Eurostar services have resumed to an improved Amsterdam Centraal

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• Paul says:

  16 Feb16 February 07:11

  And none of this was necessary but for the stupidity of Brexit and this countries continuing myopic approach to our neighbours. It’s just embarrassing!

  • Andy says:

    16 Feb16 February 07:22

    I’m no fan of Brexit, but even as an EU Member State, the U.K. wasn’t part of the Schengen zone, so immigration controls were needed.

    • RussellH says:

      16 Feb16 February 10:19

      True, of course. But the St Pancras experience now is far worse than it was in, say, 2015.
      No exit control, as far as I recall, and a much more cursory immigration check. Most of the time it was just a matter of showing my Swiss ID card and being waved through, in both directions.
      It all started to go downhill with Theresa May’s Hostile Environment. On one occasion we had to do UK immigration twice – once in Bruxelles and again in London. When I asked the London immigration officer what was going on, she told me to “take it up with Theresa May”.

      Once you get on the train, though, the experience is infinitely pleasanter than on a plane. The same very much also applies to the arrival experience.

  • BA Flyer IHG Stayer says:

    16 Feb16 February 07:57

    Where have you been?

    Ever since Eurostar started in 1994 there has always been immigration control.

  • CJD says:

    16 Feb16 February 08:01

    You’ve always needed a passport to travel from the UK to the continent, Brexit didn’t change that.

    • cats_are_best says:

      16 Feb16 February 08:08

      Having had EU citizenship stripped by brexiters, UK citizens now face extended queues due to this – I had a 2+ hours wait at immigration last year, and every trip to/from EU now has extra delays.

      All due to brexiters.

      • Brian says:

        16 Feb16 February 10:40

        Yet EU citizens can use automated gates in the UK. USA/Canada/Singapore etc can use automated gates in Munich at least, I noticed yesterday. So it’s not just Brexit to blame, more the poor negotiation skills of our politicians.

        • NFH says:

          16 Feb16 February 11:32

          Whether or not a nationality can use e-gates is irrelevant. Much more significant is whether a nationality needs to queue up for a stamp in their passport and have previous stamps checked against each other.

          Many e-gates are as irritating as supermarket self-checkouts.

        • BA Flyer IHG Stayer says:

          16 Feb16 February 12:34

          It’s called takign back control

          It works both ways!

        • John says:

          16 Feb16 February 19:34

          EU citizens can use gates in the UK because there’s no money to pay for more human staff.

          Also proportionally (while appreciating that British citizens may be more likely to travel), 70 million British citizens spread over 29 Schengen countries does not require anywhere near the increased resources of 400 million EU citizens at UK airports.

          Politicians use the diplomatic channel anyway.

          I’d rather they negotiated an opt-out to ETIAS.

    • daveinitalia says:

      16 Feb16 February 08:13

      This is true but if we were in the EU then we’d not have to participate in their new entry rules whenever they come out (I think they were originally planned for 2022) where you need to give your fingerprints.

      You also have some countries like to question you now before entering (as is their right) whereas UK citizens when in the EU were not generally questioned and the passport never stamped.

      I didn’t want Brexit but I did expect it would at least get us some priority on arriving back in the UK, unfortunately the government in its cost cutting wisdom allows most of the world to use our eGates. Turns out most of the time it’s fine and still quite quick, but the problem comes when there’s a problem with the gates and then it can take ages to get through.

      • NFH says:

        16 Feb16 February 11:34

        E-gates are intended to save the government money in employing staff, not as a privilege for particular nationalities. Therefore why wouldn’t the UK government allow as many non-visa nationalities as possible to use e-gates?

        • Charles Martel says:

          16 Feb16 February 19:51

          To use as leverage in negotiations to allow their own citizens to use the e-gates in other countries.

  • JDB says:

    16 Feb16 February 08:58

    The new formalities will speed things up considerably after the first fingerprint gathering immigration desk visit. It’s not really a big drama; perhaps people have also forgotten there used to be immigration queues before Brexit.

    • Nomad312 says:

      16 Feb16 February 09:09

      Queues yes. But they were faster moving ones for UK passport holders than they are now. Unless you have different lines for the already fingerprinted, waiting time will.increase for everybody.

  • The Original David says:

    16 Feb16 February 09:02

    Even with Brexit none of this is necessary: you can already fly from London to Amsterdam in 45 minutes, why is anyone queuing up to spend 4 hours on a train (or two)?

    • Barrel for Scraping says:

      16 Feb16 February 09:20

      It’s not for me, but it’s not just for the Greta fans either. I’d do the trip if the catering was better. I’m not sure why they want to make it look like airline food, the whole experience with check-in, security, etc makes it feel like all the disadvantages of flying and few of the advantages. I’m quite happy to take the GWR Pullman to Cornwall but the Eurostar to Amsterdam just doesn’t appeal. It’s different for a trip to Paris or Brussels where the journey times are decent and the frequency is good.

    • BA Flyer IHG Stayer says:

      16 Feb16 February 10:23

      Well the block time is closer to 1 hr 20 then there the need to check in no later than 45 mins before the flight and the time to get to LHR

      For some people the Eurostar is the better option than the plane.

    • Andy says:

      16 Feb16 February 19:27

      I’ve done it and now the through service is back I’ll do it again

      It may take a bit longer than flying but it’s way more relaxing and far easier to work on the train than a short haul plane

    • John says:

      16 Feb16 February 19:36

      Depends where your origin and final destination are

  • NFH says:

    16 Feb16 February 11:08

    Not true. The UK and Ireland are in the Common Travel Area as opposed to the Schengen area. There have always been immigration controls between the Common Travel Area and the Schengen area. So all of this was necessary both before and after Brexit.

    The change that Brexit has caused is that, whereas previously only around 5% of cross-Channel passengers were non-EU/EEA/CH nationals who necessitate more onerous immigration controls, this has risen to perhaps 30% to 60% depending on the particular cross-Channel service. This increase will become particularly noticeable when EES is introduced, which is currently expected in November 2025.

• Chris W says:

  16 Feb16 February 09:13

  I love Eurostar to Brussels and Paris but I’m still not sold on the Amsterdam service.

  Flying from LCY is such an easy 40 minute hop and the ability to arrive 20 minutes before departure is another huge benefit over Eurostar

  • Richard M says:

    16 Feb16 February 09:52

    Have done it once, and while the London – Brussels bit is fast, Brussels Amsterdam is a bit of a drag, 2 hours on a mix of conventional and high-speed line. Add in the check in time and before/after connections and it’s a whole day gone.

    Paradoxically if Eurostar were to stop at Ashford again, such a journey time between Kent and the Netherlands would be competitive with flying

  • RussellH says:

    16 Feb16 February 11:01

    Flying from London City to Schiphol may be short in terms of time. But you will have to wait to collect your baggage and negotiate immigration at Schiphol, then negotiate the station, buy a ticket and take the train into Amsterdam itself. That will be another 75 – 90 mins for many.
    And you will certainly not get away with arriving at Schiphol 20 mins before departure on your return!

    • CamFlyer says:

      16 Feb16 February 12:02

      Exactly – it all depends on one’s start and end points. From Cambridgeshire, train to Kings Cross and then Eurostar is quite time competitive with flying, even from Stansted. It’s even better if one is going to, eg, Rotterdam rather than Amsterdam itself.

  • Rich says:

    16 Feb16 February 13:02

    Would you really turn up at LCY at -20? I would probably turn up to either LCY or St Pancras at -45, latest.

    Certainly Eurostar/ St Pancras could up their game and reduce check-in time. And maybe even get the wifi to work!

    • chris w says:

      17 Feb17 February 08:03

      I have before, yes.

      Eurostar website recommends arriving at St P 90 minutes before departure, with check-in closing 30 minutes beforehand. I thought the whole point of taking a train was you could arrive 15 minutes before departure and just jump on because it was so much easier than a plane.

      If I need to arrive an hour before a train departs I would take a plane.

  • Steve J says:

    16 Feb16 February 16:40

    I’m Carte blanche and regularly arrive 20 mins before departure at St P on my way home to Amsterdam. The priority lane really work.
    Not sure about the other way; the E* Terminal at Amsterdam Centraal was a mess. Hope this fixes it but don’t hold out much hope.

• NFH says:

  16 Feb16 February 09:31

  If passengers don’t change trains in Brussels any more when travelling from Amsterdam to London, this means that UK Border Force officers carriy out juxtaposed UK immigration controls in Amsterdam, as they do in Paris and Brussels. Do these Border Force officers really travel 8 hours per day on Eurostar services to man these juxtaposed immigration controls?

  • Barrel for Scraping says:

    16 Feb16 February 09:53

    I don’t know the answer but my guess is they’ll either live there or at least stay a number of days there. Another option is they could fly over.

    • NFH says:

      16 Feb16 February 10:03

      If they fly, it would somewhat disprove the whole raison d’être of Eurostar’s Amsterdam service. But this would not be unprecedented, as I believe that French police aux frontières officers travel by car through the Channel Tunnel to their juxtaposed controls in the port of Dover instead of using the ferries.

      • RussellH says:

        16 Feb16 February 10:28

        How does it “disprove the whole raison d’être of Eurostar’s Amsterdam service”?

        They had to fight for years to get the service started, and did, because they knew there was a market for it.

        • NFH says:

          16 Feb16 February 10:33

          Because if 4 hours each way is too long for Border Force officers, it follows that it’s too long for many passengers as well.

        • RussellH says:

          16 Feb16 February 10:55

          Clearly, four hours is not too long for several hundred pax a day.

  • Richard M says:

    16 Feb16 February 09:58

    I bet they fly, just as UKBF staff in Calais and Dunkirk ports use the Tunnel rather than the slower ferry

  • Nick says:

    16 Feb16 February 11:53

    They don’t travel every day, they’re seconded for a few months at a time.

    • NFH says:

      16 Feb16 February 12:21

      Interesting. Are they seconded for a few months only at Eurostar stations? Do they travel daily to Calais, Coquelles and Dunkirk, given that the journey time is much shorter?

      • John says:

        16 Feb16 February 19:39

        Ask yourself which is more likely to result in happier and more productive employees

• NFH says:

  16 Feb16 February 09:56

  If the lounge is shared with domestic Nederlandse Spoorwegen passengers, this means that it is before Dutch immigration exit controls and UK immigration entry controls. This makes the lounge much less relaxing to use, knowing that one faces variable length and potentially time-consuming procedures after leaving the lounge. It’s similar to airports that have a lounge only in the Schengen zone and not in the non-Schengen zone.

  • ADS says:

    16 Feb16 February 12:43

    ah, I was rather confused by the “shared with NS passengers” text

    a landside lounge barely counts as a lounge!

• Dubious says:

  16 Feb16 February 10:03

  “ this is still 250 people fewer than could be carried.”
  Does this mean few carriages on the train, or the same as other services but guaranteed unoccupied seating?

  • RussellH says:

    16 Feb16 February 10:23

    The trains are fixed formation, so there is more space on board.

  • riku says:

    16 Feb16 February 11:11

    The train doesn’t run non-stop Amsterdam – London. It can pick up passengers on the way to fill the 250 seats which are not sold to passengers starting their journey in Amsterdam.

  • DF says:

    16 Feb16 February 11:15

    They had taped off access to half the train when I took it last year

  • Bervios says:

    16 Feb16 February 11:54

    Neither , the seats will fill up when the train arrives at Rotterdam, Brussels and Lille.

• Martin says:

  16 Feb16 February 10:16

  3250, not 3300.

• Graham says:

  16 Feb16 February 11:33

  Would love to use Eurostar more but just doesn’t make sense from Scotland. Flying easily half the price and twice as quick. Would be great if there were better connecting options at a reasonable price.

  • Richie says:

    16 Feb16 February 16:27

    BTW seat61 dot com has a good section on CIV tickets.

    • Graham says:

      16 Feb16 February 21:29

      Thanks Richie – but even using those, prices are still crazy against the frequent EJ/KLM connections to Paris and Amsterdam.

• EvilDoctorK says:

  16 Feb16 February 12:20

  Now they just need to fix the high speed line between Amsterdam and Brussels which is subject to some really strict speed limits due I believe to construction faults

  The Brussels-Amsterdam portion of the service takes about as long as the London- Brussels stretch which makes the whole thing pretty slow at 4h15 … In theory 3h30 should be possible ?

  As noted above competitiveness with flight option is affected by this ( also the really sparse timetable )

  • John says:

    16 Feb16 February 19:41

    Some of it is padding too

    When I did it in the past we had to wait at Brussels and Rotterdam for over 10 minutes before the scheduled departure time

  • Roy says:

    16 Feb16 February 21:13

    At launch, London to Amsterdam took 3 hours 41 minutes. Hopefully once the viaducts on HSL Zuid are repaired, it will revert to that.

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