HIGH-speed operator Eurostar has announced that through trains will now continue to operate from London to Amsterdam during major rebuilding work at Amsterdam Central station that is due to start on June 15.
However, the closure of check-in, security and border control facilities during this six-month programme of works means that passengers travelling from Amsterdam and Rotterdam to London will have to change at Brussels Midi in order to complete these formalities.
In November, Eurostar said it would be forced to suspend direct services between the Dutch and British capitals for a five months as Dutch infrastructure manager ProRail undertakes work at Amsterdam Central. This was originally expected to require an 11-month suspension.
The Eurostar facilities are currently located on platform 15 on the far north side of Amsterdam Central and this is the only platform that trains to London can use. During the six-month closure, check-in, security and passport control facilities will be relocated to a new permanent location at ground-floor level beneath the tracks in an area of the station not currently used by passengers.
The new facilities are due to open with the timetable change on December 8, and will increase the number of Eurostar passengers that can be processed at Amsterdam from 250 to 650. The limited capacity of the secure facilities at both Amsterdam and Rotterdam has been a constraint preventing direct Eurostar services between Britain and the Netherlands from reaching their full potential.
From June 15, three Eurostar services from London to Amsterdam will continue to operate every day, with passengers able to travel directly to Amsterdam or Rotterdam after completing passport checks to exit Britain and enter the Schengen area at London St Pancras International.
London-bound passengers will travel to Brussels Midi, changing there for security checks and passport control before boarding a train to London. Eurostar says that the time allowed to make this connection will be between 49 minutes and 1h 48min.
2023 performance
In 2023 traffic on Eurostar’s London - Amsterdam route was up by 38% compared with the year before, while ridership on services to Brussels grew by 33% and on the Paris route by 25%.
Including former Thalys services, Eurostar carried a total of 18.6 million passengers in 2023, up 22% on 2022. This was “back in line with pre-Covid levels,” according to Eurostar, and puts the operator on course to meet its target of carrying 30 million passengers a year by 2030.
Eurostar hopes to achieve this growth without expanding its fleet and despite its currently very high seat occupation rates. It is expected that its Siemens e320 high-speed trains operating to London will also be deployed on Amsterdam - Paris services.
“Amsterdam is a key hub for Eurostar's international network,” says Eurostar CEO, Ms Gwendoline Cazenave.
“The construction of a new terminal is vital for passengers, who will be able to increase their numbers significantly when it opens.”
