Reflecting the economic context, results were mixed in the first half of 2012 for Thalys, whose dynamic is based more particularly on business customers. The decline in traffic between Paris and Brussels (-3.6%), which, as the rail company notes, "underlines the overall slowdown in the economy", weighed on results: the red train slowed down over the first six months, with traffic down slightly (-0.5%). Connections to the Netherlands (+2.4%) and especially Germany (+3.1%), however, maintained their pace, and contributed to the increase in Thalys' sales (+3.5%). The rail company now intends to build on the success of its on-board connectivity, recently extended to Comfort 2 class travellers subject to the "Semi-Flex" fare. This summer, Thalys passed the symbolic mark of 2 million users of on-board Wi-Fi.
