New Eurostar Service Between London and Amsterdam
Eurostar, the company that operates train services between Great Britain and the European mainland through the Channel Tunnel, will start a new service between London and Amsterdam in April. The company has said that the new route is another step towards connecting major European capitals to the UK by rail.
Trains will travel twice a day between London and Amsterdam via Brussels and Rotterdam. The journey will take about three hours and 40 minutes.
Eurostar will offer tickets starting at £35 one-way, which is expected to compete with cheap budget airlines on the route between London and the Dutch capital.
The service especially targets business people who prefer comfortable foot space and WiFi. In addition, Amsterdam has become increasingly popular among UK tourists. Over 4 million passengers travel between London and Amsterdam, one of Europe's busiest air routes, every year.
Travel between the UK and Western Europe has increased strongly in the last two decades. Since the start of Eurostar services in 1994, the number of travellers between London and Paris, Eurostar's first route, has doubled.
While passengers leaving London will be able to travel to Amsterdam without interruption, travellers from Amsterdam to London will be required to undergo passport and security checks in Brussels. This is only a temporary measure and only should only last until the end of 2019.
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Words
- budget airlines = airlines that offer cheap tickets, but not as many services as other airlines do
- capital = the most important city in a country; where the government is
- compete = here: to be able to attract as many passengers as airlines do
- connect = link together
- decade = ten years
- double = to be twice as much
- especially = above all
- foot space = room for your legs when you sit
- in addition = also
- increasingly = more and more
- interruption = to stop something
- mainland = the European continent, without the islands that belong to it
- major = very important
- measure = law, action
- offer = sell
- one-way = only to a destination; not back again
- operate = here: to run a service
- popular = liked and well-known
- prefer = like
- require = need to; must
- security check = here: officials check your passport and see that you don't bring anything illegal into a country
- service = here: a train that travels between two cities
- step = stage, phase
- target = aim at a certain group of people
- temporary = only for a short time
- twice = two times
- undergo = here: you must do something
- via = through; by way of
- WiFi = wireless internet connection