German rail firm tells passengers from Brussels to Hook of Holland to change in London

The total fare is around £200, excluding the cost of a berth on the overnight ferry

Late running: testing new trams on the line adjacent to Hook of Holland's quayside (RET)

The rail journey from Brussels to the Dutch port of Hook of Holland is simple.

A high-speed Thalys train takes 70 minutes from Midi station in the Belgian capital to Rotterdam Centraal. A five-minute local train journey to Schiedam Centraal connects with Metro Line B, which runs to Hook of Holland in 24 minutes.

Travellers can comfortably make the entire trip within two hours. But Europe’s leading rail organisation, Deutsche Bahn, recommends instead a 14-hour marathon that involves travelling via London.

The historic rail link from Rotterdam to Hook of Holland has been converted to a line on the Dutch city’s Metro system.

As a result, the long-established bahn.de website operated by the German rail enterprise does not recognise it as the appropriate means to reach Hook of Holland from Brussels.

Instead, travellers seeking the fastest journey are advised to take the 6.17pm TGV high-speed train from Midi station to Lille Europe, then change to Eurostar to London St Pancras.

No advice is given for how to travel across the capital to Liverpool Street station, where Britain’s last remaining boat train to Harwich in Essex awaits.

Two hours later, the traveller finally starts heading for the Netherlands port aboard a Stena Line ship, which takes eight hours and arrives at 8am next morning.

The total fare for a “walk-up” passenger is likely to be around £200, excluding the cost of a berth on the overnight ferry.

In contrast, a ticket for immediate departure taking the direct route costs around €71 (£63).

The Dutch port’s rail station opened in 1893 and became the continental hub for destinations in Denmark, Poland and Switzerland. After the Second World War, Hook of Holland was for a time a starting point for the Orient Express.