Eurostar resumes direct trains from Amsterdam to London

Direct Eurostar trains from Amsterdam to London resumed on Monday following the opening of a UK border checkpoint at the Dutch capital’s main railway station.

The service was suspended last June after renovation works at Central Station meant there was no space for the security and passport controls on the Eurostar platform.

Passengers had to disembark and go through passport control in Brussels, though direct services from London to Amsterdam were unaffected.

However, the relief will be short-lived as the terminal is due to close between mid-March and mid-April for works by track operator ProRail, forcing travellers to change in Brussels again.

The new UK terminal is located in the Amstelpassage and has room for 400 travellers per train, up from the 275 that could board in the old terminal. The capacity is expected to be increased to 650 by the end of 2025.

There are three direct services a day on weekdays, plus six more that require a stopover in Brussels. The trains also stop in Rotterdam and Lille. Eurostar hopes to add a fourth daily service later this year.

An early morning train has been added to the timetable, leaving at 6.40am and arriving in London at 9.57am.

Eurostar had threatened to cancel its service to Amsterdam last year because of reliability and capacity issues, but following talks with the Dutch railway service, NS, chief executive Gwendoline Cazenave said most of the issues had been ironed out.