When the Channel Tunnel first opened there were visions of seamless pan-European travel from the UK. Now the Disneyland Paris route has been axed and the Amsterdam route delayed, what went wrong?
Adieu Mickey Mouse. Tot ziens Amsterdam. Don’t even mention Frankfurt – or the night train to Swansea. The early ambitions of Eurostar have long crumbled like croissants – and now even the remaining places where cross-Channel trains managed to make it are slipping off its map.
The last direct train for Disneyland Paris from Britain has departed, after the London St Pancras to Marne-la-Vallée service ended this month. The Amsterdam route, so long awaited and wildly oversubscribed, is set to be suspended as station renovations in the Dutch capital clash with border requirements exacerbated by Brexit. The train straight to the Mediterranean, to Marseille via Avignon and Lyon, was lost during Covid and will not return.
