The long-running saga of how Eurostar will handle the temporary loss of its passport checking space in Amsterdam has taken a new and perhaps final turn, one which adds 53 minutes to the trip, but gives back some waiting time at the beginning.
Starting June 14, when construction at Amsterdam’s Centraal station closes off the immigration space, passengers for London will have their passports checked at a stop in Brussels; as a result, the trip which is now scheduled at 3 hours and 52 minutes will change to 4 hours and 45 minutes until the work is completed.
At the same time, passengers will no longer have to arrive at the Amsterdam station an hour before departure. There’ll be no change in the operation from London to Amsterdam, since passport checks are done in London. There are presently four trains a day on the route; Eurostar says it will add four more on the Amsterdam to Brussels segment, potentially spreading out the passport load in Brussels.
The London-Amsterdam link, which began operation five years ago, has had an impact on air traffic between the two cities, long one of Europe’s busiest routes. Last year, the train numbers rose 38% and the line carried 1.1 million passengers.
