[AMcWhirter]

As we have previously reported Eurostar will be launching a third daily service on the above route starting in June.

In order to boost the number of travellers using the London to Amsterdam/Rotterdam route it has today announced a seat sale.

What is interesting here is that the seat sale is valid for departures between May 6 and September 19. So it covers the entire summer peak.

The main restriction is that bookings be made between April 10 and April 15.

One-way fares are £35 for standard and £79 for standard premier with its offer of a light meal and first class seating.

Eurostar confirms third daily Amsterdam service

1 user thanked author for this post.

w8ster

[MarcusGB]

Hi Alex.
Thank you as always for the information.

As we will remember, we and The Forum have had many discussions about these services through to Amsterdam.
Living in North London 25 mins from Kings X by train, it takes around 7 hrs door to door for me to travel London – Amsterdam.
I have tried over many years!

Where do these One way trains go when they take you from London to Amsterdam>!!
There are No returns, and in fact in checking 5 dates in different months and days just, a basic seat is almost £100.
Standard Premier is £79+ out , and £122-£248 to return, so two one way tickets.

As you may remember, i took a trip that was late on arrival on a Thalys train ex Amsterdam, with only 9 minutes between the departure of the Eurostar in Brussels. Despite 21 people asking the Thalys Manager on the train to communicate to hold the train or assist for a few minutes, the two Companies do not communicate.
I literally ran to get through the two Immigrations desks of Belgium, then the UK one sat behind the other which i find absurd, knowing the way. I made it with 2 minutes to spare.
I sat on the train to find the others i tried to assist and advise, come up stairs as the train doors were closed on Eurostar, and then waited 5 minutes before moving.
Two of us only caught the connection.

They will Not validate trains if you miss your connection, regardless, as they are “Not the same Companies”. You are Not entitled to take the next train without a reservation, and if fully booked, you may have to wait until the next day!

I simply do not get their false claims, that these are return services. I have to again warn people, that they have NO promise of a return, if for any reason, THEY do not make the connection. Thalys has Comfort 1, and Comfort 2, so the Standard Premier services is in 2, standard.
I am really fascinated what train and where they disappear too once the “Direct” train runs to Amsterdam?

With so many recalls of delays, cancellations, strikes, on Eurostar, and my own experiences, it is no good having 2 different singles. and several Companies for a return trip, and i shall stay with KLM from £98 return at LCY or LHR! At least i don’t have to take two aircraft with a stopover, change, and take a different Airline on the way back, and it is still £300 less than their standard Premier. My Platinum FB Membership offers all the other travel perks, with meals drinks Lounge access pre each flight.
It is quicker, more cost effective, reliable, and i do not “Gamble” If i can get back and connect, or not.
It simply does not work.

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flyingdutchman1, Jacob, GivingupBA, PeterCoultas, DerekVH

[AMcWhirter]

Hello Marcus – As you know I try to be as accurate as possible in everything I write.

As I have mentioned before Eurostar considers itself more an airline than a train company.

Just as airlines do today within Europe all Eurostar’s fares are one-way. By now I thought our readers would have realised this and I apologise were this not the case.

On its website Eurostar clearly says these prices are one-way.

Anyway … on Eurostar/com there is a simple way to locate the best prices.

https://www.eurostar.com/uk-en/deals/eurostar-promotions

Click the above link. Click on “Find Fares” and then from May onwards you will see for *almost* all departure dates there is a £35 fare displayed. But you may have to choose a specific train departure.

I agree that on the return fares are higher and there seems no availability after August 10. Fares on the return are higher because Thalys gains revenue (rather than all of it going to Eurostar).

Nevertheless many trains are priced at £51.50 one-way (with that change in Brussels).

[MarcusGB]

No criticism of you at all Alex.
You are accurately reporting what they portray.
We know this has been confusing and just a very messy journey for years, and it seems no different.

But travellers need to be realistic, especially when its Business, and you do not want to spend 7 hours+ back.

As i said, the almost £100 standard returns, with a stop of 40-90 Mins in Midi. To go through, Belgian Customs / Immigration, then immediately the desk behind that is UK Customs / Immigration. Negotiate the platforms, queues, Change trains / Companies and off through the tunnel.
Passports out again at St Pancras. So one passport check out, 3 back?
Maybe on the train spot Passport checks also with French or British Immigration.

Does anyone know where these trains go then, once they are “Direct 1 way” into Amsterdam?

I Highly recommend, to simply buy a return to Brussels Midi on Eurostar, then simply take Dutch Rail Services that are at least 2 x hourly, to Amsterdam, with little differences in times. At least you choose yr own connections, times, reliability, and pay a pretty standard Dutch fare.
It is Euros 29 each way, any time any train (15 Euros maximum anywhere on sundays on Dutch rail with a Chip card!).

Thalys was a great service, but my last trips had trains really filthy dirty inside, no luggage space, overcrowded, and running late.

Here is then yr Dutch Rail return Brussels – Amsterdam choice. Same fare, any train, any time, any day, no booking ahead needed:
“The average travel time between Amsterdam and Brussels is 2h36 minutes. The quickest route is 1h50 minutes. The first train leaving Amsterdam is at 06:17, the last at 16:47. There is an average of 31 trains a day between Amsterdam and Brussels, leaving approximately every 16 minutes”.

At St, Pancras you need at Least 1.15hrs + to check in. plus travel home.
Amsterdam end is great and very quick. But it will remain a 7 hr journey even if you are near at Amsterdam C, to where you need to be.

But a one way Direct train, is no use when it does not come back!
I hope one day Alex, we can all report a smooth Direct service. But it does not exist even though Eurostar claim it does, at this time.

Again Alex, absolutely stating it as it is, and mean no offence to you updating us, and with the sale.
Thanks for the info on this service.

1 user thanked author for this post.

AMcWhirter

[prosborn]

[quote quote=929071](15 Euros maximum anywhere on sundays on Dutch rail with a Chip card!).[/quote]

Really, Marcus? Maak maar waar joh! Tell us how it works, would you?

[TimFitzgeraldTC]

Hi MarcusGB

I’m sorry – but I have to pull you up on this. Tickets sold from Amsterdam to London via Eurostar.com are covered and protected by international CIV/PRR regulations. This means in the event of a missed connection Eurostar have to put you on next available service and if this means an overnight stay Thalys/Eurostar are responsible for sorting overnight accommodation as well as food and drinks. This is all clearly on Eurostar website and in the CIV/PRR regulations.

Whether staff at Brussels are helpful is another matter – but legally that is the responsibility they have – in the same way carriers have to work with EU261.

So please don’t say this isn’t the case – when it quite clearly is – it is in the Terms and Conditions of carriage.

I know Eurostar may not be suitable for you – but for many others it will be – even with a connection in Brussels (hopefully this will soon be fixed and there will be a direct train back as well).

1 user thanked author for this post.

prosborn

[LuganoPirate]

Looking at the Dutch Rail (NS) website, it does show a Eurostar train direct from Amsterdam (via Rotterdam) to London. However it does mean a chnage in Brussels for which they allow 45 minutes. I can only assume this is for immigration purposes?

Somewhere in the back of my mind I seem to recall that it will be possible to clear immigration in Rotterdam, then stay on the train all the way to London. Did/will this happen?

[prosborn]

In the days when a lie was a lie, and a liar was to be scorned/imprisoned/hung-drawn-quartered-and-exported-to-Oz, we’d call all the guff about the hsl link Ams-Lon just a bunch of baloney.
Somewhere in all the peacockery tales, deceit and misinformation there has to be a grain of truth. In the meantime, since the Schiphol Rail Station has an airport conveniently nearby, and both are just 15 bus minutes away for me, this KLM Platinum for Life takes the KLM airline, and not the KLM-co-financed c*c*-up on wheels.

For the record, from the NS site:
to London: always change in Bru. from London, no changes. Work that one out.
Als u naar Londen reist maakt u altijd 1 overstap op Brussel Midi. U kunt ervoor kiezen om de aanreis met Thalys of Intercity Brussel te maken. Met beide opties kunt u 6 keer per dag naar Londen reizen.

Van Londen naar Amsterdam rijdt een supersnelle, rechtstreekse Eurostar, 2 keer per dag. Deze Eurostar brengt u vanaf London St Pancras International in slechts 3.16 uur naar Rotterdam en in 3 uur en 55 minuten naar Amsterdam Centraal.
Vanaf juni 2019 rijdt er een extra rechtstreekse trein van Londen naar Amsterdam die rond 11.00 ‘s ochtends vertrekt.

[MarcusGB]

Apologies for the late reply, am dwn in Australia and travelling much.

Tim, thank you for the exact information. Be very useful to print that out and take it with you, especially for the generally unstaffed Thalys office in Brussels.

What i have stated, is fact, On The Ground, when you travel. I was there, myself and others experienced it.
On the worst delayed trip, the Thalys Train Manager stated very clearly that they had “Nothing to do with Eurostar”, when we asked him at least to communicate the late running and connecting passengers for Eurostar at least to assist people to make the change on arrival.
Neither Company did anything.
Trains after were fully booked i heard from another passenger.
We actually had to ask and get The Train Manager with those changing, and be “Pro-Active” to ask him to communicate, which he did.
Eurostar shur the doors on passengers coming up the stairs on the platform, then sat there doors closed for 5 minutes!

On the journey, the behaviour of the staff is of disinterest, accepting no responsibility, and preferring to walk off and could not be found.
That is an observation, not an opinion.
I have friends that use Eurostar often and for the London to Brussels Midi, or Paris, it appears good.
The recent disruptions, always appears to be something that stalls Eurostar every few months in a major way, has put them off.

Thalys was also a very good service, but Dutch friends complain about the dirty carriages inside, overcrowded trains, and little luggage space, unreliable, and that the standards have fallen. Most travel Comfort 1. My experience has been the same. The trains cannot reach high speeds.

My last attempt was 2 years ago. With the recent delays cancellations and disruptions, i would not see it as a reliable or cost effective option, not “Direct” which it is not, to Amsterdam return.
I still fail to hear where these “One way Direct” trains go!

As Prosborn points out, the KLM flights ex UK are really superb, 21 UK airports, and ex LCY- AMS beats anything for me. 9 flights weekdays, also LHR.
It is easier for me to meet with relatives living in Penzance In Amsterdam via KLM, than take trains taxis to from there ex London also.
I can book Platinum level miles flights ex Bristol for them, but a Lite return is from £78.
Dutch Rail is excellent from Schiphol to Amsterdam, 16 minutes, and trains every 6 minutes.

In relation to Dutch rail, those carrying a yellow residents Chip card had a max travel fare of 15 Euros on Sundays, it states 26 Euros daily normally, maximum around NL on their website. It also states up to a 30% reduction on longer trips which mine provided when i was living there.
Several friends in Amsterdam state The Sunday max still operates…

Many of us find the trains excellent, clean new well maintained (not like noisy dirty stations or trains in the UK), reliable, organised, and on time.
The basic cost remaining the same everywhere anytime, not having to book ahead, offers total freedom, unlike the UK.

It is feels like “A Human Right” has been given back to be allowed to travel at will, where you like, at a moments notice, without paying £ hundreds as in the UK.
No paying a Government tax either to get out out the country, off the Island!

Sydney has a similar Policy but at a very small charge of around $6. Sundays for Ferries, trains, light rail for the whole day.

1 user thanked author for this post.

Johnnyg

[AMcWhirter]

[quote quote=930079]Somewhere in the back of my mind I seem to recall that it will be possible to clear immigration in Rotterdam, then stay on the train all the way to London. Did/will this happen?[/quote]

A Eurostar terminal is ready for use at Rotterdam’s main station. But until the immigration/securutity situation is sorted out both it and the one at Amsterdam will remain closed.

Therefore London-bound passengers ex-Rotterdam will, like their ex-Amsterdam counterparts, continue to change trains at Brussels.

[Author]

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