Eurostar, the high-speed passenger rail service linking the UK with mainland Europe, is celebrating five years of direct high-speed rail services from London to Rotterdam and Amsterdam.
Over 1.6 million passengers have enjoyed Eurostar travel between London and the Netherlands since the inaugural journey left St. Pancras International in April 2018 – the equivalent of over 10,000 plane loads.[iii] With a passenger’s carbon footprint from one flight between London and Amsterdam being the equivalent to seven Eurostar journeys[iv], over 83,000 tonnes of CO2 has been saved thanks to millions of passengers making the switch from plane to trainii. Eurostar is committed to growing connections and capacity on the popular high-speed route and recently added a fourth daily service in September 2022.
Gwendoline Cazenave, CEO at Eurostar Group, said: “As we celebrate five years of high-speed rail connections between London and the Netherlands, we are proud to be the greener way to go. There are now up to 18 daily services between Amsterdam, London and Paris, which is testament to the ever-growing demand for seamless high-speed rail connections as a sustainable and convenient alternative to air travel. As Eurostar Group, we want to carry 30 million passengers a year on all of our routes by 2030, and the continued growth of our Dutch routes will play a huge role in helping us deliver on these ambitions.”
The number of travellers connecting at Brussels for journeys between the Netherlands and the UK has increased by +106% since 2018[v]. The direct return service from Amsterdam and Rotterdam to London started operating in October 2020.
Wilbert Lek, Managing Director at Rotterdam Partners, says: “The launch of the route to the Netherlands and the addition of a fourth direct train service last year supports us in our mission to promote sustainable travel to both business and leisure customers. We look forward to further strengthening our relationship with Eurostar and to keep welcoming British visitors and businesses to our city.”
Eurostar Group, incorporating Eurostar and Thalys, recently revealed the new brand to take the business forward which will be rolled out across all customer touchpoints including the business’ 51 trains from Q4 this year. For more information visit www.eurostar.com
[iii] Based on a boeing 737-700 carrying 149 passengers
[iv]https://www.eurostar.com/uk-en/about-eurostar/community-environment/treadlightly
[v] Passengers connecting at Brussels and travelling between the Netherlands and UK only
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