Eurostar passengers at St Pancras station in London will not face chaos when new EU border checks are introduced in October, train bosses have insisted.The EES (entry and exit system) is due to launch on October 6, from which point non-EU passengers – such as British nationals – will have to undergo facial recognition and fingerprint checks prior to crossing the border.The new rules will be most visible at St Pancras and at UK ferry ports such as Calais, and at Le Shuttle terminal in Folkestone, because in each case the French border is on UK soil.Reports this week suggested that passengers would have to turn up at least two hours in advance, meaning an end to “turn up and go” travel and lengthy queues causing chaos throughout the station.But Simon Lejeune, chief stations and security officer at Eurostar, told a media briefing on Tuesday: “We are confident it won’t be a shit-show, because we have got the right set-up.“We are not going to ask our customers to arrive earlier. We are confident, and our modelling supports this, that, end to end, we are still going to be operating within the current check-in times – and we are looking at reducing them.”This will mean passengers will normally be required to arrive at the Eurostar area in St Pancras station between 45 to 60 minutes prior to their train’s departure time, and 90 minutes in advance during peak times, such as school holidays.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00 From October the 6th, the rules on how you catch the Eurostar from here in St Pancras
00:08 to Brussels, Paris or Amsterdam are changing.
00:13 This is what you need to know.
00:14 The key difference is that the European Union is introducing a new system known as EES,
00:20 that is Entry and Exit System.
00:23 And rather than just simply getting your passport stamped, you'll have to undergo biometric
00:29 checks such as having your face scanned and giving your fingerprints.
00:34 What does this mean for passengers?
00:35 Do you have to get here earlier than normal?
00:38 No is the answer from Eurostar.
00:40 It says it's going to stick with the current 45 minutes to 60 minutes ahead of journey
00:45 time.
00:47 Although on busier times you may have to get here 90 minutes ahead of your journey.
00:52 It says that reports you'll have to be here at least two hours in advance are incorrect.
00:57 Eurostar is spending 10 million euros upgrading its facilities here at St Pancras.
01:04 This will include increasing the number of kiosks from 24 to 49, the number of e-gates
01:10 from 8 to 11 and the number of manual booths from 9 to 18.
01:16 The idea is that it won't take any longer than it currently does to get through to the
01:21 other side of the border.
01:22 The issue here at St Pancras is that the French border is actually in London.
01:27 So these new rules apply at St Pancras and at Dover and Folkestone.
01:32 For air passengers they will undergo similar checks but on the continental side of the
01:37 border.
01:38 So if you arrive in Paris on an aeroplane you'll undergo the same checks at the French
01:43 airport.
01:44 Now what happens if you're travelling with children?
01:47 Well the rules are different if you're travelling with children under 12 years old because
01:53 they cannot use the e-gates.
01:55 They can use the new check-ins but they won't have their fingerprints taken so they can
02:00 scan their passport there but then they will need to go through to a manual check-in gate
02:05 probably accompanied by their family.
02:07 One thing that is changing though is the layout of some of St Pancras station.
02:12 The Vanuguo Cafe bar which is opposite the main ticket office is going to close and that
02:17 will be replaced by this new area for the automated check-in booths.
02:23 So passengers will have to arrive there first before they proceed further down the station
02:28 to what is now the main Eurostar entrance.
02:31 And finally what happens if you actually miss your train because of all these changes?
02:36 Well Eurostar is aware that this will be a more complicated system but it's done modelling
02:41 and it says it's confident passengers will be able to go through pretty much as normal
02:45 now.
02:46 However in the past it has helped some trains to give passengers more time to board and
02:51 it's possible that could happen in future.
02:53 In the end though these are changes not of Eurostar's making, these are EU zone changes
02:59 and simply Brits travelling to and from the continent using Eurostar simply have to get
03:06 used to the new system, keep their fingers crossed and hope for the best.
03:10 [BLANK_AUDIO]