Direct train connection Amsterdam and London starts with almost empty trains...

The time has finally come, from Monday there will be a direct train connection between Amsterdam and London, where previously travelers always had to get off in Brussels. The trains will be empty, as negative travel advice applies on both sides of the canal for the other side.

This means that only necessary travel is allowed. There will also be no festivities around the first departure, a Eurostar spokesperson said. The first direct train ride to London will leave Amsterdam on Monday at 7.47 am.

The arrival of the direct train connection has been delayed several times. The plan was to have the faster connection running from the end of April, but due to the corona pandemic and the accompanying drop in passenger numbers, the Eurostar did not even run at all for a while.

The train journey from Amsterdam to London will take an hour shorter in the new guise due to the disappearance of border control in Brussels. Passport control now takes place in Amsterdam and Rotterdam. As a result, a train passenger takes about four hours instead of five hours. Travelers boarding in Rotterdam take 3.5 hours to drive to the heart of London.

However, negative travel advice still applies: anyone who leaves the Netherlands to the British capital will first have to be in self-isolation for fourteen days after arrival. The other way around is ten days. To make the journey as safe as possible, seats have been taped to keep a distance. The trains are also cleaned more often and the well-known face mask is mandatory.