Comments on: Missing Links: The Gaps in Europe’s Rail Network

By: John

John — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 12:59:57 +0000

Peter, Susanne and Nicky,
I don’t think you will have to wait long for High Speed Rail links between London and Amsterdam, Koln etc. DB the German Rail operator is actively pursuing a licence to operate through the Channel Tunnel and Eurostar have ordered 10 new trains to expand their services.

By: Peter Robinett

Peter Robinett — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 11:47:41 +0000

Yep, they’re almost as bad as the TSA. It’s not the fact that they’re there that I particularly mind – the UK is free to be silly and not join Schengen – but the fact that the agents are almost always aggressive and rude.

By: Susanne and Nicky from hidden europe

Susanne and Nicky from hidden europe — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 10:52:55 +0000

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Thanks, Peter. Yes, wouldn’t London to Amsterdam be a fine thing, and perhaps London to Cologne and London to Geneva too? And actually we feel just the same as you about the British immigration posts that one encounters prior to boarding Eurostar on the continent. This seems an imposition by the British authorities, and something that sadly marks out the UK as being so out of kilter with the rest of Europe. While borders fall across much of Europe, the Brits take another course. We once had a prolonged exchange of e-mails with the UK Immigration Authorities, in which they eventually conceded our right to decline to show a passport at the UK immigration control at the Brussels Eurostar terminal if we were bound only for Lille in France.

By: Peter Robinett

Peter Robinett — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 17:37:30 +0000

It’s not exactly a missing link, but I would love it if the Eurostar went through Brussels to Amsterdam. Now that the high speed line between Brussels and Amsterdam is open a Eurostar trip between London and Amsterdam would only take something like 3 hours, not even an hour longer than London-Paris. It would be a fantastic connection, even if one price to pay would be allowing the horrible British immigration officials to setup shop in Amsterdam Central Station.