Eurostar has confirmed that the no Eurostar trains will be able to depart from the Netherlands between June 2024 and January 2025 – a shorter interruption than anticipated.
Renovation work in Amsterdam
This is because of renovation work at the Amsterdam Central station, which will mean that the Eurostar departure and customs area will be allocated to construction instead. Eurostar have confirmed that Rotterdam is not an adequate substitute due to limited space in the station.
It’s not clear at this point whether London-Amsterdam trains will continue to run. We understand that because the limiter is the space required for customs checks, and this would take place in London, that the UK-Netherlands journey could still work. However, whether it would be practical or financially viable in one direction only is not clear.
One positive of the redevelopment work in Amsterdam is that passenger capacity will increase. It’s currently limited to 250 passengers per departure, but that should increase to 400 when it reopens and ultimately reach 650 per departure.
Travel to Austria on Nightjet via Amsterdam still possible
What is definite is that this winter, British skiers wishing to connect to the overnight NightJet service operated by the Austrian rail company, OBB, will be able to do so.
This allows access to many Austrian ski resorts, with the best connections in the Tirol region, either connecting from Worgl or Innsbruck.
For more insight into this route and the NightJet experience, please listen to Iain’s conversation with Hannah Zajic from the Austrian National Tourist Board in Episode 176 of The Ski Podcast