Eurostar will finally launch its direct service from Amsterdam to London on October 26, five months later than planned and 10 months after the original start date.

Ticket for the service will go on sale from September 1, with two services a day starting on October 26. Ticket prices start at €46 one way.

Direct trains have been running from London to Amsterdam since 2018, but passengers heading for the UK still had to change trains and go through security checks in Brussels south.

The direct service should have started in December 2019 but was delayed because preparations for passport and customs controls in Amsterdam had not been completed. Coronavirus then put paid to the revised start date of April 30.

‘We have had to wait longer than we expected because of coronavirus but the number of international train travellers is gradually increasing,’ NS chairman Roger van Boxtel said. ‘It is fantastic news that we can offer travellers between the Netherlands and Britain the choice of a sustainable train service.’

The journey will take four hours and nine minutes, and involve a stop in Rotterdam.  British customs officials will be stationed in both Dutch cities, the BBC reported.