HSL-Zuid

On 7 September 2009, operator NS International started a domestic train service between Amsterdam and Rotterdam, weekdays only, 1 train hourly with TRAXX-locomotives and ICR-carriages running at 160 km/h maximum. Over time, this service has been expanded. On 12 April 2010, service was expanded to Saturday and Sunday. On 4 October 2010, the frequency was doubled to 2 trains hourly. On 3 April 2011, this service was extended to Breda. This service is called Intercity Direct, until 2013 Fyra. Although a more intensive service was planned initially, this is not possible due to the V250 rolling stock problem.

Class	Illustration	Type	Top speed		Number	Routes operated	Built	Remarks
			mph	km/h
NS Class 186		Locomotive	100	160	35[2]	Amsterdam to Schiphol, Rotterdam and Breda Amsterdam to Schiphol and Rotterdam The Hague to Rotterdam, Breda and Eindhoven	2008–2009 2014–2015
NS ICRm (Prio)		Carriage	100	160	60[3]	Amsterdam to Schiphol, Rotterdam and Breda Amsterdam to Schiphol and Rotterdam The Hague to Rotterdam, Breda and Eindhoven	1980–1988[4]
NS ICNG		EMU	124	200	79	Amsterdam to Schiphol and Rotterdam The Hague to Rotterdam, Breda and Eindhoven	2018-
V250		EMU	155	250	19	Amsterdam to Schiphol and Rotterdam	2008–2012	No longer in service.

The "Benelux train", in the Netherlands also known as Intercity Brussel, which existed before the Fyra, has been put into service again since the latter's demise, albeit under a renewed livery. It is a conventional InterCity train running between Amsterdam and Brussels-South using the Schiphol-Antwerp high-speed railway with reverse in Breda. These trains run every hour in both directions between Rotterdam and Brussels, serving Schiphol and Amsterdam CS north of Rotterdam.

Benelux train service to The Hague have been cancelled starting January 2022. These trains are redirected to Amsterdam over the HSL-Zuid, increasing the Amsterdam – Breda – Brussels service to sixteen trains per day in each direction instead of twelve but obliging travellers between Brussels and The Hague to change trains in Rotterdam or in Breda, albeit with a couple of minutes' reduction in total travel time.[5]

The current rolling stock is scheduled to be replaced by the NS ICNG-B stock starting 2025.

Class	Illustration	Type	Top speed		Number	Routes operated	Built	Remarks
			mph	km/h
SNCB Class 28 or NS Class 186		Locomotive	100	160		Amsterdam CS to Bruxelles-Midi
NS ICRm (Prio)		Carriage	100	160
NS ICNG-B		EMU	124	200	20		2018-

Stations served:

• Amsterdam Central
• Schiphol Airport
• Rotterdam Central
• Breda
• Noorderkempen (Brecht)
• Antwerpen-Central
• Antwerpen-Berchem
• Mechelen
• Brussels-Airport/Zaventem
• Brussels-North
• Brussels-Central
• Brussels-South

Thalys runs 11 times a day on the HSL-Zuid with speeds up to 300 km/h. After the failure of V250 and Fyra International, Thalys frequency was expanded:

• In service as of November 2021, 11 trains per day: Amsterdam Centraal – Schiphol – Rotterdam Centraal – Antwerp – Brussels Midi – Paris Nord
• In service as of March 2022, 1 trains per day: Amsterdam Centraal – Schiphol – Rotterdam Centraal – Antwerp – Brussels Midi – Paris CDG Airport - Marne-la-Vallée Disneyland
• Winter seasonal service: 1 trains per week Amsterdam Centraal – Schiphol – Rotterdam Centraal – Antwerp – Brussels Midi - Chambéry - Bourg-Saint-Maurice

Class	Illustration	Type	Top speed		Number	Routes operated	Built
			mph	km/h
Thalys PBA		EMU	186	300	9	Amsterdam to Schiphol, Rotterdam, Antwerp, Brussels-South and Paris Nord Amsterdam to Schiphol, Rotterdam, Antwerp, Brussels-South and Lille Europe	1996
Thalys PBKA					17		1997

Eurostar

Eurostar runs 4 times a day on the HSL-Zuid with speeds up to 300 km/h. Since late 2020 the Eurostar service is operated without change in Brussels due to a treaty with the British government, before the treaty passengers to the UK needed to disembark in Brussels and undergo customs screenings.

• In service as of October 2020, 4 trains per day: Amsterdam Centraal – Rotterdam Centraal – Brussels Midi/South – Lille Europe - London St Pancras Int'l

Class	Illustration	Type	Top speed		Number	Routes operated	Built
			mph	km/h
Eurostar e320		EMU	200	320	17	Amsterdam to Rotterdam, Brussels-South, Lille Europe (limited service) and London St. Pancras Int'l	2011-2018

Fyra International was an international high speed train service operated with V250 rolling stock between Amsterdam Centraal – Schiphol Airport – Rotterdam Centraal – Antwerp – Brussels, 10 times daily. Due to intensive problems with V250, this service only ran for forty days, between 8 December 2012 and 17 January 2013. The trains were eventually returned to Ansaldobreda.

Class	Illustration	Type	Top speed		Number	Routes operated	Built	Remarks
			mph	km/h
V250		EMU	155	250	19	Amsterdam to Schiphol, Rotterdam, Antwerp, Brussels-Central and Brussels-South	2008–2012	Not in service anymore.

Initially the HSL-Zuid route supported speeds of up to 160 km/h on both the southern Rotterdam to Breda and the northern Rotterdam to Schiphol section of the line. This was because ETCS Level 2 had not commenced operations and Level 1 was still in use. Various reliability issues prevented the use of Level 2 for sustainable commercial service.[9] Another issue was that the updated ETCS software of the Bombardier TRAXX locomotives was not certified for ETCS Level 2 operation. Railway Gazette reported in April 2011 that certification had been achieved and indeed Level 2 operations began on the southern section in May 2011 with Fyra services running at up to 160 km/h and Thalys at up to 300 km/h.[10] Level 2 went into operation on the northern part of the line in September 2011 and Thalys trains were then able to commence 300 km/h operations on that section. The V250 Fyra trains were hoped to enter service in December 2011 and indeed trial service (without passengers) began using first one, then two trains. As of March 2012 driver and train crew instruction runs were taking place with scheduled, non-passenger-carrying V250 interleaved between the passenger services and it was expected that these units would begin passenger operation in April 2012. The ETCS systems of wayside (Thales) and onboard (Traxx: Bombardier; Thalys & V250: Ansaldo STS) are interworking satisfactorily. With changes in the NS concession arrangements from 2015, the HSL service was combined with the national concession. The amount of Traxx locomotives and Prio carriages will be increased over the coming years as a stopgap measure until new intercity trains (foreseen in 2021/2022) will enter service. As a first step NS announced in December 2013 that they had placed an order at Bombardier for 19 Traxx locomotives.[11]

The V250 trains were ordered at the Italian train manufacturer AnsaldoBreda and were delivered in mid-2009. On 31 May 2013, the Belgian railway company NMBS/SNCB decided to stop the Fyra project and refused delivery of the trains it had ordered.[12] On 3 June 2013, the Dutch national railway company NS announced that it had made a similar evaluation, and expressed its desire to stop with the V250 project.[13][14] The Dutch department of finance agreed, and recommended that NS do "everything in its power" to get a refund from AnsaldoBreda.[15] At a press conference on 6 June 2013, the manufacturer claimed that the trains had been handled poorly by running the trains too fast (at maximum commercial speed of 250 km/h) under snow conditions. AnsaldoBreda has also threatened to sue the railways for the damage to its reputation.[16][17]

On 17 March 2014 NS announced a settlement with AnsaldoBreda had been reached. The 9 NS trains will be returned to AnsaldoBreda for a refund of 125 million euros, 88 million euros less than originally paid. NS will receive an additional compensation for each resold unit to a maximum of 21 million euros.[18] In May 2014, NMBS/SNCB, AnsaldoBreda and its controlling company Finmeccanica announced that they reached a settlement that confirms the cancellation of the train orders and includes the payment of 2.5 million euros to NMBS/SNCB.[19]