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Website says no seat reservation required but it is a thalys

  • 17 July 2023
  • 6 replies
  • 221 views
R

I am planning to go from Amsterdam to Paris this thursday the 20th of July. I already knew that I won’t be able to take the TGV that goes straight to Paris Nord, but I saw that there were other options available. Now that I am deciding which train to take, I am confused. I clicked the button ‘no reservation needed’ on the interrail website and it gives me the option to go from Amsterdam-Antwerp-Paris. For both parts of the travel it says ‘ you’re ready to board’  as if there is no reservations required. However, when i went to check real-time timetables of the trains on the dutch train website (NSinternational) it said the trains were fully booked and that it was actually a thalys (and not an intercity, as it says on the interrail website). The  train code numbers and departure times are exactly the same on both websites, but NS says it is a thalys and interrail says it is an intercity. What I am asking is this: is there any way that the interrail website gives wrong information and I do actually need to make a reservation for this train (mainly from antwerp to paris)? Can I lend any rights to the website and how it says ‘you’re ready to board’? I don’t know what to do since i can’t book a seat anywhere because the interrail website says it is not required. 

Do i just risk it? What is the worst that can happen? Can the interrail website be wrong?

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Best answer by Angelo 17 July 2023, 20:55

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Angelo
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At the moment there is an error at the interrail/eurail website.

Thalys are showed as Intercity, but it is a Thalys. 

Without a reservation you will get a fine by the ticket contol or you don't get on the train or you will be kiked out at the next available station. 

I would strongly reccomend to not enter Thalys without a reservation.

Do you have any questions? Feel free to ask in the community! Known languages: Deutsch, Italiano, English.
Angelo
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Instead you can use IC direct Amsterdam-Brussels and IC to Lille. From there TGV to Paris (reservation cost 10€ or 20€).

Do you have any questions? Feel free to ask in the community! Known languages: Deutsch, Italiano, English.
R

Hi Angelo. Thank you so much for your help. So I shouldn’t trust the interrail website right now. What website do I use to find the route you recommend? I can’t find it online sadly. Everytime I search anything to brussels/antwerp/paris it gives me an ‘intercity’ that is in fact a thalys. Do you think this error will be fixed any time soon? 

T
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Interrail is never really reliable. For planning best use bahn.com, DB Navigator app or the companies websites. Hopefully it will be fixed ASAP as it is confusing a lot of travellers…

Option 1 (hourly) :

- IC Amsterdam - Antwerp (no supplement needed)

- IC Antwerp - Kortrijk - Lille-Flandres

- TGV Lille-Flandres or Lille-Europe - Paris-Nord 10€ limited fare, then 20€

Option 2 (free but infrequent) :

- IC Amsterdam - Antwerp

- IC Antwerp - Charleroi

- R Charleroi - Maubeuge

- TER Maubeuge - Paris-Nord 11:42, 15:42 or 17:42 (meaning leaving Amsterdam at 06:18, 10:18 or 12:18 for the fastest journeys)

R

Thank you so much for this travel plan. Where exactly did you come up with these routes? I am checking bahn.com but it just offers thalys options. Do I need to look at the seperate route-parts one by one? Anyhow, this helped me a lot and if i can't find the full itinerary I will probably just use your stops and look up the seperate routeparts on bahn.com

T
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Yup I know the few options available and start from there.

Yeah Thalys will always first show as it is the fastest option. Either you add via Kortrijk/Lille or via Maubeuge for example. You can also deselect some types of trains on bahn.com (it wouldn't work on interrail.eu due to the bug though).

But instead of doing that I prefer splitting the journey in separate parts : Amsterdam - Lille via Kortrjk for example.

The first part is quite easy as all trains run at least hourly between Amsterdam and Lille or Charleroi. As soon as you enter France though...

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