Starting two years from now, the railway will launch direct services between the British and Dutch capitals. The new link will further expand Eurostar's high-speed train network after the addition in May 2015 of new destinations in France.

As traffic on the Eurostar network continues to rise (+3 per cent in Q3 2014 to 2.8 million passengers), the company hopes to reinforce the rise in demand by expanding its services.

Due to open in December 2016, the new direct service between London and the Amsterdam-Centraal station will include stops in Antwerp and Rotterdam and at Amsterdam-Schiphol airport. Eurostar hopes to attract some of the around three million travelers per year who travel by plane between the Dutch and British capitals, not to mention customers of rival operator Thalys, which already runs high-speed train services between the cities.

News of the launch follows another significant expansion announcement made by Eurostar last July, when it revealed plans to launch services between London, Lyon, Avignon and Marseille from May 2015. Tickets are due to go on sale this December for the new service linking the British capital to the south of France.

Currently, Eurostar operates trains between Paris, London, Brussels and Lille (France). The rail operator's expansion announcements coincide with the year of its 20th anniversary, which it will officially celebrate on November 14.