NS Hispeed

NS Hispeed is a part of the NS and operates the normal international intercity and the high speed trains, and also the national high speed train, Fyra. NS Hispeed runs four luxury high speed trains and three normal intercity services. NS Hispeed also operates Thalys Netherlands and HSL-South. NS Hispeed is part of Railteam, an alliance of European railroad companies.

International High speed trains

There are connections between France, Belgium, Germany and the UK.

• The Thalys is high speed service between France and Holland. This train runs between Amsterdam and Paris Nord and also stops at Antwerp and Brussels. The frequency of the Thalys is sixteen times a day. At Paris Nord there are several connections with the French TGV (le Train de Grande Vitesse).
• ICE International is the high speed train to Germany. ICE International runs six times a day between Amsterdam and Frankfurt. The travel time is less than 4 hours. This train stops at Utrecht, Düsseldorf and Köln. Once a day ICE International runs between Amsterdam and Basel SBB.
• Eurostar is the international train between London and Paris Nord over Brussels South.

International intercity

• The InterCity Brussels is the international train between Amsterdam, Schiphol, The Hague, Rotterdam and Dordrecht to Antwerp and Brussels South. This train runs every hour in each direction between 05:00 and 22:00.
• The InterCity Berlin is a substitute of ICE International. This train runs direct from Schiphol and Amsterdam to Berlin in about 6 hours.
• CityNightLine and EuroNight are night trains to Germany and further. There are sleep facilities in this trains.

Finally I like NS Hispeed, because it offers cheap and good international connections. It competes with the airlines because of cheap prices and shorter travel times if you take in to consideration time lost going to the airport and security- and baggage checks.