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Direct Amsterdam-Rotterdam-London Eurostar services begin 26 October 2020

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jamesontheroad

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Moderators have locked the previous master thread about the Amsterdam Eurostar, but to update the story, the Evening Standard reports today that direct Eurostar services from Amsterdam and Rotterdam to London St Pancras will begin on 26 October.

Source: https://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/travel/eurostar-amsterdam-to-london-direct-route-a4531606.html

Quote:

Eurostar has announced it will launch its much-anticipated direct Amsterdam to London route on October 26.

The route was originally slated to launch in April but was pushed back six months due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Tickets for the service will go on sale from September 1, and will be priced at £40 each way. Tickets can be booked up to February of 2021...

Trains will depart Amsterdam C at 07:47, 13:46, 16:47 and 18:47. Only two of those (the 07:47 and 16:47) will run until full service ramps up.
 
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cle

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27 mins at Brussels is a bit of a shame. Could this not be 5-10? With folks on the platform already, as per Rotterdam? Or are there other reasons?
 

popeter45

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27 mins at Brussels is a bit of a shame. Could this not be 5-10? With folks on the platform already, as per Rotterdam? Or are there other reasons?
i believe they need to security clear the cars that where used for inter-shengen travel between Amsterdam and Brussels so need that hold time to do so
 

biko

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i believe they need to security clear the cars that where used for inter-shengen travel between Amsterdam and Brussels so need that hold time to do so
Correct, I also read that before multiple times. One half is indeed for passengers from Amsterdam/Rotterdam to Brussels and will be filled in Brussels with passengers from Brussels to London.

Also interesting in the NS press release is that the lowest fare has been increased, it is now €46 instead of €40 for a one-way journey, although all tickets can currently be amended.
 

BahrainLad

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This is great news. Hopefully the 27 minute wait at BXL will be tightened up once they have smoothed out any initial issues with the clearing of the trains.

Has the outbound fastest time (3h52) reduced a bit? When the service started the quickest was 3h40 which was always late due to congestion in BE, but then it went up to around 4 hours iirc with the most recent pre-Covid timetable.
 

STEVIEBOY1

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Don't you still have to quarantine when coming back or even just transiting from / through The Netherlands, Belgium and France?
 

M28361M

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Yes. Although that may not still be the case come 26th October.

I suspect Eurostar have taken a calculated risk that restrictions will be relaxed by then. If not, those first trains are going to be quite empty.

Tempted to try and get tickets for the first journey - does anyone know what time on 1st September they will go on sale? Will it be midnight, later in the morning, or just some random point in the day?
 

Ianno87

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I suspect Eurostar have taken a calculated risk that restrictions will be relaxed by then. If not, those first trains are going to be quite empty.

Tempted to try and get tickets for the first journey - does anyone know what time on 1st September they will go on sale? Will it be midnight, later in the morning, or just some random point in the day?

Makes me wonder whether launching during restrictions is semi-deliberate as a 'soft' launch whilst demand is artificially low.
 

MisterT

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It appears to say that they will only run Monday to Friday. Does that mean that there will at least initially still be no through service at weekends?
I believe that there is some maintenance work scheduled for those weekends in Belgium.
 

AY1975

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I believe that there is some maintenance work scheduled for those weekends in Belgium.
I've also found that if I try making a theoretical booking for any of the first few weeks of operation it doesn't offer me any of the direct trains for the return leg of the journey. I presume it's either a temporary glitch in the system or they're already fully booked.
 

Bald Rick

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I've also found that if I try making a theoretical booking for any of the first few weeks of operation it doesn't offer me any of the direct trains for the return leg of the journey. I presume it's either a temporary glitch in the system or they're already fully booked.

Booking opens today.
 

Mainline421

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Yep bookings have now opened. Bought one while passing through St Pancras earlier which means I guess it's also available on Eurostar/NS International/SNCB sites & apps.
es ticket.jpg
 

tasky

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with all countries it passes in effective lock-down, interesting that they take that commercial risk.

Yes, the timing is very curious - I wonder if there was an element of them having to do it now the treaty is in place, e.g. the border authorities were keen to begin the new arrangements and it wasn't entirely down to Eurostar?

One thing it does give is a bit more resilience to the service - there was a period where you had to quarantine on return from Belgium but not Netherlands, but from the Netherlands passengers changing trains in Belgium had to do so even if they did not leave the station. So Amsterdam-London Eurostar was off the menu for a lot of people.

It's certainly good news for passengers to get it working, though I can't help think they would have got a huge publicity boost if they'd launched at a time when it was actually usable. A difficult situation for them
 
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