While it’s been possible to get the Eurostar from London to Amsterdam for years, the timetabling and changes required to get on to the Thalys service have been a faff, and the booking engine can be glitchy from time to time, so we’ve stuck with the short hop flights from LCY instead.
Currently, you change at Brussels-Midi for a further 1 hour 52 minute journey to Amsterdam, giving a total journey time of close to five hours. But from December 2016, there will be a Eurostar service direct from St Pancras International to Amsterdam, stopping very usefully at Brussels, Antwerp and Rotterdam en route. The service – using the new Siemens Velaro e320 trains – will shave nearly an hour off the current shortest journey time, and be served by two scheduled trains daily.
We are thrilled that Eurostar is spreading its own network further and further – the recently introduced Provence route has meant we can stay on the rails all the way to the South of France after breakfast at the Great Northern Hotel, doing away with airport or Paris Gare du Nord interchange rigmarole.
“We have long been ambitious for expansion to new destinations, so the announcement marks a major advance in our growth plans”, says Eurostar CEO Nicolas Petrovic. “With over three million passengers travelling by air between London and Amsterdam, this is one of Europe’s most popular routes. Our fast, comfortable, point-to-point service will greatly enhance the links between the UK and the near Continent, revolutionising travel between these important financial and tourist hubs.”
After this deal with the Dutch government, we’d love to see Eurostar get into bed with the Italians and Spanish and make rail travel across the Channel even more appealing. C
eurostar.com