Eurostar to stop at Antwerp-Centraal from December — but only on the way in from London
From December, Eurostar trains from London will call at Antwerp-Centraal for the first time, giving the city a direct link to the British capital.
In 30 seconds
- From December, Eurostar trains from London will call at Antwerp-Centraal — the city's first direct rail link to the British capital.
- The stop is one-directional: passengers can arrive from London but cannot board at Antwerp for London.
- The reason is security and border controls: Antwerp-Centraal lacks the juxtaposed UK/Schengen screening that boarding a London-bound Eurostar requires.
- Antwerp already sits on Eurostar's existing London–Amsterdam high-speed route, so trains pass through the city.
Eurostar is the high-speed operator running trains between London, Brussels, Paris, Amsterdam and other hubs; since 2023 it absorbed the former Thalys network under one brand. Antwerp-Centraal is Antwerp's monumental central station and already lies on Eurostar's existing London–Amsterdam high-speed route. The change announced for December adds Antwerp as a calling point for trains arriving from London. Boarding a London-bound Eurostar requires UK/Schengen border and security screening (juxtaposed controls) at the departure station; Antwerp-Centraal lacks that infrastructure, so it can receive London passengers but not dispatch them. Key entities: Eurostar (operator), Infrabel (Belgian rail infrastructure), NMBS/SNCB (Belgian national rail), Brussels-Zuid/Midi (the current border-controlled Eurostar hub).
Background
Eurostar has run through the Antwerp corridor since it launched direct London–Amsterdam services (from 2018, fully direct in the return direction by 2020). In 2023 the Eurostar and Thalys networks merged under the single Eurostar brand, consolidating cross-border high-speed services in the Low Countries. Post-Brexit border rules turned every UK-bound platform into a controlled international frontier, concentrating London-facing services at a handful of stations with juxtaposed controls — Brussels-Zuid, Amsterdam and Rotterdam among them.
What to do
Travellers from London can disembark directly at Antwerp-Centraal from December; those travelling from Antwerp to London must still board at Brussels-Zuid/Midi with full border and security screening.
Impact
Regional — Antwerp-Centraal becomes a direct arrival point from London, likely boosting inbound tourism and business travel to the city and easing onward NMBS/SNCB connections across Flanders. The absence of a southbound service, however, means local travellers to London must still route via Brussels-Zuid, a limitation Flemish mobility advocates are likely to keep raising.
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