How to take the rail journey from Bruxelles/Brussels to The Hague/Den Haag

Most of the Intercity Brussels between Belgium and The Netherlands have now been diverted away from Den Haag/The Hague.

These three remaining departures depart from Bruxelles-Centraal at 06:50; 10:50 and 13:59 and from Bruxelles-Midi/South 5 mins earlier and from Bruxelles-Nord 6 mins later.

So work out which would be the optimum station to head to in the Belgian capital, in order to board these trains.

The Bruxelles/Brussel public transport map is here.

Final Destination: Den Haag HS

Note that these direct trains terminate at Den Haag HS station, so DON'T call at Den Haag Centraal station.

If you want to head to Den Haag Centraal, then take these trains, OR the Intercity Brussels trains heading to Amsterdam and then change trains at Breda.

A somewhat bizarre feature of this service is that THESE direct trains to Den Haag HS wait in Breda for 10 mins.
While they're at Breda station an Intercity Direct train heading to Den Haag Centraal, which also calls at Den Haag HS, is scheduled to arrive at the opposite platform/track.
That other train then heads off to Den Haag before THIS train departs, so gets there faster!

Note that these direct trains from Bruxelles trains do NOT call at Delft, so if you want to head to Delft from Bruxelles, the simplest option is to change trains in Breda.

Book early and save: Yes

Online bookings open: 6 months ahead of the travel date

There are now three options for train journeys between Bruxelles/Brussels and Den Haag/The Hague.

(1) These direct Intercity Brussels trains - which arrive at Den Hagg HS station.
They are the 06:50; 10:50 and 13:50 departures from Bruxelles-Centraal.

(2) Taking an Intercity Brussels train from Bruxelles to Breda and connecting there for an Intercity Direct train to Den Haag Centraal station

(3) Taking a Thalys train from Bruxelles to Rotterdam and connecting there for a 'Sprinter' train to Den Haag Centraal station.
This third combination of Thalys train to Rotterdam + a train to Den Haag Centraal is fastest, but usually more expensive - though the price difference can be less than €5, particularly if you can book more than a couple of weeks ahead.
Tickets for that alternative connection which includes a Thalys train from Bruxelles are only available from 4 months ahead of the travel date.

However, note that the Thalys trains only depart from Bruxelles-Midi/South station, but the Intercity Brussels trains also depart from Bruxelles-Centraal and Bruxelles-Nord.

Using rail passes:

Taking these IC Brussels trains is a good option for rail pass users – if you will be making this journey with an InterRail or Eurail pass you can avoid the rail pass reservation fees charged on the Thalys trains.

There are typically two good reasons for taking this combination of two InterCity trains:

(1) you can travel between the city centres, this is the only combination of trains on which it's possible to travel in the one direction and depart from Bruxelles-Central and arrive at Den Haag Centraal.

(2) if you will be booking tickets after the cheapest deals on the Thalys trains have sold out, or will be using rail passes, this combination of trains will save money.

Book early and save: Yes

Online bookings open: 6 months ahead of the travel date

When booking on NS International look for the journey option that has 'x1' and 'IC Brussel > IC'.

The option 2 combination of Thalys train to Rotterdam + a train to Den Haag Centraal is faster, but more expensive; though the price difference can be less than €5, particularly if you can book more than a couple of weeks ahead.

Tickets for this alternative connection which includes a Thalys train from Bruxelles are only available from 4 months ahead of the travel date.

However, note that the Thalys trains only depart from Bruxelles-Midi/South station, but the Intercity Brussels trains also depart from Bruxelles-Centraal and Bruxelles-Nord.

If you want to travel from Bruxelles/Brussels to Den Haag/The Hague by train as quickly as possible, you can save a minimum of 30 mins by taking this combination of trains.

Though as will be seen on Option 1, this speed advantage is somewhat negated if the starting point of your trip is conveniently located to either Bruxelles-Central or Bruxelles-Nord stations.

Travelling on Mon-Friday:

The fastest connections involve taking a Thalys high speed train from Bruxelles Midi/South to Rotterdam and then making a 3 min connection there into a Sprinter train on to Den Haag Centraal.

It's why when you look up this journey on the ticket booking websites, you will see a combination of Thalys + Sprinter (Spr) trains listed
But you don't have to rush to make this tight connection into what is a local/commuter train.

12 mins after the Sprinter train has departed Rotterdam for Den Haag, there will be an InterCity (IC) train also heading to Den Haag Centraal.
So not only will you not have to rush to change trains against the clock, you will be travelling on a more comfortable train, which will arrive in Den Haag Centraal only 5 mins after the Sprinter train.

Tickets can be used on either this alternative IC train or the Sprinter trains between Rotterdam and Den Haag.

Travelling on Sat/Sun:

The timetable is arranged differently at weekends.
The fastest end-to-end journey times will be around 1hr 50 mins and the connections with this journey time involve taking a Thalys train to Rotterdam and the an IC train on Den Haag/The Hague.
That 1hr 50min journey time will involve making a 6 minute connection into the IC train, but tickets will be valid on the next train on to Den Haag from Rotterdam, if need be.

Book early and save: Yes

Online bookings usually open: up to 4 months ahead of the travel date

There are now three options for train journeys between Bruxelles/Brussels and Den Haag/The Hague.

(1) THIS combination of taking a Thalys train from Bruxelles to Rotterdam and connecting there for a 'Sprinter' train to Den Haag Centraal station.
When looking up this journey on NS International look for the options that have 'x1' and 'Thalys > Sprinter'.

(2) Direct Intercity Brussels trains - which arrive at Den Hagg HS station,

(3) Taking an Intercity Brussels train from Bruxelles to Breda and connecting there for an Intercity Direct train to Den Haag Centraal station.

This option is faster, but more expensive; though the price difference with taking the direct train can be less than €5, particularly if you can book more than a couple of weeks ahead.

Tickets for this connection which includes a Thalys train from Bruxelles are only available from 4 months ahead of the travel date - but the alternative journey options involving an Intercity Brussels train can be booked from 6 months ahead

However, note that these Thalys trains only depart from Bruxelles-Midi/South station, but the Intercity Brussels trains also depart from Bruxelles-Centraal and Bruxelles-Nord.