There are 2 units coupled together between Brussels and Paris on Thalys 9428 : one comes from Amsterdam (THA9328) and the other one starts in Brussels. Now there may be a technical problem on the Brussels unit (yours) as that train is cancelled tomorrow and all the next days. Still weird I agree...

Now they have to rebook you on any other Thalys train (regardless of the passholder quota if you have a Eurail pass) at no extra cost. Are you able to contact them ?

We don’t have the Eurorail pass. And it’s not tomorrow. It’s on July 12th.
 

I’ve tried contacting them but all they have is a Facebook messenger or Twitter. And based on peoples responses THALYS doesn’t respond. 
 

i’ll continue to try to reach them.

thanks

Yes I've understood that. The same applies, they have to offer a solution at no extra cost

As your train is cancelled pretty much every day, there must be a reason behind that but that doesn't matter : they have to provide something. Wasn't it written on the cancellation email you received ?

No. this is the text of the email..I booked thru EURail. 

Dear customer,

We contact you regarding your reservation for the Thalys with number 9428 on 12/07/2023.

Due to materiel problems on the Thalys rail network from 10/07/2023 to 16/07/2023, your Thalys is cancelled.

Accordingly, we offer you a free exchange or a refund. Please contact your initial point of sale to do so.

Consult Thalys.com or the Thalys app for more up to date information.

We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your understanding.

The Thalys team

Well it is clearly written free exchange.

Go to thalys.com (if you bought tickets there), find your booking and you should be able to select other connections that match your wishes.

Click on tickets on the top right of the home screen.

Yes, but we don’t want an exchange. My question is, 1) is that train route really cancelled on that day? As you can clearly reserve it today.  

And 2) can they force us to have to book at the higher price, which is 3 times higher than what we originally paid. 

I guess I just answered my own question. :(

It could very well be the case that only half the train is running: 1 trainset instead of 2. But since both trainsets are running with their own train number, technically one of them has been cancelled.

No they can't. If you want to travel, they have to offer a free exchange, even if it's for the other trainset running at the same time. If you want to travel, that is technically an exchange and the best is to arrange that ASAP.

Why wouldn’t you want to exchange? I did it a couple of times (because of strikes in France) and it was quick, easy without any extra cost via the way @thibcabe explained. Done in seconds. There are strict passenger and consumer rights in the EU, no need to doom think.

Seems like last summer is repeating itself again. Thalys is a bit short on trains. Last summer Thalys had a lot of technical problems on their trains also led to a lot of cancellations, but rebooking was always done correct, easy and without extra cost.

Thanks all. I bought out tickets through Eurorail. I’ve asked for an Exhange to train running around the same date\time. I will do the same with Thalys. 

Thanks!

So you have Eurail (not Eurorail) passes and bought seat reservations through eurail.com ? That would have been helpful to know. Seat reservations have a fixed price but they do sell out.

The same exchange process applies. Go to thalys.com and enter the booking reference you received by email.

This is much more straightforward than going via customer support.

On the one hand you say "We don’t have the Eurorail pass” but also "bought out tickets through Eurorail”.

Please note that Eurail does not sell regular tickets but only Eurail passes and pass reservations. You can only use pass reservations if you have a Eurail pass.

Thalys says to contact the salespoint where I bought the tickets to make the changes. Hopefully, Rail Europe will exchange at same cost as the price is 3 times as high now. 

I'm not sure what role Rail Europe can play if you didn't buy your tickets/reservations there.

In any case, your original point of sale is obliged to exchange free of charge.

So you bought tickets through Rail Europe, ok. This is not the same thing as Eurail.

However the same process still applies. Please go to thalys.com and exchange them there, whatever customer support said. Let us know if that doesn't work.

I’m at Thalys.com and it says to contact the initial point of sale which is Rail Europe. I’ve reached out to Rail Europe. Fingers crossed! 

Well, rail Europe says they are still waiting to hear back from Thalys. Thalys’ response is delayed as they are extremely backlogged with these requests. Thalys site shows that train route is out of service for a full week! “sigh”