Eurostar may suspend Dutch services due to reliability issues

International train company Eurostar may be forced to suspend its Amsterdam-Rotterdam-London and Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Paris services at some point in 2025 because of the lack of clarity about the Dutch rail network, according to chief executive Gwendoline Cazenave.

Cazenave said in an opinion piece in the Financieele Dagblad that although “immense effort is going into the ambitious and complex renovation of the Dutch rail infrastructure, its deterioration now causes reliability issues, capacity restrictions and frustrating delays for passengers.”

Since November 2023, train speed has been cut by from 160 kph to 80 kph on several sections of the Dutch high-speed line, creating frequent delays and longer journeys.

The ongoing renovation of Amsterdam central station has also led to the temporary closure of the direct London route, forcing travellers to transfer and go through passport controls in Brussels.

“Eurostar is fully ready to re-open direct services by early 2025 as planned,” Cazenave said. “But we are concerned there are no guarantees or clear commitments about the readiness of the surrounding infrastructure to reconnect Amsterdam and London.” 

Eurostar has offered daily connections from Amsterdam to Paris, Brussels and later to London since 1996 and last year 4.2 million passengers travelled with Eurostar between the Netherlands and France, UK, Belgium.

“To be transparent, Eurostar considers the Netherlands the most important growth potential within its network, which is why all decisions I have made regarding Dutch routes aim at best serving Dutch customers,” Cazenave said.

To keep Eurostar running, she said the company needs a firm commitment that the terminal will open on time in early 2025, with proper border control resources, access to the remaining long platform at Central Station, and that capacity limitations won’t push Eurostar off the map.

“This dramatic outcome would not be the result of a decision by Eurostar, but rather due to limited attention to cross-border passengers,” Cazenave said. “This will not be Eurostar leaving the Netherlands, this would be Eurostar being pushed out from the Netherlands.”

An NS spokesman told Dutch News that the company is a partner with Eurostar and has the same interests. “The NS has expressed its concerns before about he infrastructure of the high speed line earlier,” he said.

In July, the NS described the speed restrictions as “unacceptable”.