KLM will trial a high-speed train service between Amsterdam and Brussels next March in place of one of its flights. But the Dutch carrier promises more than just a seat.
KLM currently flies five times per day between Brussels and Amsterdam. Beginning in March 2020, it will eliminate one flight and introduce a train replacement onboard a Thalys high-speed train.
Speaking on the news, KLM CEO Pieter Elbers said:
Intermodal transport involving trains and planes remains a complex and challenging business. Speed is key, not only in terms of the train itself, but also the transfer process at the airport. We aim to make maximum progress in both areas. Reducing our frequency from five to four flights a day is a good way of gaining more experience with Air&Rail services.
Not only with KLM sell you a train seat; it promises an equivalent flight experience in terms of comfort and service.
Does that mean we will soon be seeing blue-uniformed KLM flight attendants serving drinks and snacks in specially-designated KLM train cars? It’s not so far-fetched as it may sound, though I suspect not in this initial phase.
A train experience will always be different for at least two reasons. First, the seats are different. Second, security screenings will be in the middle of the trip rather than at the start of the trip for passengers connecting in AMS.
Train service between the two airports already exists without requiring a change of trains. Will the two hour journey save time versus the 45-minute flight once other concerns like parking and security are factored in?
KLM is not the first carrier to offer codeshare service with a train, but appears intent on replacing more shorthaul routes with rail service if this trial is successful.
CONCLUSION
KLM celebrated its 100th anniversary earlier this year by encouraging people to fly less, a perfect illustration of our Zeitgeist.
Its new train service between Brussels and Amsterdam is more of a test than a sign of what is to come, despite wishes to transfer more shorthaul routes to train service.
This is not about local traffic, because superior rail options already exist. Rather, this is about connecting traffic.
Would you prefer to fly or take a train between Brussels and Amsterdam? What if you were connecting to/from another flight?
> Read More: KLM Shames Itself To Celebrate 100th Anniversary
If the next gen of airports become the transit hubs/airport cities often proposed with comprehensive high speed rail train station within , why not.
KLM already offers this option. The difference now is that they will axe on flight per day and offload the 100 passengers to the train. For people living and working in Brussels the train alternative is attractive. Those using BRU but leave further away, the city centre does not offer easy to access parking solutions. I hope they will keep the first and last flights of the day.
AF already does this, they sold me a business class award from BRU-CDG-SFO, with BRU-CDG on the high speed train. Nice experience actually
It works at AMS since the train station is so well-connected to the airport – basically in the arrivals area. Off the top, I can’t think of any other airport where it is that close. Thalys even has a first class lounge at AMS, and first on the Thalys is already pretty much the same as intra-EU business class in the air, so I would wonder if it is going to be anything different from regular Thalys travel. Also, a lot of people traveling from AMS are going to Brussels Midi, not the airport.
Zurich has the same setup, and so do many other airports in Europe (CDG also has an integrated train station, ARN, CPH and a few others off the top of my head). I think this is going to be more and more common, especially around here.
Also Frankfurt. Sadly not Munich where the central station is an hour away. Poor design.
Indeed, it’s the only real downside of MUC, which in almost every other respect is the best large airport in Europe. Years ago there was talk of building a superfast maglev connection between the airport and the city. That got built … in Shanghai (although it doesn’t really go all the way to the city center).
I meant that I think AMS has the fewest steps from plane to train. The tracks are literally just under the arrivals area, not a walk and then several levels down. And you are in the middle of the pre-security restaurants and shops while waiting. BRU, FRA and CDG seem more of a hike to me, and I usually have a large suitcase.
Tsk, tsk. Let’s use some imagination here.
The trip between Schiphol and Gare Midi in Brussels is 1:35 minutes already.
Why would you wanna train to Zaventem? AMS is a much bigger hub than BRU.
From Gare Midi, it is a short hop to Paris or London.
Can’t have a conversation about train to Brussels without pointing out that Zaventem hub is actually the lesser hub vs. the main Brussels railway station in this scenario where you are deciding to ditch AMS.
Train travel is a whole different beast than air, especially when looking at the Dutch/Belgian/English/Germany connections, which tend to be super interesting and allow stops at many different places.
As for security, experience Eurostar/St. Pancras in London once to disabuse any notion that train security is always easy.
I thought KLM already had codeshare trains to Brussels midi, and I remember not taking them because I needed to get to Leuven. On the way back, I’ve done the AF train to cdg, it works quite well, with the outbound checked luggage– kinda like the LH airport express to FRA in the 80s: first class all the way.
I didn’t get a chance to explore the lounge at Midi. There is one, but I imagine there’s no Clarins Spa there, if you catch my drift.
I’m surprised there’s air service between the two. Amsterdam to Brussels is a shorter distance than Hamburg-Berlin (1.5 hrs by train), about the same as Frankfurt-Cologne (1 hr). High-speed trains long ago displaced flights on these routes.
I’m assuming it is for making connections when you have a lot of luggage, since AMS is the KLM hub. And depending on where you are going, BRU might be a better destination than Brussels Midi (not for me, though).
Great. Hope there’s more of it. Who wants to schlep out to CDG, LHR, FCO etc when the trains are so easily accessible right downtown. Now that Trenitalia seems to have its act together ( eg, no more ads showing whites only in expensive classes, black family in the cheapest) and is much mores reliable, who’s flying anywhere domestically ( other than Palermo etc)? A pain for Alitalia, for sure.
Proof that you don’t need to waste millions lobbying lawmakers against high-speed rail to survive, just as long as you have your modes of transport diversified and consider yourself more as a transportation company rather than an airline company.
This is cool. Especially if that particular train is a DIRECT train.