SNCB and NS, the national rail operators in Belgium and the Netherlands, are set to double services between Brussels and Amsterdam with a new InterCity link that will complement existing high-speed operations.
The new high-speed InterCity service connecting Brussels-Midi to Amsterdam-Zuid is set to launch in December 2024 and will reduce travel time by 45 minutes for a total journey of approximately two hours.
The service will stop in at Brussels-Central, Brussels-North, Antwerp-Central, Rotterdam-Zuid and Schiphol airport and is in addition to the InterCity connection between Rotterdam and Brussels via Brussels Airport Zaventem.
The Dutch rail operator said it will deploy new rolling stock for the additional service, which will run at a maximum speed of 200 km/h on the high-speed line between Antwerp and Amsterdam.
The existing InterCity service will now connect Brussels-Midi to Rotterdam-Centraal, instead of Amsterdam-Centraal. The current intermediate stations in Belgium (Brussels-Central, Brussels-North, Brussels Airport Zaventem, Mechelen, Antwerp-Berchem, Antwerp-Central and Noorderkempen) and the Netherlands (Breda) will continue to be served for a journey time of just over two hours.
The two rail links between Brussels and the Netherlands will each run 16 times daily in both directions.
SNCB said some 40 high-speed trains and up to 40 conventional trains depart from Brussels every day, with 16 convention trains to be added next December as the number of international destinations “continues to increase”.
The move comes as SNCB and French rail operator SNCF Voyageurs conduct feasibility studies behind a proposed new high-speed rail service between Brussels and Paris.