No direct Amsterdam to London Eurostar trains for 6 months; Stop in Brussels instead

Direct trains between Amsterdam and London will temporarily stop for a six-month period while renovations continue at the central railway station in the Dutch capital. Train passengers will still be able to travel from Amsterdam to the British capital, but will have to clear passport control and baggage checks in Brussels until a new terminal is ready at Amsterdam Centraal.

It was previously announced that the direct train connection between Amsterdam and London would be taken out of service for 11 months starting next June. This is due to a planned, extensive renovation of Amsterdam Central Station. Due to the renovation, there will not be any space for the hall where the Koninklijke Marechaussee now carries out passport control checks, which became necessary following the United Kingdom's departure from the European Union.

“I see the direct train connection between Amsterdam and London as a valuable connection that is a full-fledged alternative to the plane,” said State Secretary Vivianne Heijnen, the Cabinet member responsible for public transportation at the Ministry of Infrastructure. In letters to Parliament sent on Friday, she wrote that her ministry took the lead in trying to find a solution to a situation that could have forced the Eurostar train line out of Amsterdam during the complicated renovation.

“I realize that a direct journey is more pleasant for the traveler than with a transfer, but this way at least a travel option is maintained for the traveler,” she stated. Dutch national rail operator NS, rail infrastructure firm ProRail, Eurostar, and the Ministry of Infrastructure will continue to work together “to optimize the transfer in Brussels, so that traveling from the Netherlands to London remains possible in a pleasant way.”

A previous option was to build a temporary terminal in the Amstelpassage under the station, but it was concluded that it would not be suitable, as it would allow fewer passengers to take the Eurostar. It would also delay the completion of the more permanent terminal.

Currently, the direct train from Amsterdam to London takes about 4 hours and 12 minutes. The trains that stop in Brussels and require passengers to change to a train on another platform add about 35 minutes to the total time. The direct trains were initially advertised as needing 3 hours and 41 minutes.

Currently, 250 passengers from departing Amsterdam can be screened, while the train holds 900 people. When the new permanent terminal is completed, this number will rise to 650 passengers.

The high-speed train has only been running on the route since 2020 after the completion of a special terminal at the main railway station. At first, it seemed the route would disappear for ten years, but Dutch national railway NS and infrastructure firm ProRail were able to reverse that.

Eventually, international rail services to Amsterdam will mainly relocate to the Amsterdam-Zuid station in the city’s financial district. A more intricate international terminal will be constructed there in the coming years, with an estimated opening date after 2036.