Eurostar is to start running the first ever direct train service from London to Amsterdam, shaving an hour off the current journey time.
Currently, customers who have booked a journey to the Dutch capital are required to change trains in Brussels, leaving the Eurostar service for a regional train which takes them the rest of the way - a journey which usually takes around 4 hours and 45 minutes.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The 186mph high-speed service will also knock 17 minutes off the current travel time between London and Brussels, transporting passengers to the Belgian capital in 1 hour and 48 minutes.
The Amsterdam service will not be entirely seamless, however. Passengers will still have to change trains at Brussels-Midi station on their return journey, as Amsterdam Centraal does not yet have the border control facilities needed for travel to the UK, which is outside the Schengen zone.
However, Eurostar says that this interruption will be a “temporary measure”. An agreement between the British and Dutch governments to open passport control points at Amsterdam and Rotterdam should be in place by 2019, Politico reports.
Trains will run from London twice daily at 8.01am and 5.31pm, while return journeys on the Brussels-London service run up to ten times per day.
Tickets for the new service will go on sale on 20 February, with prices starting from £35 one-way.
-
Homo Floresiensis: Earth’s real life ‘hobbits’Under the Radar New research suggests that ‘early human pioneers’ in Australia interbred with archaic species of hobbits at least 60,000 years ago
-
Homes by renowned architectsFeature Featuring a Leonard Willeke Tudor Revival in Detroit and modern John Storyk design in Woodstock
-
Looming drone ban has farmers and farm-state Republicans anxiousIN THE SPOTLIGHT As congressional China-hawks work to limit commercial drone sales from Beijing, a growing number of conservative lawmakers are sounding an agricultural alarm
-
Femicide: Italy’s newest crimeThe Explainer Landmark law to criminalise murder of a woman as an ‘act of hatred’ or ‘subjugation’ but critics say Italy is still deeply patriarchal
-
Brazil’s Bolsonaro behind bars after appeals run outSpeed Read He will serve 27 years in prison
-
Americans traveling abroad face renewed criticism in the Trump eraThe Explainer Some of Trump’s behavior has Americans being questioned
-
Nigeria confused by Trump invasion threatSpeed Read Trump has claimed the country is persecuting Christians
-
Sanae Takaichi: Japan’s Iron Lady set to be the country’s first woman prime ministerIn the Spotlight Takaichi is a member of Japan’s conservative, nationalist Liberal Democratic Party
-
Russia is ‘helping China’ prepare for an invasion of TaiwanIn the Spotlight Russia is reportedly allowing China access to military training
-
Interpol arrests hundreds in Africa-wide sextortion crackdownIN THE SPOTLIGHT A series of stings disrupts major cybercrime operations as law enforcement estimates millions in losses from schemes designed to prey on lonely users
-
China is silently expanding its influence in American citiesUnder the Radar New York City and San Francisco, among others, have reportedly been targeted
