cities of Aachen, Cologne, Düsseldorf, Duisburg, Essen and Dortmund.
Evie McCullough
The Brussels Times
