Written question asked by Norman Baker (Liberal Democrat) on Monday, 12 October 2009, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 15 October 2009. It was answered by Chris Mole (Labour) on Thursday, 15 October 2009 on behalf of the Department for Transport.

Railways: Netherlands

Question: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what barriers to the introduction of a through high-speed service between London and Amsterdam have been identified by his Department; and what steps his Department is taking to overcome them.

Answer: Government policy is to encourage competition on High Speed One from 2010 and to expand the number of European destinations available by rail from the UK. Discussions have been held with rail operators in a number of other European Union countries on providing such services, including from London to Amsterdam. The Government will require security and immigration requirements to be met by any new services. It will be for the future operator of High Speed One to market the railway and to agree terms of access with international train operators.

Secondary information