Eurostar to Launch Four Daily Direct London–Antwerp Trains

UK–BELGIUM: Eurostar will launch four daily direct London to Antwerp trains on 14 December 2026, cutting the journey to 2 hours 41 minutes and removing the current change at Brussels-Midi/Zuid.

Direct trains will save 34 minutes

The new one-way direct service will run from London St Pancras International to Antwerpen-Centraal. It will be Eurostar’s first direct London-to-Antwerp connection, giving UK passengers a through journey to the Belgian port city.

Today, Eurostar’s London-to-Antwerp itinerary sends passengers to Brussels-Midi/Zuid, where they transfer to an SNCB train for the final section. Eurostar lists a total journey time of about 3 hours 15 minutes and allows the combined journey to be booked in a single transaction. The 2-hour 41-minute direct train will therefore reduce the scheduled trip by 34 minutes.

For the current itinerary, Eurostar says the SNCB connection ticket is valid on any train along the same route that day, reducing the impact if a passenger misses the planned connection.

The operator plans four scheduled departures a day in the London-to-Antwerp direction. The change will add Antwerp as a direct destination from London but will not create an equivalent direct trip back to the UK.

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Return trips will still require a Brussels transfer

Eurostar currently has no plan to run direct Antwerp-to-London trains. According to the operator, Antwerpen-Centraal does not have the dedicated UK border and customs facilities needed for direct departures to London.

Passengers returning from Antwerp will therefore continue to use an SNCB service to Brussels before boarding Eurostar. The operator’s Antwerp-to-London travel page currently gives a total journey time of about 3 hours 50 minutes for that itinerary.

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