An independent consultant with expertise in the railway sector is being appointed to try to prevent the cancellation of Eurostar services between Amsterdam and London when work starts on renovating the Dutch capital’s main railway station next year.

Earlier this month, transport minister Vivianne Heijnen announced that Eurostar services would stop, possibly for as long as 11 months, when some of the work is undertaken.

That announcement was slammed by rail users and city officials, and brought Eurostar chief executive Gwendoline Cazenave to The Hague for an emergency meeting with officials.

New talks this week have now resulted in the decision to bring in a consultancy to “explore solutions allowing Eurostar to continue to offer a direct service between Amsterdam and London”, Eurostar said. “This consultant will perform an independent audit and submit solutions to all stakeholders.”

The Eurostar service requires space for passport and baggage checks, and that won’t be possible during part of the renovation work on the city’s central station next year, infrastructure minister Vivianne Heijnen told MPs in a briefing last Friday.

Direct services between the two cities started five years ago and there are currently four trains a day.