SNCB International has issued a late-Friday alert that planned Dutch rail engineering works will disrupt the flagship Eurocity Direct route between Brussels and Amsterdam this weekend (26–27 September). All services will terminate at Amsterdam Central instead of Amsterdam Zuid and skip Almere and Lelystad. In the southbound direction, trains will depart Amsterdam Central and bypass Schiphol Airport by diverting over an alternative track between Rotterdam and the capital. Passengers connecting to flights at Schiphol must transfer to local Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS) trains and allow extra time. Updated timetables have been loaded into journey planners but seat reservations remain unchanged. No replacement buses are provided; SNCB advises travellers to use domestic NS services, which accept Eurocity tickets for the affected segment. The disruption, though planned, can catch weekend business travellers and expatriates returning from The Netherlands unaware, especially given short notice. Companies with cross-border commuter populations should circulate the reroute details and remind staff to monitor real-time updates via the SNCB app. Normal itineraries resume Monday, but further works on 3–4 and 17–18 October will once again restrict Brussels–Rotterdam and Brussels Airport-Zaventem stops. Regular travellers should build slack into meeting schedules during the autumn upgrade season.
