This week tickets finally go on sale (20 February, 4pm GMT) for Eurostar's rail services between London and the Netherlands, ahead of commencing on 4 April.
Two trains a day will run between London, Amsterdam and Rotterdam, taking less than four hours to get to the former. The service will run direct from London but initially those travelling from the Netherlands to London will have to take a Thalys train to Brussels where passport controls and security will be carried out before connecting to a Eurostar train. This is expected to become a direct service by the end of 2019.
The new rail option will undoubtedly increase travel between Amsterdam and London. Currently more than four million travellers fly between the two cities every year, and the market for travel between London and Paris is said to have more than doubled since Eurostar launched its service in 1994.
Nicolas Petrovic, chief executive of Eurostar, says "The launch of our service to the Netherlands represents an exciting advance in cross-Channel travel and heralds a new era in international high speed rail."
As well as the direct and on-going connections, there are benefits rail brings to the business traveller. Train stations can be stressful but not as full-on as airports. Airports may relish in higher passenger numbers but it has an effect on the traveller experience. Both Amsterdam's Schiphol and London Heathrow are full to capacity so flights aren't always on time if they are caught in bottlenecks. Security lanes can be busy. A switch to rail by some passengers may come as slight relief while they work to increase capacity (or in Heathrow's case, if it ever can).
When there's a change in the options available it's a good idea to go back to the concept of total cost of trip. Eurostar's £70 return base fare may be slightly higher than some flights, but from Amsterdam Centraal or St Pancras it's only a short taxi, walk, Metro or Tube to get elsewhere. The overall journey time may be shorter so productivity is better, plus there's no take-off and landing to get in the way of work.
There will be many travellers out there, perhaps nervous flyers or those concerned about the environment, willing to try something new. We'll have to wait and see how this new era affects business travel patterns.