Amsterdam Eurostar

[Mutant Lemming]

You still have the hassle with check-in and baggage reclaim though.

You have to check in for Eurostar too with some quite lengthy queues right round to the South Eastern side of the station at busy times - and most people only have "cabin baggage" these days only those on longer trips check bags in.

 

[StephenHunter]

Yes, but I'm not one who only takes cabin baggage, as my trips are for multiple days.

 

[DavidGrain]

You have to check in for Eurostar too with some quite lengthy queues right round to the South Eastern side of the station at busy times - and most people only have "cabin baggage" these days only those on longer trips check bags in.

Is checking in baggage in on Eurostar something new with the new trains. I have not travelled Eurostar for a number of years. Surely this is a retrograde step

 

[Mag_seven]

Is checking in baggage in on Eurostar something new with the new trains. I have not travelled Eurostar for a number of years. Surely this is a retrograde step

It isn't checking in baggage as such as per an airline. Its arriving early so you can be security screened etc and have your bags x-rayed.

 

[Goldfish62]

It isn't checking in baggage as such as per an airline. Its arriving early so you can be security screened etc and have your bags x-rayed.

Yes, purely logistical. If everyone arrived 5-10 min before the train was due to depart the system wouldn't be able to cope. However, unlike the airlines there's considerable flexibility for late comers. In my experience, "check in closed" doesn't having the same meaning as at an airport. I've arrived 10 min before departure and have still caught the train.

 

[edwin_m]

Comparing the time spent at stations when travelling Eurostar with that at airports when taking a flight of similar length:

• No need to queue to drop bags on Eurostar as you take them on board regardless of size.
• The delays through security are no worse than can be found at airports, and if you arrive within the minimum time but still miss your train I believe they will put you on a later one without extra cost.
• Automated check-in and two passport checks before boarding replace the showing of boarding passes before security, of boarding passes and passports at the gate, and of passports on arrival.
• No need to wait at the destination airport to collect checked baggage.

So as we're discussing end to end time here, most people will have less "dead time" when passing through Eurostar stations than they would if they'd flown instead.

 

[DavidGrain]

Thanks for the clarification. My case used to be x-rayed at Waterloo back in 1998 when I first travelled on Eurostar so I could not understand the references above to checking in and baggage reclaim on Eurostar. Yes I know there used to be two way traffic at the luggage racks on arrival so you often had to queue to get to your cases.

 

[telstarbox]

Eurostar are re-timing the morning train and adding a new third daily train:

The extra service will leave London St Pancras at 11.04 am, while the departure of the first daily train is being brought forward by 75 minutes to 7.16am, giving business travellers the opportunity of a longer day. The early train will reach Amsterdam at 12.11pm.

https://www.theguardian.com/busines...ondon-amsterdam-service-to-three-trains-a-day

 

[StephenHunter]

That will be very useful to me; I'm planning another trip to Berlin via Rotterdam this year.

 

[Goldfish62]

Comparing the time spent at stations when travelling Eurostar with that at airports when taking a flight of similar length:

• No need to queue to drop bags on Eurostar as you take them on board regardless of size.
• The delays through security are no worse than can be found at airports, and if you arrive within the minimum time but still miss your train I believe they will put you on a later one without extra cost.
• Automated check-in and two passport checks before boarding replace the showing of boarding passes before security, of boarding passes and passports at the gate, and of passports on arrival.
• No need to wait at the destination airport to collect checked baggage.

So as we're discussing end to end time here, most people will have less "dead time" when passing through Eurostar stations than they would if they'd flown instead.

Don't forget liquids. No restrictions on liquids on Eurostar.

 

[tasky]

Don't forget liquids. No restrictions on liquids on Eurostar.

It really is amazing what you can take through security on the Eurostar - my girlfriend happily brought a compressed air cylinder for a soda-stream through. She had checked in advance and they had told her it was fine. Meanwhile I had my deodorant confiscated at an airport last week.

 

[Chester1]

That will be very useful to me; I'm planning another trip to Berlin via Rotterdam this year.

What is the journey like? I have considered London-Amsterdam and Amsterdam-Berlin but the latter journey is 7 hours and I have gone via Cologne before and it probably splits the journey better.

 

[Goldfish62]

It really is amazing what you can take through security on the Eurostar - my girlfriend happily brought a compressed air cylinder for a soda-stream through. She had checked in advance and they had told her it was fine. Meanwhile I had my deodorant confiscated at an airport last week.

Yes. A very small amount of explosive can bring a plane down. There's not the same issue with a train.

 

[MarcVD]

And it is also quite difficult to hijack an Eurostar train and crash it into some large building.

 

[MisterT]

I wouldn't dare to say that too loud...

A woman stole an empty commuter train from a depot and drove it to a suburb of Stockholm where it derailed and slammed into an apartment building, officials said.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/...en-train-into-apartment-building-8452620.html

 

[TheSeeker]

It really is amazing what you can take through security on the Eurostar

I moved to Belgium by Eurostar. Each trip I had two large suitcases filled with bicycle parts, books, VHS cassettes, reading lamp etc. Once even my desktop PC although I had to take the CRT monitor by car. My sister is an expert at visiting us, buying something enormous in a flea market and then getting it back through Eurostar to Wales. Last time it was a chest of drawers.

 

[cle]

Eurostar are re-timing the morning train and adding a new third daily train:



https://www.theguardian.com/busines...ondon-amsterdam-service-to-three-trains-a-day

It's great news. It think once the 'airside' operations opens at the two Dutch stations, it will really pick up - and I'm sure frequencies will increase.

Who knows what will happen with Brexit, either way - but if traffic to Brussels goes down, Eurostar as a business are going to need AMS even more.

 

[30907]

What is the journey like? I have considered London-Amsterdam and Amsterdam-Berlin but the latter journey is 7 hours and I have gone via Cologne before and it probably splits the journey better.

Amsterdam-Berlin is a standard DB Intercity set, with a loco change at Bad Bentheim (which makes it a rarity). It follows the same route as the Cologne train from Minden eastwards. The change at Amersfoort from Rotterdam is (was) cross platform. 2 hours longer but potentially a fair bit cheaper.

 

[Matt_pool]

What is the journey like? I have considered London-Amsterdam and Amsterdam-Berlin but the latter journey is 7 hours and I have gone via Cologne before and it probably splits the journey better.

I've done Berlin to Amsterdam twice and Amsterdam to Hamburg once and it's not that bad. I take a few beers, some food and a book and the time actually passes by quite quickly. You can actually have a proper kip too without doing your neck or back any damage because the seats in standard class are very comfortable and you get a lot more leg room than on trains in the UK.

And the stop at Bad Bentheim is for 15 minutes and breaks up the journey a bit. I got off to stretch my legs and watch them change locos. And you can walk up to the buffet car and sit there for a bit. They make freshly prepared salads and I once saw them cooking sausages for someone. None of the microwaved rubbish we get on trains in the UK.

 

[Mutant Lemming]

It's great news. It think once the 'airside' operations opens at the two Dutch stations, it will really pick up - and I'm sure frequencies will increase.

Who knows what will happen with Brexit, either way - but if traffic to Brussels goes down, Eurostar as a business are going to need AMS even more.

I do like using Eurostar, loved the trip to Amsterdam but even with discounted fares the next trip to Paris will be by plane at less than half the fare quoted by Eurostar for similar times on the same days. I just don't get how the air fares can be so cheap - someone, somewhere, somehow must be subsidising/paying for it in some shape form or another.

 

[Groningen]

In Loehne (Westfalen) the lines from the Ruhrarea (Koeln to Dortmund via Duisburg or Wuppertal) come together with the line from Amsterdam to Hannover and Berlin.

 

[tasky]

I do like using Eurostar, loved the trip to Amsterdam but even with discounted fares the next trip to Paris will be by plane at less than half the fare quoted by Eurostar for similar times on the same days. I just don't get how the air fares can be so cheap - someone, somewhere, somehow must be subsidising/paying for it in some shape form or another.

Have you factored in the costs of getting to and from the airport? I don't know where you live but you're probably looking at least £50-60 if you factor that in, given open returns from Zone 2 to Luton, Stansted, Southend, Gatwick (where the cheap flights go from) are £30 or so, and Paris CDG is no better. It's just as bad if you get cabs or end up parking your car.

If St Pancras and Gare du Nord being on the Tube and Metro make accessing them cheaper the total cost may be a lot less, given it is sometimes possible to buy a return eurostar journey for £60.

 

[Goldfish62]

I do like using Eurostar, loved the trip to Amsterdam but even with discounted fares the next trip to Paris will be by plane at less than half the fare quoted by Eurostar for similar times on the same days. I just don't get how the air fares can be so cheap - someone, somewhere, somehow must be subsidising/paying for it in some shape form or another.

Airlines make a huge loss from passengers who buy the cheapest fare and not any of the extras such as reserved seat, priority boarding and grub. They also need to make the planes as full possible in order to make money on a flight. It's all knife edge stuff

 

[TheSeeker]

I just don't get how the air fares can be so cheap

They don't pay duty on aviation fuel?

 

[radamfi]

Have you factored in the costs of getting to and from the airport? I don't know where you live but you're probably looking at least £50-60 if you factor that in, given open returns from Zone 2 to Luton, Stansted, Southend, Gatwick (where the cheap flights go from) are £30 or so, and Paris CDG is no better.

On the other hand, there are so many airports in the London area, chances are there might be one nearer your home than St Pancras.

 

[Bald Rick]

I do like using Eurostar, loved the trip to Amsterdam but even with discounted fares the next trip to Paris will be by plane at less than half the fare quoted by Eurostar for similar times on the same days. I just don't get how the air fares can be so cheap - someone, somewhere, somehow must be subsidising/paying for it in some shape form or another.

Because:

a) the airlines don’t pay for the operation, maintenance, and amortised cost of construction and renewal of 450km of £20bn worth of fixed infrastructure. They pay only for use of the terminals at each end.

b) Eurostar is perceived as a premium service (easier travelling experience, ability to work en route, city centre to city centre journey, etc.) compared to the airlines by ‘the market’ and can therefore charge a higher price.

c) the airlines are very good at defraying costs (extra charges for bags, picking a seat, etc) which Eurostar don’t (or can’t) do. I’m flying to Europe with Easyjet soon; the return fare is about £70, but it’s costing another £85 to choose seats that I can sit in (long legs) and take a hold bag.

 

[fowler9]

I live in Liverpool. No way I am getting Eurostar to anywhere in Europe unless I just fancy the experience and have the time. Same for huge swathes of the UK. I used Eurostar once purely so I got to use it. There are millions of people who will never use Eurostar because it makes no sense and they aren't interested in trains.

 

[Goldfish62]

I live in Liverpool. No way I am getting Eurostar to anywhere in Europe unless I just fancy the experience and have the time. Same for huge swathes of the UK. I used Eurostar once purely so I got to use it. There are millions of people who will never use Eurostar because it makes no sense and they aren't interested in trains.

Yes, if you're that far from London and have a significant international airport on your doorstep then you're right.

 

[2392]

Yes, if you're that far from London and have a significant international airport on your doorstep then you're right.

Indeed yes. It would be more convenient for me to fly to Amsterdam. As Newcastle International Airport has direct flights to Amsterdam Schipol. I can get a T&W Metro direct to Newcastle Airport and at the other end a train from Schipol direct into Amsterdam City Centre [Amsterdam Centraal]. Mind you having used the Shuttle through the Chunnel, I would like to take a Euro Star just to say I've used it. Having sailed from Hull as well as flown, yes I know DFDS sail from the Tyne, but they are most reluctant to have single occupancy of their cabins. From my point of view they'd rather sail with an empty cabin instead........

 

[Bald Rick]

I live in Liverpool. No way I am getting Eurostar to anywhere in Europe unless I just fancy the experience and have the time. Same for huge swathes of the UK. I used Eurostar once purely so I got to use it. There are millions of people who will never use Eurostar because it makes no sense and they aren't interested in trains.

Of course. Interestingly, just about half of the nearly 6m UK - Paris / Brussels air passengers* travel to/from Heathrow, Gatwick and Luton. (The numbers from City and Stansted are negligible). In addition there’s about 9 million on Eurostar. Taken together, that means that only 20% of all the UK - Paris / Brussels air/rail market does not use London. So whilst there are large areas of the country where it doesn’t make sense to use Eurostar, in terms of numbers of people in the market it is a relatively small proportion.

Back on the subject of Amsterdam, it is a similar picture. 46% of UK - Amsterdam air passengers travel via a London airport.

* some of this will be interlining at Heathrow or CDG and therefore not a true alternative to Eurostar.

Source: CAA route analysis 2017