Rail services between Brussels and The Netherlands to be transformed from Dec 15th

A stand out feature of the new pan-European rail timetable, which commences on December 15th, is the transformation of the rail services between Belgium and Netherlands.
Long-awaited new trains will begin to travel along the cross border line, supplementing the long-standing service of high-speed trains - which are now all branded as Eurostar services.
However, instead of replacing the alternative InterCity services, the new trains will also take a new route.
So the existing IC services will be retained, but they will be turning around in Rotterdam.

Since the opening of the high-speed lines to the north and south of Rotterdam, travellers taking trains between Bruxelles and both Rotterdam and Amsterdam have had a choice between:

1. taking a high speed train, which are now all branded as Eurostar services, or
2. taking a regular train, that are operated as Inter City services.
   The InterCity trains were inevitably slower - and they also divert off the direct route to serve Breda.

However, they also had some advantages over the high-speed trains:

• They call at Bruxelles-Central and Bruxelles-Nord stations.
• They call at Bruxelles-Airport station, hence a direct rail link between the airports in Bruxelles and Amsterdam.
• When booking last minute tickets at the station they are cheaper.
• The rail pass reservation fees to travel on the Eurostar (formerly Thalys) high-speed trains are comparatively expensive, but the Inter City trains provide a hop on service to users of valid Eurail and InterRail passes.

The key negative of the InterCity trains is their comparatively basic on-board experience - Older trains had to restored to service more than a decade ago, when the first attempt at replacing them ended in failure.

A second attempt by the Dutch national rail operator NS at introducing new trains, capable of taking advantage of the high-speed route in The Netherlands, has thus far been eminently more successful
The new generation InterCity trains have proved to be a winner on the Amsterdam ↔ Rotterdam high speed route - And from the timetable change on December 15th they will also be travelling along the cross border high-speed line which connects Rotterdam with Antwerpen.
However, they will not be replacing the existing InterCity services, instead they will be providing an additional service on a new route - and are to be branded as ECD trains!

From the timetable change on December 15th the pattern of rail services between Bruxelles and the Netherlands will be:

1. A Eurostar service in most hours calling at Bruxelles-Midi - Antwerpen-Centraal* - Rotterdam-Centraal - Schiphol Airport - Amsterdam-Centraal (*= trains to/from London don't call in Antwerpen).
2. An hourly ECD service calling at Bruxelles-Midi - Antwerpen-Centraal - Rotterdam-Centraal - Schiphol Airport - Amsterdam Zuid - Almere Centrum - Almere Buiten - Lelystad Centrum.
3. An hourly IC (EC) service calling at Bruxelles-Midi - Bruxelles-Central - Bruxelles-Nord - Brussels Airport-Zaventem - Mechelen - Antwerpen-Berchem - Antwerpen-Centraal - Noorderkempen - Breda - Rotterdam-Centraal.

As with any major change to a long-standing rail timetable, the new service pattern delivers a mix of positives and negatives; In summary they are:

• A 30%+ increase in the number of Bruxelles-Midi ↔ Rotterdam services.
• More fast services Bruxelles-Midi ↔ Schiphol Airport.
• A new direct Bruxelles-Midi and Antwerpen ↔ Amsterdam Zuid rail link; Amsterdam Zuid station is located in the city's business district and has Metro services to the city centre.
• The rapidly developing cities of Almere and Lelystad will have a direct rail link to/from Bruxelles and Antwerpen.
• Easy connections will be available in Lelystad with trains to/from Groningen, Leeuwarden and Zwolle.
• Eurostar services will be the only direct trains between the main stations in Brussels (Bruxelles-Mid) and Amsterdam (Amsterdam-Centraal)
• Bruxelles-Centraal and Bruxelles-Nord stations lose their direct rail link to and from Amsterdam.
• There will no longer be a direct rail service between the airports in Brussels and Amsterdam.