Search results

That looks like a Mastercard badged card (similar to e.g. a Revolut) so there will be shops in the Netherlands in which it won't work (it sounds like it will work on transport that accepts contactless from what others are saying)

Will you be able to use a foreign Mastercard etc with OV Pay? Out of all the countries in Europe to use a card in as a foreigner the Netherlands is uniquely difficult, I've found – near-universal contactless acceptance, but very frequently only for domestic Maestro bank cards, because the Dutch...

I think this is a bit of a stretch. Return Rotterdam and Amsterdam Eurostars were only introduced in 2020 and have been wildly popular. A fourth daily train pair will begin next month and the aim is to have five shortly after that. That's equivalent seat capacity of about 24 daily return...

I don't think it's really right to say there are no trains technically capable of the trip. The ICE3 Class 407 order was specifically placed with serving the corridor in mind. The other reasons are real though. There is one organisation that is interested in making a competitor to Eurostar...

In 2018 DB said a London-Germany service would not be on the agenda "for the foreseeable future" due to "changes" in the "economic environment". I've not seen anything since then. I seem to recall one technical issue being suggested was that the multi-voltage ICE3s capable of operating...

As a former user of these services from one of these stations you are sort of right, people do generally aim to take the Cobham service to Waterloo as it is faster. However, the combined service in the direction of Waterloo is 4tph and this is nearly turn-up-and-go, so people do tend to turn up...

Actually the service was 1tph to London Bridge and 1tph to London Victoria at peak time. It's possible that changed prior to the pandemic as it's been a few years since I lived there

People asking why the services existed – perhaps an obvious answer, but they were a useful for some commuters from stations like Horsley/Effingham Junction for whom Victoria was a more convenient than Waterloo. There are some large civil service departments which are very close to Victoria but a...

Buying tickets in Rome I remember the woman at the Trenitalia counter having to explain to me the different brands for getting down to Naples and semi-scolding me for using the wrong terminology!

Am I right in thinking that 200km/h operation in the tunnel would save probably a little under 4 minutes per Eurostar journey, were it made to work?

Yes, even the refurbished e300s are better. The difference with the e320 interior is subtle but it does exist. One example is that the e320 has television screens hanging from the roof mostly playing annoying adverts for Eurostar (a service you're already using...). This can be distracting and...

To build on what other people have pointed out: if the train is busy, then the high capacity layout is needed. If the train isn't busy then you tend to end up with space to stretch out anyway and can probably get a double seat to yourself. 700s are functionally great, and I don't personally...

Yes because the UK was never a member of the Schengen area

It's interesting to consider - had we joined Schengen when everyone else did, and people got used to border-free travel, would they actually want it reintroduced? Put 'bring back queueing at Luton airport' on the side of a bus...

It does feel incongruous passing such a grand station and not stopping. I suppose it might be appealing to business travellers not to have to change. However, Antwerp is currently a very easy connection from Brussels – the frequency is at least every 15 minutes (higher in the peak) and the...

Using Vodafone I've actually usually got a pretty consistent 4G signal from Brussels all the way to Dover – good enough that I've been able to participate in a Zoom call from the train with no connection issues. The signal on the UK side is unfortunately totally non-existent, though, especially...

A map of the LGVs (in red) for those unaware:

I think the reason Eurostar hasn't agitated is probably because they know it's unlikely to happen. I think we are probably all in agreement on that, but I don't think it's the practicality but the politics of it and everything border-related in the UK at the moment. As RT4038 says, it would be...

We've gone exactly two posts so far and you're already telling me that the evidence for your argument is a state secret

Could you explain what you think those loopholes are, why they don't apply to rail services between other European countries, and why they don't apply to the Shuttle? 1659311011 This is because around the world, the vast majority of cross-border rail takes place in the Schengen area, where...