Consumer organisations: make Eurostar to London even faster
† Source: AP
Amersfoort
The Eurostar from the Netherlands to London should run faster to become a more attractive alternative to the plane, consumer groups believe. According to the National Consultation on Consumer Interests in Public Transport (Locov), time can be saved by allowing the train to stand still for even less time at Brussels-South station. A number of Eurostar trains also have to run directly from Amsterdam and Rotterdam to London, without a stop in Brussels and Lille in France.
According to Locov, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management is already planning to stop the Eurostar in Brussels South for a shorter period of time, but according to the umbrella organization even more time can be saved. In the current plans, Brussels-South will become an boarding station and the train will stop for 15 minutes instead of 27 minutes. Locov states in an advice to the ministry that a five-minute stop is more than enough. At Rotterdam Central, also a boarding station, the train now only stops for five minutes, the consumer organizations argue.
By skipping a number of Eurostar Brussels and Lille trains daily, the NS and Eurostar also save on security costs, according to Locov. The money that this generates should benefit the people who use the Intercity from Amsterdam to Brussels to travel between Belgium and the Netherlands. “A train trip to Brussels is really no different from a train trip to Groningen: so the fares have to be reduced to the final, train journey amount. And the discount subscription for the route is simply valid.”