Savvy readers will by now have guessed that this will not be a through train.
I say that because Eurostar’s Siemens trains cannot cope with our loading gauge (outside HS1) hence this service involves a train change between two London termini (St Pancras and Euston).
The special service which has been organised by several environmental bodies, including ‘Rail to the COP‘, will operate on October 30 from Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Brussels.
It is arranged for the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) taking place in Glasgow on the following day.
European Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans commented:
“What could be nicer than travelling by train to an international climate summit?
“The train is sustainable and provides a lot of comfort, whether you travel for work or pleasure.
“More and more passengers in Europe are recognising the advantages of travelling by rail.
“I am really looking forward to leaving for Glasgow by train with our delegation.”
Note that there will be no special train service for the return, as delegates tend to head home from a conference at different times.
So when returning from Glasgow rail-minded delegates would take Avanti West Coast back to London with a transfer to St Pancras for Eurostar.
One hopes that by November Eurostar’s schedules will have been amended to avoid delegates having to night stop in London unless they were to travel South by Caledonian Sleeper. At present, the Amsterdam service departs St Pancras at 1104.
And one wonders how many of these delegates will take the train both ways or decide to mix and match between rail and air.
After all, the overall rail journey from The Netherlands could exceed nine hours compared with 90 mins by air.
