Technical issues with a reservation system appear to be behind two-day delay that prevented rail customers from booking tickets for the new route, which is due to start in April

Tickets for Eurostar’s new direct high-speed rail service from London to Amsterdam went on sale on Thursday, after a last-minute IT glitch delayed plans for the original launch on Tuesday afternoon.

The eagerly anticipated new route starts running on Wednesday 4 April, with fares from London to Rotterdam and Amsterdam starting at £35 each way. Tickets were due to go on sale on 20 February and on the same day as a special high-profile inaugural service to the city. But in a tweet that evening the company said it had delayed the launch.

Eurostar (@Eurostar) Update: we now expect the tickets for our Direct service to Rotterdam and Amsterdam to be available from Thursday 22nd, whilst we iron out a few issues. We recognise the interest in the new route & thank you all for your patience.

The problem is believed to have involved a Eurostar supplier having a technical issue with its reservation system but the delay was greeted with anger on Twitter by disappointed would-be passengers. A Eurostar spokesperson confirmed on Thursday morning that the problems had been resolved and that tickets for its two daily services had gone on sale.

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More than 4 million passengers a year fly between London and Amsterdam, making it one of Europe’s busiest air routes. The cross-Channel rail operator will challenge established airlines on the route, including British Airways, easyJet and Ryanair and will target potential converts by saying a London-Amsterdam Eurostar journey emits 80% less carbon than the equivalent flight.

Plans for the service were first announced in September 2013 but the start date was subject to numerous delays while immigration and passport controls were agreed. These issues mean direct services returning to London will not be in place until the end of next year. Passengers travelling back to London from Amsterdam and Rotterdam will have to go through passport control and security screening in Brussels – adding around an hour to the outward journey time – until the two governments complete an agreement allowing passport checks to be conducted in the Netherlands.

Tuesday’s inaugural train from St Pancras International broke a speed record for the journey to Brussels (1hr 46mins) before continuing on to Amsterdam via Rotterdam. The journey took 3hrs 41mins, with the Eurostar travelling at speeds of up to 300kp/h.