Eurostar to run direct A’dam-London service from February

Published on 04-11-2024 at 11:30

It appears the Eurostar dispute has been settled. Hollandse hoogte / Dylan Nieuwland

Eurostar has announced it will be running regular services again between Amsterdam, Rotterdam and London from February 2025. The route has been closed since June 15 due to major works at Amsterdam Central Station and issues related to border controls. Eurostar’s CEO last month had threatened to cancel the route permanently due to “increasing reliability problems”, but the Netherlands’ rail companies appear to have smoothed things over.

The high-speed rail operator, owned by France’s SNCF, said that thanks to a “strong collaborative effort” with Dutch rail manager ProRail and the Netherlands’ state-backed operator NS, the Amsterdam-London route would be officially up and running again from 10 February 2025.

Major renovation work at Amsterdam Central Station had led to the suspension of the line since 15 June, with the UK’s exit from the Schengen area leading to complicated border control procedures at the major rail hub. The train to the Netherlands from London currently requires a change in Brussels.

Due to the disruptions, Eurostar’s CEO Gwendoline Cazenave said only a few weeks ago that uncertainties surrounding the upgrade of Amsterdam Central Station, as well as new speed limits on the high-speed line in the Netherlands, had led her company to consider axing the route completely.

“It is not Eurostar that is leaving the Netherlands…’

Indeed, in July, Dutch rail manager ProRail brought in strict limits on the northern section of HSL-South, the high-speed line that connects Amsterdam with the Belgian border, after cracks were discovered along the route. This was apparently the last straw for Eurostar.

Cazenave, in an opinion piece in the Dutch paper Financieele Dagblad, said that the company’s possible departure from the Netherlands would not be the result of a decision by her company, but due to “a lack of interest and care” for international travellers. “It is not Eurostar that is leaving the Netherlands, but Eurostar being forced to leave the Netherlands.”

However, the various issues appear to have been resolved to some extent. “Eurostar is fully committed to a bright future in the Netherlands, and we thank our partners NS and ProRail for their work with us to ensure direct services to London could return and those to Paris and Brussels could continue,” said Cazenave on announcing the news. “We look forward to the opening of the new Amsterdam terminal, which is going to offer more space and an exceptional experience for customers.”

More space for passengers

One of the key issues had been platform access, with the renovations in Amsterdam significantly limiting the number of passengers that could board in the Dutch capital. Only 200 metres of platform was expected to be made available for Eurostar trains in 2025, a serious issue considering Eurostar trains are 400 metres long.

Only 250 passengers have been able to board the trains in Amsterdam at a time, but from February, that number will jump to 450 passengers, and apparently “somewhere in the spring or summer” that will be increased to 650, according to Eurostar.

“This is fantastic news,” said John Voppen, the CEO of ProRail. “We are very pleased with Eurostar’s decision… We knew there was a tight schedule, and I would like to sincerely thank everyone who contributed to this. We still have much to accomplish, both at Amsterdam Central Station and on the High-Speed Line (HSL). I am confident that all parties will continue their commitment to maintaining and, hopefully, expanding sustainable mobility across Europe.”