Eurostar Makes Negative Adjustments to Connection Fare

Eurostar will make significant changes to its connection fare, affecting travellers looking to connect in Brussels to trains heading to nearby Belgian stations.

About the Eurostar connection fare

The Eurostar connection fare is a technical term used by the rail company, referring to the right to make a free train connection within an urban area of a Belgian city.

For example, if you book a Eurostar ticket from London to Brussels, your ticket is also valid for a connecting train within the greater Brussels area, allowing you to travel for free on local SNCB trains to stations such as Brussels-Central and Brussels-North.

You currently have the same right within the urban areas of Antwerp and Liège, where you can also take a connecting train for free within the city limits, either before or after your Eurostar journey.

Sadly, this will change as of 15 December, as Eurostar has made significant changes to its connection fare.

Changes to Eurostar connection fare

From 15 December onwards, Eurostar tickets will only be valid on the specific Eurostar train and will no longer automatically include travel within the greater urban areas of Belgian cities.

This means that if you book a London to Brussels Eurostar ticket, you can no longer use it to travel on a local train from the Eurostar terminus at Brussels-South (Bruxelles-Midi) to other stations in the Belgian capital, such as Brussels-Central or Brussels-North.

In a travel update about Eurostar trains, the Belgian Railways wrote: “If travellers wish to travel to another station, a Connection ticket will be required.

“Connection tickets will be booked automatically in our sales applications when you fill in the exact departure and arrival stations in Belgium.”

Eurostar train at London St Pancras station. ©AndyBTravels

Booking quirk

If you want to travel from London to, let’s say, Brussels-Central, you will need to specify this exact destination in the Eurostar booking tool for your ticket to also include the connecting train from Brussels-South to Brussels-North.

Weirdly enough, this isn’t currently possible, despite Eurostar stating that connection tickets will be booked automatically in their sales applications, as their website doesn’t recognise any Brussels station other than Brussels-South in its booking tool.

This leaves travellers with two options:

You can of course book a separate ticket on the Belgian Railways website from Brussels-South to Brussels-Central.

Although the extra cost for this journey is negligible at €2.50, it is a hassle to have to book a second ticket on a different website and travel on separate tickets.

Another option is to book a Eurostar ticket from London to any Belgian station, which you can easily do on the Eurostar website.

However, at an extra cost of €13.70 for a second-class ticket, this effectively means you’d be wasting money if you only use the “any Belgian station” add-on for the short hop between Brussels-South and Brussels-Central.

Let’s hope Eurostar fixes this quirk by allowing travellers to select stations such as Brussels-Central and Brussels-North as destinations on their website, charging only the normal fare of €2.50 on top of a Eurostar ticket!

Rail ticketing made more complicated

Even disregarding the booking quirk on the Eurostar website, the changes to the connection fare are seen as a negative development by rail experts.

It’s not so much about the slight increase in costs for Eurostar passengers wishing to connect in Brussels, but mostly about the extra hassle involved in booking the tickets.

Rail expert Mark Smith, better known as the Man in Seat 61, said: “Far from increasing integration, the rail industry seems hell-bent on removing what little integration we already have.

“This has always been a convenient transfer for international passengers, without the need to grapple with yet another ticketing system.”

Eurostar train from London to Amsterdam has arrived at the station of Brussels-South. ©AndyBTravels

Conclusion

Eurostar will change its connection fares, eliminating the free connecting train journey within the Brussels area and requiring international travellers to Brussels to buy a separate ticket if they want to transfer to a train to Brussels-Central or Brussels-North.