Eurostar between Amsterdam and London to be canceled for up to a year

The direct Eurostar service between London and Amsterdam was launched five years ago. Photo: HEATHCLIFF O'MALLEY

The direct Eurostar service between London and Amsterdam will be canceled for up to 11 months due to work at the main railway station in the capital of the Netherlands.

During the repair, there will not be enough places to check your passport and luggage, which could mean stopping direct service for almost a year, from June 2024 until the end of May 2025.

Eurostar, which has trains per day on the route, criticized the decision, which was confirmed by Dutch Transport Minister Vivian Heinen on environmental grounds.

“We calculated that this means 21 additional flights between Schiphol and London, which is a weeping shame,” a spokesman for Eurostar told Parool.

Ms Heijinen told Dutch MPs that services would be stopped for seven months at best and 11 months at worst.

Direct service between London and Amsterdam began five years ago.

The company hopes to find a solution

Gwendolyn Cazenave, chief executive of Eurostar, is expected to arrive in the Netherlands on Monday for talks with ministers and train operators. train.

This makes it an unprofitable departure station, because it can handle 100 fewer passengers than in Amsterdam.

A Eurostar spokesperson said that other alternatives, such as Schiphol Airport, have logistical problems, but said the company hopes to find a solution to keep the service running.

The renovation will create a new Eurostar terminal, but the service will will eventually move to Amsterdam-Zuid station, which is being expanded.

However, work there is not expected until 2036.

Ebbsfleet and Ashford international stations are still closed

Last train The Eurostar Disneyland Express left London for a theme park near Paris on Monday morning.

Direct Maximum The S-Bahn has been operating since 1996, but is currently on hold due to post-Brexit bureaucratic red tape due to the need to stamp passports.

Eurostar has not yet opened its Ebbsfleet and Ashford International stations after Covid.

p>

The company is waiting to see how the new border EU rules for entering the block, and the station is not expected to reopen until 2025.