Direct train service from Amsterdam to London on the Eurostar, the sleek, fast train that connects Britain to northwestern Europe, will be suspended for six months next year, the train company said.
The closing, which will begin in June, is a result of renovations at Amsterdam Centraal Station, from which the Eurostar to London departs. Because of the work, the terminal that passengers use to go through security and passport control in Amsterdam won’t be accessible, Carola Belderbos, a spokeswoman for the Dutch national railway company, said.
The terminal accommodates about 250 people. A larger terminal for Eurostar passengers, one that will hold nearly twice as many, is being built in a different part of the station, but it is not expected to be ready until January 2025, Ms. Belderbos said.
“It’s a shame,” she said, adding that the train company has worked to entice people to take trains instead of planes for short distances. A flight from Amsterdam to London takes less than an hour. The train trip from Amsterdam to London takes about four hours, with stops in Rotterdam, in the Netherlands, Brussels and Lille, France.
The closing of the Amsterdam-to-London route, which was introduced in 2020, was initially expected to last a full year, according to previous announcements reported by the Dutch news media. The service will still be disrupted, but that time has now been cut in half.
“Our focus must now turn to how we can offer the best experience and journey connections for Eurostar customers in this period,” Gwendoline Cazenave, the chief executive of Eurostar Group, said in a statement, adding that “we will still run services directly between London and Amsterdam one way as a minimum.”
It will still be possible to travel by train from Amsterdam to Britain during the service disruption, but passengers will have to transfer in Brussels.
All passport control for passengers traveling to Amsterdam from London is done at St. Pancras International station in London.
The Eurostar struggled during the pandemic, when its ridership all but vanished. Britain’s exit from the European Union added to its troubles, forcing the train company to limit the number of passengers it carries because of the longer wait times at passport control.
The large number of tourists visiting Amsterdam from Britain and other nations has put a strain on the city. In 2021, close to 9 million tourists visited the city, according to the city’s website. That number peaked in 2019, at about 22 million tourists.
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