Getting There By Rail
Centraal Station, Stationsplein, is one of the largest railway terminals in Europe and is currently in the midst of a major renovation programme to make it more efficient and also a more salubrious place to be. The station has an impressive array of facilities, from showers and restaurants to hotel and travel booking services. The national rail provider is Nederlandse Spoorwegen – NS (tel: (0900) 9292/6; website: www.ns.nl), which runs an efficient network with frequent services covering destinations all over Holland and further afield into the rest of Europe. International tickets should ideally be reserved at least a week in advance.
Rail services: There are regular Eurostar trains (tel: (0990) 186 186, in the UK; website: www.eurostar.com) from London to Brussels, where a direct connection to Amsterdam can be caught after a short wait (journey time – 3 hours). THALYS (tel: (0900) 9228; website: www.thalys.com) high-speed services connect Amsterdam with Brussels (journey time – approximately 2 hours 30 minutes). There are frequent daytime services from many large Western European cities as well as night services.
Over the last few years, the reputation of The Netherlands’ railway network has suffered domestically, after part-privatisation led to maintenance problems, cancelled services and a public perception that the railways are not as efficient as they once were. There might be some light at the end of the train tunnel, with recent talk of new high-speed connections to France and Germany and an extension of the Eurostar service to Amsterdam.
Transport to the city: Centraal Station is located in the city centre. A number of trams and buses, as well as taxis, are available in the area immediately outside the main building.
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