Dutch passenger association Rover is calling on the government to stop charging Eurostar passengers for their own border checks when travelling to London, arguing that air travellers do not face the same costs. The organisation also criticises the handling of checks at Amsterdam and Rotterdam stations, which it says causes delays and forces Eurostar to leave seats empty.
Eurostar pays around €6 million a year for the deployment of the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee, the Dutch military police responsible for border controls, at Amsterdam Central and Rotterdam Central. These costs are passed on to passengers through ticket prices.
At the same time, limited border-control capacity causes long queues and delays. According to Rover, the problems worsened this spring following the introduction of mandatory biometric checks. Because Amsterdam and Rotterdam stations lack electronic passport gates, all documents must be checked manually. Rover says two out of every three Eurostar trains depart late and that capacity constraints mean some seats have to remain empty.
“Train passengers are being hit twice,” said Rover director Daan Zieren. “They pay top prices for their own border checks and get long queues in return. Meanwhile, air travellers at Schiphol get fast checks paid for by the state. This is impossible to explain to passengers and runs counter to all our climate ambitions.”
Electronic gates could speed up checks
Rover wants electronic passport gates, or e-gates, installed at Amsterdam and Rotterdam stations. These would allow passengers to be processed more quickly, enabling the Marechaussee to handle more travellers with the same staffing levels.
Eurostar expects the additional capacity to allow significantly more passengers to travel on each train. According to Rover, this could also help bring ticket prices down.
The association argues that the current arrangements put international rail at a competitive disadvantage in the Netherlands. In other countries, rail operators do not have to pay directly for border checks, making it more attractive for them to operate international services.
“If the Netherlands allows this situation to continue, international rail travel will become unnecessarily expensive and complicated for passengers travelling from the Netherlands,” Zieren said. “In the long run, it could become more attractive for operators to run services to London from Brussels, Frankfurt or Geneva rather than directly from the Netherlands. We cannot afford that if we are serious about developing a strong international rail network.”
Train travel to London outpaces airlines
Despite the operational problems, Rover describes the London rail connection as a major success. Eurostar now carries more passengers daily on the route than KLM or Easyjet, according to the association.
Demand for international rail travel is growing, but Rover argues that border checks are restricting the number of passengers who can be accommodated.
The organisation is calling on the Dutch House of Representatives to ensure that e-gates are installed at Amsterdam Central and Rotterdam Central from 1 January 2027. It also wants border checks for rail passengers to be funded from the national budget, as has been the case for decades with Marechaussee checks for air travellers at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport.
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