BRU-DUS Eurostar – Standard

Operator: Eurostar

Headcode: ER9471

Route:    BRU-DUS

Class:    Standard

Seat:     C28 S14

Date:     Monday 7^th October 2024

Having arrived into Bruxelles-Midi onboard a Eurostar service from London (read about that here), I had just over an hour to kill before I continued my trip to Düsseldorf by boarding another train bound for Dortmund. This would be another Eurostar service, although one formerly operated by Thalys before their merger with Eurostar, and I was looking forward to seeing the differences between the ‘red’ Eurostar that was new to me and the ’blue’ Eurostar that I was used to. However, before catching that train, I had some time for some dinner and so headed outside the station to find some food!

Opting for one of the restaurants with an English translation on their menu boards, I headed in to Brasserie Belge and settled down for some dinner and a pint. Overall, the food and beer were great, and relatively reasonably priced, however the service was pretty atrocious, and so I probably won’t head there again if I’m having dinner in Brussels. Deciding not to sit and ‘enjoy the atmosphere’, I headed up to platform 4 around half an hour before my train was due to depart to sit and watch the world (and trains!) go by whilst I waited. This worked out quite well, as multiple Thalys Eurostar services came into platforms 3, 4 and 5 whilst I waited, allowing me to grab some photos without the pressure of trying to board.

The other service that came into platform 3 whilst I was waiting was the European Sleeper service ahead of its departure east. I travelled on this back in January 2024 as part of my Snoozing to Split trip (read about that here) and since then the end destination has been extended from Berlin all the way to Prague. They’ve also crowd funded a dining car to be added to the set, meaning no more picnic meals in your room if you don’t want to! I’ve got some plans in the making to try out the European Sleeper again soon, so keep an eye out on my social media for when I make the announcement.

Whilst the screen on platform 4 showing where each coach would be didn’t seem to be working, I did work out from the Eurostar seat maps that I’d be at the rear of the train when it came in. I was booked into coach 28, seat 14, although it appeared that coach 28 was actually coach 8 and that Thalys had some weird coach numbering system that Eurostar have kept going. After a quick dash along the platform as I’d misjudged where the train would stop, I was onboard and settled into one of the rearmost seats on the train. Set between the rear doors and rear power car, seat 14 was one of just 16 seats in this mini cabin, laid out in four sets of four around tables.

This mini cabin is supposed to be a ‘quiet zone’ although when I boarded, I found a family with two small, and noisy, children at one of the other tables and so was thankful that I’d charged my headphones for the trip. My forward-facing window seat unfortunately had some of its leg room taken up by the under-table bin and power socket unit, but the seat itself was comfortable enough for the journey to Germany. Another quirk of this mini cabin is that the windows are split into two parts, with a horizontal bar at head height (when seated) blocking the view, although on my trip it was dark so didn’t really matter. Settling in for the journey of just over two hours, I grabbed my charger and a book and planned to spend the journey relaxing.

Departing on time at 1925, we wound our way through the tunnels that pass under Brussels between Midi and Nord stations, providing a cross capital connections since their opening in 1952. About 10 minutes after departure there was a ‘ticket check’ although the Train Manager/Guard/Conductor checked my name rather than the ticket itself. My journey to Düsseldorf would have three intermediate stops with the first, Liege, coming around 50 minutes after our departure from the Belgian capital. Liege-Guillemins station was what I’d describe as ‘quite funky’ with an interestingly shaped train shed roof, although the stop itself was fairly uneventful. Not long after leaving Liege we crossed the border into Germany, marking my fourth country of the day and not long after that we were pulling into our second stop.

Aachen is a German city located just a few miles from the country’s border with both Belgium and the Netherlands, with one of the lines connecting the city with Liege passing just meters from the tripoint of the three nations. During our stop in the city, German police boarded the train and seemed to walk the length of it, although I couldn’t tell if they found who they were looking for. Whilst we were waiting a Brussels bound DB ICE service arrived and left the adjacent platform, and once we eventually departed, I could tell we were running late although forgot to check the actual time to see how late we were. The final intermediate stop on my journey was the cathedral city of Cologne, about an hour after Aachen and around 25 minutes from my final destination.

Whilst I’ve visited Cologne a few times in the past, this was the first time I’ve arrived or departed the city by train (well long-distance train atleast) and there was definitely something magical about the view of the Cathedral and River Rhine as we crossed the latter on departing the station. Based on the timings I had, we were running around 12 minutes late by this point, although having reviewed the timetable whilst writing this, I suspect Eurostar had retimed the train without telling me as the actual timings match the new timings. This meant that when I arrived into Düsseldorf at 2151, I thought I was 11 minutes late, although the new timings would suggest we were 4 minutes early.

All in all my first journey with the former Thalys part of Eurostar was fine, but not especially memorable. The seat was alright, although the under table bin and power sockets made it a bit cramped and the delay (even if it officially didn’t exist) was a little frustrating when I just wanted to get to my hotel but realistically minimal. I didn’t try out the onboard catering as I was a bit stuck in my corner, but the menu seemed ok, and the few staff I interacted with were all pleasant enough. I’d be travelling on the former Thalys part of Eurostar again at the end of my trip in Standard Plus, so it’d be interesting to see how the two classes differed.

Lounge              0*

Seat/Facilities     3*

Food                3*

Service             5*

Punctuality         4*

Overall Rating      15/25 (read about my rating system here!)