2023-06-02 19:33:27
As a result, the so-called Eurostar cannot depart from Amsterdam until May 2025 at the latest. According to Heijnen, attempts have been made to find a solution, but have not succeeded. “I find that very disappointing,” she writes.
Travelers who still want to travel to London by train will probably have to board in Brussels. It is not yet known whether Rotterdam will remain a station for the Eurostar. Heijnen will soon be discussing the timetable with, among others, Eurostar.
The high-speed train has only been running on the route since 2020. At first it seemed that the route would be out for ten years, but NS and ProRail were able to reverse that. A temporary customs terminal is being built in the Amstelpassage, but it will not be ready before the existing terminal has to be demolished. According to Heijnen, keeping the existing terminal in use for longer is not safe, because travelers then have to cross the construction site.
Eurostar top woman Gwendoline Cazenave will come to the Netherlands next Monday for a meeting with the ministry, ProRail and NS, a spokesperson for the transport company said. “We are looking for a compromise. But if there is no solution, we will have to stop our direct timetable from the Netherlands to London,” he added. It is not known whether that would be permanent or temporary.
Not profitable enough from Rotterdam to London
According to Eurostar, only driving from Rotterdam to London is unprofitable. Due to the limited space at the Rotterdam station, only 160 passengers can board there, while the trains have a capacity for 900 passengers. Without the maximum of 265 passengers boarding at Amsterdam Central, the trains will remain too empty.
Eurostar calls the connection between Amsterdam and London one of the most successful routes. From March next year, Eurostar wanted to increase the daily number of journeys from four to five. “In the past five years, we have transported 1.6 million passengers via this line. We notice that people are really looking for a sustainable way of traveling. We have also calculated that without these trains, 21 more aircraft would have to fly from Schiphol every day.”
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