6 ms·

"Refurbishment of Centraal station in the Dutch capital is responsible for the closure." Seems like they just won't be able to handle the capacity of too many

"Refurbishment of Centraal station in the Dutch capital is responsible for the closure." Seems like they just won't be able to handle the capacity of too many visitors at once with the construction. Hopefully will help set the station up for continued success in the future!

piepiepie 3y ago
Because Great Britain is not part of the Schengen customs zone, customs checks are required before boarding the train (this is the only train at the station with such checks). Due to the renovation, the part of the station where passport and baggage checks by customs officers were performed is to close down && turns out there's not enough space at the station to house temporary border checks, so... no train.
- oh_sigh 3y ago
  Why do custom checks happen in NL on the ground, and not on-train? The train still goes through Belgium(at least), where no customs checks would be required
  - capableweb 3y ago
    Where on the train would you have place to perform this exactly?
    - deleted 3y ago
      [deleted]
    - alistairSH 3y ago
      If it's just a passport check they're after, that's fairly easy (though there's always potential for somebody to duck into a restroom or similar). Customs declarations are usually made at the entry-point (at least with international air travel) - but I don't know how trains do that today (all my train travel was Schengen zone in the late 90s - just passport checks on the train, and only between some countries).
      - em500 3y ago
        Passport/visa check are easy if they're all ok. But what do you do if you have (a group of) people in the train without valid passports/visas?
  - willsmith72 3y ago
    international customs checks on the train you mean? where do they do that? if i'm getting you correctly, it sounds logistically WAY harder. authorities on every train for a start, then not missing anyone, then when someone shouldn't be allowed to pass customs they're already on the train so you can't kick them off, etc.
    - AlgorithmicTime 3y ago
      My experience with international trains between the US and Canada is that the customs checks happen on the train.
    - zilti 3y ago
      They do that everywhere else for international trains
      - willsmith72 3y ago
        > everywhere else that's my question, where? the only places I've done that were between countries with very special travel relationships, e.g. schengen. you can travel those countries without a passport and often no border check at all, it's not the same as uk-netherlands
        amanda99 3y ago
        Pre-Ukraine situation there used to be a train between Helsinki (Finland) and St Petersburg (Russia) that did this: border checks on a high-speed train. Definitely some of the more serious checks and visa requirements on that border as well.
        zilti 3y ago
        Especially eastern Europe. And it used to be done all across Europe before Schengen.
        avar 3y ago
        It's still done even within Schengen, e.g. last year I took an overnight train from Vienna to Amsterdam, a trip entirely within Schengen. German police boarded the train at the first station in Germany and walked the train to check everyone's passport.
  - Arnt 3y ago
    I take a train with on-train checks about twice per year. I've seen people sneak past, personally, several times in the past ten years, which implies that they're harder to carry out than if people have to walk through a staffed gate. Ths UK has this minister who seems to really really really really really not want people sneaking into the UK, not even if it's a handful per year. The two paragraphs could be causally connected. I don't know.
    - meepmorp 3y ago
      > Ths UK has this minister who seems to really really really really really not want people sneaking into the UK You're a braverman than I to say that.
jochem9 3y ago
Part of the renovation is increasing the capacity of the Eurostar terminal. From 250 to 600 (a Eurostar train has a capacity of ~800, but the train is rarely full at Amsterdam, as passengers also board at other train stations).

piepiepie 3y ago

Because Great Britain is not part of the Schengen customs zone, customs checks are required before boarding the train (this is the only train at the station with such checks). Due to the renovation, the part of the station where passport and baggage checks by customs officers were performed is to close down && turns out there's not enough space at the station to house temporary border checks, so... no train.

oh_sigh 3y ago
Why do custom checks happen in NL on the ground, and not on-train? The train still goes through Belgium(at least), where no customs checks would be required
- capableweb 3y ago
  Where on the train would you have place to perform this exactly?
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
  - alistairSH 3y ago
    If it's just a passport check they're after, that's fairly easy (though there's always potential for somebody to duck into a restroom or similar). Customs declarations are usually made at the entry-point (at least with international air travel) - but I don't know how trains do that today (all my train travel was Schengen zone in the late 90s - just passport checks on the train, and only between some countries).
    - em500 3y ago
      Passport/visa check are easy if they're all ok. But what do you do if you have (a group of) people in the train without valid passports/visas?
- willsmith72 3y ago
  international customs checks on the train you mean? where do they do that? if i'm getting you correctly, it sounds logistically WAY harder. authorities on every train for a start, then not missing anyone, then when someone shouldn't be allowed to pass customs they're already on the train so you can't kick them off, etc.
  - AlgorithmicTime 3y ago
    My experience with international trains between the US and Canada is that the customs checks happen on the train.
  - zilti 3y ago
    They do that everywhere else for international trains
    - willsmith72 3y ago
      > everywhere else that's my question, where? the only places I've done that were between countries with very special travel relationships, e.g. schengen. you can travel those countries without a passport and often no border check at all, it's not the same as uk-netherlands
      - amanda99 3y ago
        Pre-Ukraine situation there used to be a train between Helsinki (Finland) and St Petersburg (Russia) that did this: border checks on a high-speed train. Definitely some of the more serious checks and visa requirements on that border as well.
      - zilti 3y ago
        Especially eastern Europe. And it used to be done all across Europe before Schengen.
        avar 3y ago
        It's still done even within Schengen, e.g. last year I took an overnight train from Vienna to Amsterdam, a trip entirely within Schengen. German police boarded the train at the first station in Germany and walked the train to check everyone's passport.
- Arnt 3y ago
  I take a train with on-train checks about twice per year. I've seen people sneak past, personally, several times in the past ten years, which implies that they're harder to carry out than if people have to walk through a staffed gate. Ths UK has this minister who seems to really really really really really not want people sneaking into the UK, not even if it's a handful per year. The two paragraphs could be causally connected. I don't know.
  - meepmorp 3y ago
    > Ths UK has this minister who seems to really really really really really not want people sneaking into the UK You're a braverman than I to say that.

jochem9 3y ago

Part of the renovation is increasing the capacity of the Eurostar terminal. From 250 to 600 (a Eurostar train has a capacity of ~800, but the train is rarely full at Amsterdam, as passengers also board at other train stations).