Eurostar has spent €10 million on ensuring that major delays are prevented once the Entry/Exit System (EES) is finally introduced on 6 October. "It won’t be a shitshow," said chief stations and security officer Simon Lejeune.
The EES is an automated IT system for registering travellers from third countries who travel to the EU. UK nationals have been considered third country citizens since 1 February 2020, and following multiple delays, EES checkpoints will be in operation at the St Pancras Eurostar terminal from 6 October.
There have been widespread fears about potential delays caused by the new, more complicated system. On Tuesday, Eurostar announced that it has spent €10 million on measures to make the process as smooth as possible and it insists that delays will only occur if passengers themselves are not well-informed about new requirements.
To that end, customers will be sent guides about how to navigate the changes as soon as they book a Eurostar journey.
Together with High Speed One (HS1), owner and operator of the line between London and the Channel tunnel, Eurostar will install almost 50 EES kiosks (including 24 provided by the French government), increase the number of e-gates from eight to 11 and increase the number of manual booths from nine to 18. It will also up the number of border control staff from 12 to 24.
At the Brussels-Midi station terminal in Brussels, there will be an additional ten new e-gates and four additional in-person counters installed. Paris will gain 18 EES kiosks and seven e-gates.
How will it work?
Under the EES, short-stay visa holders and visa-exempt travellers are required to submit fingerprint and facial biometric data upon entry into the Schengen Zone. Refusals of entry will now be recorded. There are several additional steps Eurostar passengers will have to take before departure from St Pancras.
Passengers must first go to EES kiosks, which will be installed at three separate points in St Pancras station: where Benugo coffee shop is currently located (the café will close to make room for the kiosks), opposite Network Railway's main ticket office and at the escalators leading to Thameslink's platforms.
Here they will scan their passport, provide fingerprints and have their facial photo taken. They will then answer a series of questions relating to their trip such as where they plan to stay and how long they will spend in the EU.
Queues at the control to enter a Eurostar departure hall. Credit: Belga / Nicolas Maeterlinck
From the kiosks, passengers will move to the departure area, then to the security barrier where luggage will be scanned. They will then pass through the UK border (the same as always). At this point, first-time passengers will have to provide a second set of fingerprints. Only then can the Eurostar be boarded. No further checks will occur at the other side of the journey.
'We have got the right set-up'
Eurostar says it is determined to ensure passengers that the new system will not cause heavy delays. A Coop Group survey published in April revealed that almost two in three UK adults were not aware of any changes under the EES, while one in five said they would be put off travelling due to the new system.
The operator insists that waiting times will remain as they are now: customers are advised to show up at the station between 45 and 60 minutes before their departure time (and 90 minutes beforehand at peak travel times).
"We are confident it won’t be a shit-show, because we have got the right set-up," Eurostar's chief stations and security officer Simon Lejeune told reporters this week. "We are not going to ask our customers to arrive earlier. We are confident, and our modelling supports this [and] we are still going to be operating within the current check-in times [...] and we are looking at reducing them."
