Booking To Geneva And Rotterdam On Eurostar
As an experiment, I just wanted to see if I could book direct to Rotterdam on the Eurostar web site.
You can’t, but you can book direct to several Swiss cities in one go on the Eurostar web site.
I was also able to get a ticket to Brussels for just £38 on the day I wanted. To get to Rotterdam using another site, adds another £21. But I want to go to The Hague. That cost £76 or twice the London-Brussels fare.
I suspect tourists, who after spending a few days in London, who perhaps wanted to see Europe by rail, wouldn’t start by going to The Netherlands. But they might go and look at the pleasures of Switzerland.
An E-Mail To Eurostar
The fuss about getting to The Netherlands by train seems to be escalating. I’ve had an e-mail which is very critical of the withdrawal of the local service from The Netherlands.
Although I had some unofficial feedback from a Eurostar employee, I thought it would be an idea to get the corporate view. So I sent this e-mail to the company.
I have bought a ticket to Any Dutch Station a couple of times, and find it is the easiest way to get to see my friend in The Hague.
I now see that this ticket has been discontinued and that there is no direct link to The Hague from Brussels.
I went in to your ticket office in St. Pancras last week and talked to one of your excellent sales staff. She felt that this is not best for Eurostar, as she told me, that she used to sell quite a few of these tickets.
I shall probably fly to Schipol in future, as it is the easiest way to get to anywhere other than Rotterdam or Amsterdam in The Netherlands.
I write for various publications and shall be writing a hard hitting article about this fiasco, which is obviously not of Eurostar’s doing.
I shall be going to The Netherlands via Brussels some time next week to see how the Dutch deal with a stroppy tourist, who wants to get a direct train from Brussels to The Hague.
The other great thing about the Any Dutch Station ticket was that you booked it in one, from your excellent web site.
I’ll post their reply when I get it.
The Dutch And The Belgians Create A Mess
I have read in Modern Railways that because there is now a high speed rail line from Rotterdam to Brussels, that the Inter City service from Den Haag to Brussels has been withdrawn.
I’ve used this a couple of times, by buying a Eurostar ticket from London to Any Dutch Station. This ticket has been withdrawn as well.
I also looked up how to get from Brussels to Den Haag and you either have to use the high speed line or go halfway round the Netherlands to places you don’t want to visit. Apparently, Dutch who commute into Brussels aren’t pleased either!
The high speed tickets aren’t cheap!
I think next time I go to Den Haag, I’ll fly to Schipol and get a train from there.
A pity that, as Eurostar does a rather nice gluten-free meal with wine and easyJet doesn’t.
It all seems a bit like making passengers arriving on Eurostar at St. Pancras, who want to go to Scotland, always go via Newcastle and change trains there.
I just wonder how many tickets, Eurostar will sell to The Netherlands in the next few years. Not many, I’d venture.
I’ve also found this report on a Dutch news web site.
Dutch Footballer In The S-h-1-T
I first heard this story on Radio 5, where it caused a lot of hilarity. Mainly about the Dutch word, wildpoepen, for which there is no English equivalent.
The story is in full, in the Mirror.
Smoking In The Tunnel
This tunnel leads to all the platforms at Den Haag HS station.
The Tunnel At Den Haag HS Station
When I arrived, there were several smokers loitering about inside. Are the Dutch more tolerant than we are?
An Unfortunate Name
I took this photo of an advert on the back of a car.
An Unfortunate Name
They’re probably an excellent company and I think this is their web site
By Eurostar To The Netherlands
On Thursday I took the Eurostar to visit a friend in The Hague. I travelled in Standard Premier to get a comfortable seat with a table and a meal.
My route was to take the Eurostar to Brussels, where I would change to the Dutch Inter City train to Den Haag HS. The weather wasn’t good as this picture shows.
To Brussels In The Mist
Not that you get to see much on a trip to Brussels. But at least the gluten-free breakfast is worth having.
Eurostar’s Gluten-Free Breakfast
Note the Dove’s Farm biscuits, which seem to have disappeared from the shops.
Coming back, I got a rather nice gluten-free chicken for supper, with as much wine as I wanted.
It is a bit of a pain having to change trains in Brussels, but it isn’t too far to walk. It would be nice though if I could have got a train right the way through to The Hague or Rotterdam from St. Pancras.
The main reason is that Eurostar trains can’t run on the Dutch train network, although they can run on ours. Most modern trains like the East and West Coast Main Lines in the UK, the French TGV and the Channel Tunnel are electrified to the same standard of 25kV A.C. But the Dutch railway for some reason is electrified at 1.5kV D.C. Although the High Speed Line to Amsterdam is at the higher voltage.
This entry in Wikipedia talks about the future of high speed trains from London to the Netherlands. When Eurostar get their new trains, they may even call at The Hague.
Carry On Baling Out
It has just been announced that Germany’s top court, has allowed the Euro bail-out to go ahead.
Will this allow the solution to go ahead? Possibly! But what about the Dutch elections?
The Netherlands Isn’t Just About Orange
This news item must be watched by all of the Dutch.
Or is red the new orange?
The Anonymous Widower 