Thalys Bullet

The **Thalys Bullet** is an electric locomotive in the game Railroad Tycoon II. It becomes available in 1994, and until the Mag-Lev becomes available in 2008, it is the fastest locomotive in the entire game. It is also one of the most expensive locomotives in the game, so it can really only be used on long express routes between two large cities. It can haul a 6 car passenger train at around 140mph.

## Strategy

When the Thalys Bullet comes out in 1994, it is a good option as a replacement for previous "bullet" trains, such as the Shinkansen and TGV, purely for the speed increase. Though it is more expensive to operate, the Thalys will get to the destination much faster, and in turn generate a more significant profit. If playing on a North American map, it is the first opportunity to get such a fast locomotive, and it's a great opportunity to make huge money between big cities. Another great aspect of the Thalys Bullet is it's great acceleration, which means it will be able to reach a great speed within 5-7 seconds. However, the annoying aspect is it's horrendous reliability, and within a few years, the breakdown chance will increase to over 20-30% per year. The mean distance before a breakdown is likely to occur is only a disappointingly low 1400 tiles. Compared to the Eurostar (also 1994), the Thalys Bullet has greater speed, and slightly better acceleration, and initial cost ($600K less). Though the Eurostar has slightly better hauling ability, the Thalys Bullet's higher free weight means that it can haul more cars at a higher speed (beats the Eurostar by 6-10mph with a full pax train). However, the Eurostar is significantly better in the reliability department (mean breakdown distance over four times longer), and also it's running costs are far lower (see below). Generally, the Eurostar is the better choice, but this doesn't mean the Thalys Bullet is useless. On North American maps, the Eurostar is unavailable, and if the player doesn't have the TSC expansion pack, they will have to stick to the Thalys. The Thalys bullet is also very useful if the company is still growing, as it is cheaper in building cost, and will likely make higher short-term revenues than the Eurostar. However, as mentioned before, the Eurostar's great reliability makes it always the better choice than the Thalys Bullet if playing for the long haul. The Mag-Lev TBX-1 becomes available in 2008, and this locomotive is much faster, but also ridiculously more expensive. Under normal circumstances, the player should continue to use the Thalys Bullet beyond that point just because less micromanagement is required when using the Thalys.

## History

**Thalys** is an international high-speed train operator originally built around the LGV Nord high-speed line between Paris and Brussels.

The SNCF **TGV Réseau** (TGV-R) trains were built by Alstom between 1992 and 1996. These TGV trainsets are based on the earlier TGV Atlantique.

The first Réseau (*"Network"*) sets entered service in 1993. Fifty dual-voltage trainsets were built in 1992-1994, numbered 501-550. A further 40 triple-voltage trainsets, numbered 4501-4540, were built in 1994-1996. The last ten triple voltage units carry the Thalys livery and are known as Thalys PBA (Paris-Brussels-Amsterdam) sets. As well as using standard French voltages of 25 kV AC and 1,500 V DC (also used in the Netherlands), the triple voltage sets can operate under the Belgian and Italian 3 kV DC supplies.
They are formed of two power cars (8,800 kW or 11,800 hp under 25 kV—like the TGV Atlantique) and eight carriages, giving a capacity of 377 seats. They have a top speed of 300 km/h (186 mph). They are 200 m (656 ft) long and are 2.904 m (9 ft 6.3 in) wide. The dual-voltage sets weigh 383 t (377 long tons; 422 short tons), and owing to axle-load restrictions in Belgium the triple-voltage sets have a series of modifications, such as the replacement of steel with aluminium and hollow axles, to reduce the weight to under 17 t (16.7 long tons; 18.7 short tons) per axle.