Amsterdam Eurostar

[MisterT]

The correct answer has been given

 

[AlterEgo]

I will be travelling on the inaugural train on Wednesday in Business Premier. I’ll be filming for my YouTube channel.

If anyone does see me at St Pancras, Amsterdam or onboard (I’ll have cause to walk the length of the train at least once), do say hello.

 

[fowler9]

I will be travelling on the inaugural train on Wednesday in Business Premier. I’ll be filming for my YouTube channel.

If anyone does see me at St Pancras, Amsterdam or onboard (I’ll have cause to walk the length of the train at least once), do say hello.

Enjoy, don't forget to tell us what your gift is. Ha ha.

 

[MisterT]

I can give you a small preview from the journey



For the last few weeks, NS staff members were able to travel with the test trains directly from London to Amsterdam. So I went to London with a friend of mine and had a nice day in London, before heading back to the Netherland with the new service

 

[paolo]

I will be travelling on the inaugural train on Wednesday in Business Premier. I’ll be filming for my YouTube channel.

If anyone does see me at St Pancras, Amsterdam or onboard (I’ll have cause to walk the length of the train at least once), do say hello.

I’ll be in Standard Prem. Hopefully will say hello - what’s your YouTube channel? (Edit... found it)

 

[AlterEgo]

Am onboard. We left promptly at 0831 and currently approaching Lille. All going very well so far!

 

[bastien]

Am onboard. We left promptly at 0831 and currently approaching Lille. All going very well so far!

No SNCF strike problems?

 

[AlterEgo]

No SNCF strike problems?

None!

 

[bastien]

None!

Phew. I'm due to get it on Friday 13th. Wish me luck!

 

[paolo]

Nicely done.

NL and UK flags being given out at St P. Loads of people took the pair.

Tulips (and flags again) for the Business Lounge.

On board... “Welcome to this historic first journey...” (I hope someone has a recording)

New Eurostar CEO Mike Cooper went through the train greeting passengers individually.

Commemorative tote bag on every headrest. Limited edition commemorative Heineken in the buffets.

A proper OMG 1hr 45 to Brussels. I’ve spent longer than that clearing checks, at Stanstead.

Press shoot at the end, for the lead unit, followed by a champagne reception. Security were - ahem - accomodating so I sidled in and listened to some nice brief speeches, including a tribute to the drivers and staff, and mention that they are working as fast they can to get the return journey fixed.

Fab trip. A couple of minutes late at the end... waiting for something (I forget what) just outside Centraal.

 

[eastwestdivide]

Picture of a blue/yellow tulip headrest antimacassar on "seat 61" at https://twitter.com/seatsixtyone/status/981436354247741440

 

[AlexNL]

A couple of minutes late at the end... waiting for something (I forget what) just outside Centraal.

We were held at a red signal as the late running 13:07 Intercity Direct to Breda was given priority over our train, which had been running bang on time everywhere along the route.

The train which ran 9114 (or is it 9I14?), e320 unit 4013/4014, is the same set as the one which first set foot in the Netherlands almost two years ago. I'm still wondering if this is coincidental or if the planners at Eurostar deliberately chose that unit.

Here's a picture of some of the goodies:

On the back of the left flag is a Union Jack, on the back of the right is a Eurostar logo.

The Virgin Trains ales I bought myself, though

 

[jopsuk]

Eurostar Train Numbers deliberately have a 1 or 0 as the second digit so that on the British side they can have a I or O headcode and it all looks the same

 

[LeeLivery]

Great to see it starting and all going well. Now for Köln or ist das verboten?

 

[AlterEgo]

Here’s my video of the first trip:

 

[GWRjake]

Really enjoyed my trip on the inaugural service yesterday, I could certainly see myself taking it again in favour of flying!

 

[StephenHunter]

Great to see it starting and all going well. Now for Köln or ist das verboten?

Ask DB. They've never formally dropped the idea of doing operations through the Tunnel and they do have clearance for the ICE3M, I believe. If the NL operation is successful enough, they'll probably give it a go.

 

[FQTV]

Here’s my video of the first trip:

Nice report, and pleased to see that I managed not to appear in shot!

You may or may not have noticed that a rather more famous (to some, at least) person does feature, though, notably standing in the Café Metropôle.

I’d echo others’ thoughts here; Eurostar put on a good show yesterday, which showed effort and attention to detail; the things which should be the hallmarks of good PR.

The on board departure announcements were particularly well-scripted, and the flags, totes and other souvenirs nicely-judged, too.

Service in Carriage 1 was on-point, and shows what a professional, modern First Class service can look like, without vacuous awesomeness and baseless glory.

I suspect that the service will make a rotten loss, but all credit to those who have already achieved so much just to get here, and are clearly continuing to work very hard to get the return service in place.

Notably, a lot of non-geeks that I’ve spoken to are interested in this service, so maybe it’ll drive enough new business to become commercially successful, in a completely different way to the success of the Paris and Brussels routes in conquesting others’ existing business.

 

[AlterEgo]

Nice report, and pleased to see that I managed not to appear in shot!

You may or may not have noticed that a rather more famous (to some, at least) person does feature, though, notably standing in the Café Metropôle.

I’d echo others’ thoughts here; Eurostar put on a good show yesterday, which showed effort and attention to detail; the things which should be the hallmarks of good PR.

The on board departure announcements were particularly well-scripted, and the flags, totes and other souvenirs nicely-judged, too.

Service in Carriage 1 was on-point, and shows what a professional, modern First Class service can look like, without vacuous awesomeness and baseless glory.

I suspect that the service will make a rotten loss, but all credit to those who have already achieved so much just to get here, and are clearly continuing to work very hard to get the return service in place.

Notably, a lot of non-geeks that I’ve spoken to are interested in this service, so maybe it’ll drive enough new business to become commercially successful, in a completely different way to the success of the Paris and Brussels routes in conquesting others’ existing business.

I did not spot any famous people in the cafe - who did I capture?!

Carriage 1 was indeed a very pleasant place to be. Service was understated but polished. I was impressed. I expected to dislike the e320 (it was my first trip on the new sets), but was very pleasantly surprised by the seat which is one of the most comfortable on any train I’ve ridden.

I overheard a conversation in the carriage from some business travellers who were surprised to learn it was the inaugural train - they were actually there “legitimately”.

Hopefully the route is a success, but I do share concerns it may not be. The arrival is quite late into Amsterdam, and a day trip is not possible, which leaves them very reliant on leisure travel.

 

[FQTV]

I did not spot any famous people in the cafe - who did I capture?!

The comedian Russell Howard is wearing a powder blue sweater, flat cap and glasses.

He was sitting in Carriage 1, as well, but went for a wander.

 

[AlterEgo]

The comedian Russell Howard is wearing a powder blue sweater, flat cap and glasses.

He was sitting in Carriage 1, as well, but went for a wander.

That’s excellent disguise. I didn’t recognise him either on the train (and I walked the carriage a few times), or in the bar, or even when reviewing all the footage.

 

[AlexNL]

Service in Carriage 1 was on-point, and shows what a professional, modern First Class service can look like, without vacuous awesomeness and baseless glory.

I was in Standard Premier (coach 2) and I was very impressed with the service offered by the on-board staff. I liked the amount of detail given to little things, such as wiping my fold-down table after having been served breakfast.

It all appeared as a well-oiled machine, having been carefully rehearsed and refined until perfection.

I suspect that the service will make a rotten loss, but all credit to those who have already achieved so much just to get here, and are clearly continuing to work very hard to get the return service in place.

Notably, a lot of non-geeks that I’ve spoken to are interested in this service, so maybe it’ll drive enough new business to become commercially successful, in a completely different way to the success of the Paris and Brussels routes in conquesting others’ existing business.

From what I have understood, bookings for the upcoming weeks are outperforming Eurostar's expectations. The initial service was well-loaded, around 750 people alighted in Amsterdam!

Hopefully the route is a success, but I do share concerns it may not be. The arrival is quite late into Amsterdam, and a day trip is not possible, which leaves them very reliant on leisure travel.

For Eurostar they still have to test what is commercially viable. The 8:30 departure from STP seems to aim at leasure travel - leave London after breakfast, arrive in Amsterdam in time for lunch.

If there is enough business demand for an early morning service, I wouldn't be surprised if Eurostar extend the current 06:13 to Brussels to Amsterdam, arriving around 11:00 CET.

 

[bastien]

As Mr Seat61 pointed out on his Twitter feed, the business destination is Rotterdam.

 

[Bantamzen]

Here’s my video of the first trip:

I watched this last night, thanks for this and the other reports you do. They are every enjoyable and informative, so keep up the good work!

 

[stut]

As Mr Seat61 pointed out on his Twitter feed, the business destination is Rotterdam.

It's also a major rail hub, particularly for the wider Randstad area (which expands the business destination significantly). The ability to get a simple connection to, say, Rijswijk or Zoetermeer is a huge benefit of Rotterdam (and its impressive new station!)

 

[StephenHunter]

It's also a major rail hub, particularly for the wider Randstad area (which expands the business destination significantly). The ability to get a simple connection to, say, Rijswijk or Zoetermeer is a huge benefit of Rotterdam (and its impressive new station!)

So, it could be Rotterdam or anywhere?

 

[stut]

So, it could be Rotterdam or anywhere?

I'm up for €* serving Lime St and Termini, too...

 

[backontrack]

I think that, once they've sorted out their return services from Amsterdam, Eurostar's next aim should be extending a couple of their Brussels trains to Antwerp.

 

[43096]

So, it could be Rotterdam or anywhere?

Wrong direction if you want the beautiful south, though.

 

[AndrewNewens]

Just completed the great triangle - ie Darlington-London VTEC, London-Amsterdam E*, Amsterdam-Newcastle DFDS ferry (and TPE back to Darlo). I was on the second direct service on the first day of the new service, the 17.31 arr 22.12. Still handed a free waffle, flag and a bag, which I proundly used around Amsterdam. The train meanders rather slowly after Brussels for a while, but was bang on its planned time arrival. The train was not full dispite the cancellation of other Brussels services - most people got off in Brussels in fact, although quite a few others joined at Brussels. I agree that Antwerp should be the next easy target for Eurostar and that extending a couple of Brussels services and stopping the Amsterdam service here would be a good way to achieve this. I was pleasantly surprised that the hard seats in Standard Premier were not quite as unpleasant as I first expected.