Eurostar marks five years of eco-friendly London-Netherlands rail travel

Credit: Eurostar

Eurostar, the high-speed passenger rail service linking the UK with mainland Europe, has celebrated five years of direct high-speed sustainable rail services from London to Rotterdam and Amsterdam.

Since the inaugural journey left St. Pancras International in April 2018, over 1.6 million passengers have enjoyed Eurostar travel between London and the Netherlands- that’s the equivalent of over 10,000 plane loads.

With a passenger’s carbon footprint from one flight between London and Amsterdam being the equivalent to seven Eurostar journeys, over 83,000 tonnes of CO2 has been saved thanks to millions of passengers making the switch from plane to train.

Furthermore, Eurostar is committed to growing connections and capacity on the popular high-speed route and recently added a fourth daily service in September 2022.

“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,” Gwendoline Cazenave, CEO at Eurostar Group, said. “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. The direct return service from Amsterdam and Rotterdam to London started operating in October 2020.

“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,” Wilbert Lek, Managing Director at Rotterdam Partners, said. “We look forward to further strengthening our relationship with Eurostar and to keep welcoming British visitors and businesses to our city.”