BELGIUM - Europe by Eurail 2015: Touring Europe by Train - page 60

Banking
Currency: Euro (€)
Exchange rate at press time: €0.72 = U.S. $1.00
Hours: 0900-1600 Monday-Friday; closed Saturday, Sunday, and holidays
Communications
Country Code: 32
For telephone calls within Belgium, dial a zero (0) preceding area code.
Major Mobile Phone Companies: Proximus, Mobistar, BASE
Rail Travel in Belgium
The Belgian railways were the first to be constructed on the continent of Europe,
and Belgian Railways (NMBS/SNCB) is said to operate one of the densest rail net-
works in the world (3,454 kilometers). Visit www.b-rail.be . Brussels serves as an
international crossroads. InterCity (IC) trains connect the main towns and regions
of Belgium; the Inter-Regional (IR) trains include stops at local stations. Rail ser-
vice is frequent—usually every hour between most major cities and towns, and with
SNCB's integrated schedules, you need not wait long for train connections.
TGV Thalys trains link Brussels to Paris in 1 hour and 16 minutes and to Ams-
terdam in the Netherlands in only 2 hours and 40 minutes; the high-speed Eurostar
trains can whisk you from Brussels to London in only 2 hours, 20 minutes.
The Belgian Railways accepts a variety of Eurail passes, including the Eurail
Benelux-Germany Pass, as well as the regional Benelux Pass, which provides
unlimited rail travel for any five days within a one-month period in Belgium, the
Netherlands, and Luxembourg. If you are two adults traveling together, purchase
the special Benelux Saverpass and save.