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Lille Eurostar

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Citybreak1

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I know it’s probably been asked before but my train went Brussels right to London I assume they now skip this stop if the train is perhaps quiet and nobody wants off in Lille? I know things are up in the air about the Amsterdam route with Eurostar but don’t they also plant to skip Brussels in the future to speed up services?
 
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TFN

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No, some trains between Brussels and London run as non stop. (Usually the ones to/from Amsterdam except the last train of the day).

Also you now can’t use Eurostar to travel from Brussels to Lille only, but you can use it to travel from Lille to Brussels.
 

HarryF

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Also you now can’t use Eurostar to travel from Brussels to Lille only, but you can use it to travel from Lille to Brussels.
Doesn’t that result in an imbalance of trains between Lille and Brussels, with Eurostars and TGVs able to be used for a Brussels bound journey, but only TGVs coming back?
 

dutchflyer

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In theory yes, different nrs of possible trains to take, but in real everyday practice demand for the trip is so small, plus that all those wanting to save money use the hourly regional trains-via Kortrijk or Doornik=Courtrai, that its really- well, just theory and no practical problem. Pas de problémes!
 

zwk500

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Doesn’t that result in an imbalance of trains between Lille and Brussels, with Eurostars and TGVs able to be used for a Brussels bound journey, but only TGVs coming back?
It's a small problem given there's only 1tp2h from Eurostar and lots of other options as @dutchflyer says. Certainly smooths out the border/customs issues at Brussels, because when you could do the trip in the return direction AIUI the French/Belgians were insistent that full passport checks would not be made on internal Schengen passengers, while the UK Home Office was paranoid about people trying to sneak through the border by buying a ticket for Lille and then not getting off. Demand is heavy enough for Brussels-London that Eurostar loses very little revenue from it.
Eurostar's website will also not let you select journeys from Amsterdam or Rotterdam to Brussels only (or at least it won't let me select them, do let me know if I'm being thick).
 

Citybreak1

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It's a small problem given there's only 1tp2h from Eurostar and lots of other options as @dutchflyer says. Certainly smooths out the border/customs issues at Brussels, because when you could do the trip in the return direction AIUI the French/Belgians were insistent that full passport checks would not be made on internal Schengen passengers, while the UK Home Office was paranoid about people trying to sneak through the border by buying a ticket for Lille and then not getting off. Demand is heavy enough for Brussels-London that Eurostar loses very little revenue from it.
Eurostar's website will also not let you select journeys from Amsterdam or Rotterdam to Brussels only (or at least it won't let me select them, do let me know if I'm being thick).
Do alot of Belgium people visit London? I found it very busy. I know Paris is more popular hence why National express want it set up a rival. I was at Rotterdam and Eurostar looked quiet. I notice most of the E300’s run to Paris rather than Brussels now. That’s why I asked when they plan to replace these trains. Yet to see any E300 trains get the new logos?
 

zwk500

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Do alot of Belgium people visit London? I found it very busy. I know Paris is more popular hence why National express want it set up a rival. I was at Rotterdam and Eurostar looked quiet.
There's a number of different flows between Brussels and London. There's government and business passengers, which Belgium being the capital of the EU as well as Belgium although remote working practices may well be denting that traffic. There's also a lot of UK-Germany passengers who change at Brussels, although they are usually leisure passengers and business for that corridor will tend to prefer flying. Then there's reasonably well established mutual expat/migrant communities with members of families visiting each other - it's not massive but there's little Air routes between London and Brussels direct.
Rotterdam is more a case of 'why not' as a stop - although it is a big city in it's own right and has a moderate amount of tourist travel, alongside interchange for Schiphol. London-Amsterdam on the other hand is one of the busiest air corridors in Europe, with lots of tourist travel to the city centre and a good amount of business travel to Amsterdam-Zuid area.
Paris is by far the bigger market because 1. It's just a bigger city, 2. It's got massively more tourist potential (lots of US tourists use the train as part of a European trip), 3. London and Paris are both in the top 5 cities for global business, 4. Paris is the hub for all of France, which has massive UK tourist demand in places like the Loire and Riviera.
I notice most of the E300’s run to Paris rather than Brussels now. That’s why I asked when they plan to replace these trains. Yet to see any E300 trains get the new logos?
e300s tend to stay on the Paris route because only e320s can run to Amsterdam, although e300s will appear on Brussels terminators from time to time.
 

Citybreak1

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Interesting. I did a local train through Schiphol lot of UK tourists and most got off at the airport. Amsterdam very busy city. I assume Lille is now the Disneyland change point now they stopped that train. Rotterdam seems a good change point to reach other Dutch cities. I would argue Rotterdam is the nicest station Eurostar stops at too.
 

DanielB

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Eurostar's website will also not let you select journeys from Amsterdam or Rotterdam to Brussels only (or at least it won't let me select them, do let me know if I'm being thick).
The option for intra-Schengen trips on Eurostar was temporarily suspended during COVID and permanently suspended shortly after, in order to enable faster journeys from Amsterdam to London (as the half of the train that was used for intra-Schengen passengers no longer needed a security sweep in Brussels).

Rotterdam seems a good change point to reach other Dutch cities. I would argue Rotterdam is the nicest station Eurostar stops at too.
Rotterdam is by far the best point to change for most other destinations in the Netherlands not being Amsterdam. Only North-Holland above the North-Sea-channel is more conveniently reached via Amsterdam, as Amsterdam Central has little connections to the north and east (though that would change when Eurostar eventually moves to Amsterdam Zuid)
 
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