Take Two: Amsterdam and Rotterdam to London by Eurostar - direct

Back in February I wrote about the new direct Amsterdam to London service that was due to commence operation on 30th April 2020.  Unsurprisingly there was a delay, but happily it has a new start date of Monday 26th October, with booking opening on 1st September.

After being a bit disappointed with the April time savings, let's see if Eurostar has improved the October timetable.

For context, the London to Amsterdam service takes 4 hours 7 mins and the London to Rotterdam service 3 hrs 28 mins.  There's currently a single weekday departure at 11:04 from St Pancras International station.

The existing Amsterdam - Brussels (Thalys) - London (Eurostar) connecting service is timetabled from 4 hours 42 mins (some take a lot longer), which includes at least 45 mins to change trains and clear UK immigration in Brussels.

The direct Amsterdam to London service starts with an 07:47 departure on Monday 26th October that is due to take 4 hours 10 mins (and 3 hrs 29 mins from Rotterdam).

This is equivalent to duration in the other direction, although the 32 minute saving feels a bit light - but maybe that's down to the impressive 45 minute connection time for the existing service!  Obviously not having to change trains will make the journey much more comfortable.

Whilst the service officially starts on Monday 26th October, it looks like there is also a 18:47 departure from Amsterdam (19:28 from Rotterdam) on Sunday 25th October.  Although this may disappear when tickets go on sale on 1st September.

Rotterdam is currently showing a second weekday direct service departing at 17:28 - which again takes 3 hours 29 mins to get to London.  It seems odd that this train wouldn't start in Amsterdam - so it may not really exist.

In November from Monday 9th to Thursday 12th and again from Monday 16th to Wednesday 18th, the normal weekday 07:47 departure from Amsterdam is switched to a 15:47 service (16:28 from Rotterdam).  And this later departure takes 5 hours 10 mins from Amsterdam and 4 hrs 29 mins from Rotterdam. 

There's no direct weekend service until Saturday 21st November - 16:47 from Amsterdam and 17:28 from Rotterdam.  On Sunday 22nd November it's a later 18:47 departure from Amsterdam and 19:28 from Rotterdam.  After that the weekend departures disappear again - but hopefully they will be timetabled before booking opens on 1st September.

And if the new direct train doesn't appeal - there's always the Sail Rail option via Harwich and Hoek of Holland.

Amsterdam and Rotterdam to London by Eurostar - direct

Update:  This planned service never actually took off.  See my new post for new October 2020 start details.

If you want to travel from London to Amsterdam by Eurostar tomorrow - there are three direct services (at 07:16, 11:04 and 17:16) which take 3:55, 4:17 (with a stop in Lille) and 3:55 respectively.  Eurostar website will also offer you another four services which take between 4:40 and 4:49 and include a change of train in Brussels.

However if you want to travel from Amsterdam to London by Eurostar tomorrow there are no direct services - because there currently aren't any UK immigration desks at Amsterdam Central station.  So not only do you need to change train at Brussels, you also need to pass through immigration there - adding even more time to your journey.  This means that on a normal weekday the Amsterdam-Brussels-London trip will take 4:47, 4:51, 5:00, 5:18 or even 5:50 if you're unlucky.

That changes on Thursday 30th April - when the UK Border Force starts operating in Amsterdam, and the first direct train departs at 18:47 taking 4:10 to get to St Pancras International.  On Friday 1st May they open their desks twice - for an 07:47 departure, and then again for the 18:47 service - both of which take 4:10 to get to London.

Exhausted after those three shifts, the take the weekend off - so you're back to clearing immigration in Brussels.  The connections on the four services that Eurostar offer aren't as good as during weekdays - so the journey times are between 5:22 and 6:25 (which includes 104 minutes in Brussels).

But from the following weekend they do a shift every Saturday morning for the 07:47 departure, and another every Sunday evening for the 18:47 service to London.

Rotterdam also gets a UK border post from Monday 18th May.  Up until then the journey time on the Thalys to Brussels, clearing immigration there, and then the Eurostar to London is between 3:59 and 5:07 on a weekday.  At weekends it's quite similar, ranging from 4:04 to 5:07

The 07:47 service from Amsterdam will depart Rotterdam at 08:28 (and the 18:47 Amsterdam service at 19:28) and the total journey time for these direct trains will be 3:29

The UK Border Force staff get the first weekend off.  But from Saturday 30th May the once daily Eurostar weekend service from Amsterdam is available to catch from Rotterdam.

The 3:29 journey time for the direct service compares with 3:16 for the early morning and evening London to Rotterdam trains, and 3:28 for the late morning direct service.

Whilst it's obviously a much more relaxing (and productive) trip not to have to change trains and clear immigration half way through your journey - the actual time savings aren't as large as you might imagine.  For Amsterdam departures the direct services takes a minimum of 37 minutes off your journey (although more typically 50 minutes).  And for Rotterdam departures it reduces your journey time by at least 30 minutes.

Part of the reason why the time savings aren't greater is that the direct services from Amsterdam take 15 minutes longer than the two faster services in the opposite direction.  And from Rotterdam the trip to London takes 13 minutes longer than vice versa.

Maybe Eurostar will be able to squeeze these minutes out of a future timetable - but for now you're left with a 30 - 50 minute saving, and a more comfortable journey.

uganda in October / November ...

looking to go to Uganda mid October, returning Sunday 3rd November ... after visiting the town of Pakwach for an event at 2pm

the best outbound flight option seems to be the Kenya Airways LHR - NBO departing 20:00 arriving 06:30 with a connection on to EBB departing at 07:55 arriving into Kampala at 09:15
for the return journey the KLM flight departs EBB at 23:30 arriving into Schipol at 05:55 with a connection to LHR departing at 07:15 and scheduled to arrive in London at 07:40
the outbound KLM flight leaves at 11:00 which uses up an extra day's holiday, although it does have the advantage of stopping in Kigali enroute to EBB
total for the Kenya Airways o/bound and KLM i/bound comes to 655 gbp with expedia, and plenty of other websites

for those not as restricted by timings, kayak has the most flexible options, with travelocity offering a 3 day +/- option which results in more or less the same flights ... bizarrely google flights has what looks like really good flexibility functionality, but it doesn't bring up the same (cheap) flights that it produces on standard search !
anyway, all the flight searches point to Turkish airlines being the cheapest - around 480 gbp

whilst in Uganda, to get some ideas for what to do (via the Tour Radar website) come from Gorilla Tours, Dragoman, Peregrine, Absolute Africa, Garuka Safaris, Audley Travel, Pinnacle Safaris, African Bikers, Absolute Africa, World Expeditions, Journey International and Bench International
and a few i found myself Exodus, Explore!, Rainbow Tours, Wildlife Worldwide, PearlAfric, Destination Jungle, Travel Quest, Chameleon and Astro Trails

FlyUganda operates internal flights around Uganda ... for a price !



Updated 26/5/13 - added Chameleon to list of tour operators.