Tickets on sale for high speed train to Amsterdam

Tickets are now on sale for the long awaited high speed line between Brussels, Amsterdam and Cologne. The opening of the new line on 13 December will see the entire route between Paris and Amsterdam and Cologne operate at high speed. Thalys trains will run at speeds of up to 300km per hour, with reductions in journey times of close to 1 hour on certain routes:

Route.........................Current journey time..........New journey time.........Time saving

Brussels – Amsterdam........2 hrs 42 mins.................1hr 53 mins..............49 mins

Brussels – Cologne.............2 hrs 16 mins.................1hr 47 mins..............29 mins

Paris – Amsterdam..............4 hrs 09 min..................3hrs 18 mins.............51 mins

Paris – Cologne..................3 hrs 50 mins.................3hrs 14 mins.............36 mins

UK passengers can currently make the journey from London to both Amsterdam and Cologne in around 5 and a quarter hours.

From December, with an easy connection in Brussels, fastest journey times will be reduced to 4hrs 16 minutes from London to Amsterdam and 4 hours 11 minutes from London to Cologne. There will be 5 services per day from Brussels to Amsterdam that connect with a Eurostar service, and 5 services from Brussels to Cologne connecting with a Eurostar service.

Fares from London to Amsterdam currently start at £94 standard class return per person, while fares from London to Cologne start at £87 standard class return per person.

To book or for further information on the new high speed line, contact Rail Europe on 0844 848 4070, visit raileurope.co.uk