In an open letter on 18 September 2024 in the Dutch newspaper Financieel Dagblad, Eurostar CEO Gwendoline Cazenave has threatened to leave the Netherlands. She complains Dutch politics lack interest in international travellers. State Secretary for Public Transport and the Environment Chris Jansen (PVV) said in a response to Treinreiziger.nl that he is in talks with Eurostar.

Cazenave is sounding the alarm because Eurostar has no guarantees that the high-speed train operator will soon be able to use all the infrastructure required for trains to Paris (France) and London (United Kingdom) in the Netherlands. 

One of the grievances is there will only be 200 metres of platform available for Eurostar trains at Amsterdam Central Station in 2025, while Eurostar trains are 400 metres long. Cazenave also mentions the new speed restrictions on the high-speed line (HSL) as a problem.

No security

According to Cazenave, the speed restrictions are causing many delays, longer travel times and dissatisfaction among travellers. Eurostar has no clarity on when the restrictions on the HSL and the platforms in Amsterdam Central Station will be lifted. 

Cazenave: “Without clarity on the Dutch rail network and guaranteed access to the necessary infrastructure, Eurostar will be forced to shorten the connections from Amsterdam and Rotterdam to London and Paris in the course of 2025.”

Leaving the Netherlands?

Cazenave writes that a possible departure of Eurostar will not be the result of a decision by Eurostar itself but of “a lack of interest and care for international travellers”.

“It is not Eurostar that is leaving the Netherlands, but Eurostar that is being forced to leave the Netherlands.”

Last year, Eurostar reported that the Amsterdam-London connection is the train company’s most successful service. Cazenave now also writes that Eurostar sees the Netherlands as the country with the greatest growth potential within the Eurostar network. But according to her, it is only possible to run trains if there is a firm commitment that the terminal in Amsterdam will be ready on time.

State Secretary Chris Jansen responded by saying that “everything is being done” to have the terminal at Amsterdam Central Station finished on time. He expects this to be completed by the end of the year. A temporary terminal is currently being built at the station for international trains to London, where there is space for passport control.

Train to London is (too) valuable

According to Jansen, the international trains from Amsterdam to Paris and from Amsterdam to London and vice versa are “important rail connections for the Netherlands”. 

“All parties confirmed last year that the renovation of Amsterdam Central Station is necessary and that at the same time we also consider the train connection to and from London to be very valuable. We are in discussions with Eurostar about the developments and are confident that direct trains to London will be able to run again from January 2025.”

Dutch national train operator Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS) and rail infrastructure manager Prorail are still in discussions about the platform allocation at Amsterdam Central Station. According to the State Secretary, the renovation of the station will probably require more space. 

“Whether this will have an impact on the Eurostar timetable is not yet possible. Due to the large-scale renovation of Amsterdam Central Station, it was always clear that there would be less space for trains and passengers.”

Now via Brussels

The large-scale renovation of Amsterdam Central Station started this year. As a result, there is currently no space for passport control for passengers to London. Train passengers to the British capital therefore first travel to Brussels with Eurostar to do passport control there and transfer to the train to London. 

Thanks to the temporary terminal in Amsterdam, trains to London should run directly again from the new year.

Terminal in Brussels

The Channel Terminal in Brussels South is also being renovated and redesigned to accommodate more travellers. 

Leaving the Netherlands?

Will Eurostar leave the Netherlands? Really? That’s very doubtful. But the CEO is understandably putting some pressure on the government. 

More on night trains and transcontinental train travel

• Arriva Tri-Country Train between Maastricht, Liège and Aachen will start on Sunday 9 June 2024 without OV-chipkaart.
• EU train travel report sees increase in cross-border passenger trains and easier bookings.
• ‘Hotel on rails’ Midnight Trains announce end of project before it actually started operations.
• Slow(er) Eurocity Brussels – Mons – Paris for Olympic and Paralympic Games in July and August 2024.
• Brussels to Luxembourg by train under 2 hours by 2030?.
• GoVolta wants tourist trains from the Netherlands to Berlin, Paris and Basel and from Antwerp to Germany.
• Heuro wants to operate high speeds trains between Amsterdam, Antwerp, Brussels, Paris and London from 2028.
• Eurostar and five more train operators joined the European Agreement on Journey Continuation.
• ÖBB’s new Nightjet sleeper cars accommodate solo travellers with Mini Cabins.
• Trenitalia orders new Hitachi Frecciarossa trains suited for France, Belgium and the Netherlands.
• ÖBB’s Nightjet to connect Berlin to Brussels from December 2023.
• EUROCITY EC-8 | Basel to Cologne in SBB’s Panoramic Car.
• Trenitalia / FS confirms interest in connecting Spain to Brussels, Amsterdam and Berlin.
• Deutsche Bahn and Trenitalia want piece of Amsterdam – Brussels – Paris HST service via subsidiaries Arriva an Qbuzz.
• SNCF and NMBS / SNCB to link Paris to Brussels with ‘slow’ classic train in about 3 hours from December 2024.
• Sampling NS’ new train and future Benelux rolling stock ICNG.
• REVIEW | Trenitalia Frecciarossa 1000 Paris – Milan in Business Executive.
• RAIL TOUR OF EUROPE | How easy is touring Europe by train?.
• Eight train connections between the Netherlands and Belgium by 2030?.
• REVIEW | ÖBB Nightjet Amsterdam – Zurich night train.
• European Commission wants booking train tickets to be as easy as booking flights.
• Nightjet Vienna/Innsbruck to Brussels, or how we got thrown off the train in Aachen.
• Why the expensive ÖBB Nightjet is really not that expensive.
• Reliving the era of the great railway journeys, travelling overnight on Nightjet.
• How we plan a big rail trip.
• Ticket Distribution: the failure of railways to sell themselves.
• To use night trains in Portugal and Spain or not?.
• Night trains in Europe.
• Low-cost, long-haul trains to conquer Europe?.
• Fly now before it’s taxed and consider using the train instead.