Traxx ready for departure at Amsterdam Centraal

Intercity Direct is a Dutch higher-speed train service operating on the

HSL-Zuid The HSL-Zuid ( nl, Hogesnelheidslijn Zuid, en, High-speed Line South), is a 125 kilometre-long (78 miles) Dutch high-speed railway line running between the Amsterdam metropolitan area and the Belgian border, with a branch to Breda, North ...

, connecting

Amsterdam Centraal Amsterdam Centraal Station ( nl, italic=no, Station Amsterdam Centraal ; abbreviation: Asd) is the largest railway station in Amsterdam, North Holland, the Netherlands. A major international railway hub, it is used by 192,000 passengers a day, ...

Schiphol Airport Amsterdam Airport Schiphol , known informally as Schiphol Airport ( nl, Luchthaven Schiphol, ), is the main international airport of the Netherlands. It is located southwest of Amsterdam, in the municipality of Haarlemmermeer in the province ...

, Rotterdam Centraal and Breda. Intercity Direct replaced the Fyra brand as of December 2013; it is part of NS International.

History

The Intercity Direct train service uses the

which went into service 7 September 2009. An hourly domestic service branded Fyra by operator NS Hispeed was started on 7 September 2009 between

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

and

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"Ne ...

using

TRAXX Alstom Traxx (sold as Bombardier TRAXX before 2021) is a modular product platform of mainline diesel-electric and electric locomotives produced originally by Bombardier Transportation and later Alstom, which was built in both freight and pass ...

-locomotives and ICR-carriages. Initially the service was hourly and weekdays only. On 12 April 2010 service expanded to Saturdays and Sundays. As of 4 October 2010, frequency increased to twice hourly. Service was extended to Breda on 3 April 2011. An international service also known as Fyra between Amsterdam and

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

started 9 December 2012 using V250 rolling stock of

AnsaldoBreda Hitachi Rail Italy S.p.A. is a multinational rolling stock manufacturer company based in Pistoia, Italy. Formerly AnsaldoBreda S.p.A., a subsidiary of state-owned Finmeccanica, the company was sold in 2015 to Hitachi Rail of Japan. After the ...

. From 17 January 2013 this service had to be pulled due to undercarriage damage caused by high velocity with ice and snow. As of June 2013 international Fyra service has been permanently suspended by both Dutch and Belgian railways. Due to the perceived bad reputation of the Fyra brand, the domestic service rebranded into Intercity Direct as of December 2013. The Traxx locomotives with ICRm carriages will be replaced by the new ICNG (Intercity New Generation) trains by 2023. The ICNG trains will be capable of operating at speeds up to 200 km/h.

Services

Intercity Direct offers the following services: * 2 trains per hour:

Schiphol Amsterdam Airport Schiphol , known informally as Schiphol Airport ( nl, Luchthaven Schiphol, ), is the main international airport of the Netherlands. It is located southwest of Amsterdam, in the municipality of Haarlemmermeer in the province ...

- Rotterdam Centraal – Breda * 2 trains per hour:

- Rotterdam Centraal *2 trains per hour:

Den haag The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

- Rotterdam centraal - Breda -

Tilburg Tilburg () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, in the southern province of North Brabant. With a population of 222,601 (1 July 2021), it is the second-largest city or municipality in North Brabant after Eindhoven and the seventh-larg ...

- Eindhoven *1 train per hour:

- Rotterdam Centraal - Breda - Antwerpen Centraal - Brussels Zaventem airport - Brussel Zuid/Midi (Intercity Brussel, also called "Beneluxtrein")

Supplement

A supplemental fare is required for any trip on the Intercity Direct that includes the Schiphol Airport–Rotterdam stretch. Single-use supplements cost €2.60 during peak hours and €1.56 during off-peak hours (2021) regardless of the class. This supplement can be paid by touching an OV-Chipcard to a "supplement pillar", which can be found on platforms from which Intercity Direct trains depart. These pillars are similar to OV-Chipcard validation machines, containing a red "Toeslag" label. A bi-lingual sign indicates for which train the supplement is required. If the supplement was mistakenly paid, touching an OV-Chipcard to the same device within 30 seconds will cancel the purchase. Journeys between Schiphol Airport railway station and Amsterdam Centraal, or between Rotterdam Centraal and Breda, can be made without paying the supplement. International tickets for the trains which continue to Belgium include the supplement in their cost.

References

External links

Intercity Direct
on the NS website
Public transport route planner 9292
High-speed rail in the Netherlands {{Netherlands-transport-stub