PBKA is a
high-speed trainset, manufactured by the French company
GEC-Alsthom, and used on the international
Eurostar
Eurostar is an international high-speed rail service in Western Europe, connecting Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.
The service is operated by the Eurostar Group which was formed from the merger of Eurostar, ...
service. Originally built for
Thalys
Thalys (French: ) was a brand name used for high-speed rail, high-speed train services between Paris Gare du Nord and both Amsterdam Centraal and German cities in the Rhein-Ruhr, including Aachen, Köln Hauptbahnhof, Cologne, Düsseldorf Hauptba ...
(which later merged with Eurostar) they were intended to operate between
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
,
Brussels
Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...
, Köln () and
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...
, forming the abbreviation PBKA. They were initially intended to be sole rolling stock of the service, but their extreme cost and complexity due to their quadri-current capability led the order of a simpler tri-current sister class, the
Thalys PBA, a
TGV Réseau derivative, with which they can work in multiple (coupled together).
The PBKA trains are quadri-current, capable of operating under the same systems as the PBA sets: (France), (Belgium) and (the Netherlands and parts of France), but with the addition of (Germany).
They are a member of Alstom's
TGV
The TGV (; , , 'high-speed train') is France's intercity high-speed rail service. With commercial operating speeds of up to on the newer lines, the TGV was conceived at the same period as other technological projects such as the Ariane 1 rocke ...
family of trains. Each set has a power car on each end with three first class cars, a bar car, and four second class cars in between.
The trains are in length, weighing a total of with 404 seats (120 first class, 284 second class).
Their maximum speed in regular service is with under 25 kV AC, with under 15 kV AC, and with under 1,500 or 3,000 V DC.
Seventeen trains were ordered: nine purchased by
National Railway Company of Belgium
The National Railway Company of Belgium (, NMBS; , SNCB; ) is the national railway company of Belgium. The company formally styles itself using the Dutch and French abbreviations NMBS/SNCB. The corporate logo designed in 1936 by Henry van de Ve ...
, two by
Deutsche Bahn
(, ; abbreviated as DB or DB AG ) is the national railway company of Germany, and a state-owned enterprise under the control of the German government. Headquartered in the Bahntower in Berlin, it is a joint-stock company ( AG).
DB was fou ...
of Germany, six by
SNCF
The Société nationale des chemins de fer français (, , SNCF ) is France's national State-owned enterprise, state-owned railway company. Founded in 1938, it operates the Rail transport in France, country's national rail traffic along with th ...
of France and two by
Nederlandse Spoorwegen
(, , NS ) is the principal passenger railway operator in the Netherlands. It is a Dutch state-owned company founded in 1938.
The rail infrastructure is maintained by network manager ProRail, which was split off from NS in 2003. Freight operato ...
.
Fleet details
See also
*
SNCF TGV POS
The TGV POS is a TGV train built by French manufacturer Alstom which is operated by the French national rail company, the SNCF, in France's high-speed rail lines. It was originally ordered by the SNCF for use on the LGV Est, which was put in ...
*
List of high-speed trains
The following is a list of high-speed trains that have been, are, or will be in commercial service.
A high-speed train is generally defined as one which operates at or over in regular passenger service, with a high level of service, and often c ...
References
External links
{{High-speed rail
European high-speed trains
Pbka
Electric multiple units with locomotive-like power cars
3000 V DC multiple units
15 kV AC multiple units
25 kV AC multiple units
1500 V DC multiple units of France
Alstom multiple units