 Poster: A snowHead
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I heard this morning that there was a problem with delays on Eurostar due to EU passenger control.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-64390979
Last April on a Tuesday we endured Gare du Nord in the afternoon.
It was absalute chaos, we were there two hours before the train was due to leave but we still had to get in the queue.
I admit I was a tired and grumpy when I arrived there, but I got worse through the human sheep dip.
I got split up from my misses and sent around to another passport control window as the Passport Machine did the usual thing of not working for me.
Finally being told to remove my belt and pass it through the X-Ray machine....
Perhaps it was a belt swallowing machine as it did not come out the other end.
The French Customs or Border Patrol fella just shrugged and made that sort of rasberry sound that the French do. (I can't spell it).
Having to hold my trousers up for the rest of the journey.
I thought this was just a once off ... but perhaps this is the way the Eurostar works now.
Someone tell me that its all OK and its just the first a bit of bother on the first trains in the morning.
I used to be a frequent quere on Eustostar to Bruxelles every week back at the turn of the century.
It was great then, hop on at Ashford I even forgot my passport one week ... No problem at all.
Has anyone been on it recently and found it either difficult or easy?
We're booked on it to go to Zurich in a couple of weeks. I would like to feel I'm looking forward to catching the 10:26 from St Pancras. 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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We travelled over new year. UK side not really any issues. Big queues returning on the French side.
I am struggling to work out how it is so hard to get extra border staff when the amount of money they are losing out on selling at 2/3rds capacity must be colossal.
I dont work there and I'm sure there must be some good reason but from the outside its a little pathetic
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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I think they said on the radio this morning that pre-pandemic there were 28 trains a day to Paris, but now there are 20, and passenger numbers are 2/3rds of pre-pandemic levels.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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I found it very easy from St Pancras to Paris but my only other time using it was delayed for hours due to a fire in the tunnel.
I’ve had my own French transport issues this week so I think it’s just a common ‘French problem’.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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One issue with Brussels and Paris is that the Eurostar terminals haven't been updated for years and are the same size, and capacity, as when Eurostar first started running. There is simply not enough space to deal with the extra trains that have been put on due to demand increases since then and to deal with security and immigration checks.
I'm not sure that there is sufficient space in St Pancras to increase the departure area to allow more French officers to work there.
I believe that Gare du Nord is having a new terminal built that should have been ready in time for the Olympics but has since been delayed. This should deliver improved capacity and make things easier.
The other option would be to bypass Paris completely and join the Eurostar in Lille.
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@terrygasson, I believe the 30% reduction in capacity is through running fewer trains.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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@DrLawn, we travelled via Paris on the Eurostar for skiing last week. St Pancras was fine. Paris was cramped and disorganised.
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Cheers @sugarmoma666,
I used to think St Pancras was crowded and a bit of a cattle market.
But when I came home via Gare Du Nord last year it was just off the scale.
As the other posters have said, the facilities at both termini, are just not big enough in these post Brexit times.
Its a shame though, the idea of going by train is to avoid all the nonsense we have to put up with at airports ...
2 hours of so called duty free shopping.
Idealy we want to just get on the train and go.
Anyway when I heard the news yesterday .. I felt dissapointed again.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| ski3 wrote: |
| This is how a socialist Republic works |
No, blame the root cause: Brexit. Why should the French invest in extra staff just because the UK decided to leave? When this exact issue was predicted it was dismissed, first as Project Fear and then as the bleatings of the Woke North London Snowflake Elite. We got what 34% of the electorate voted for. As Leavers are fond of saying, it's done, just accept it - apparently 'it's a price worth paying' for the benefits of Brexit.
Last edited by snowHeads are a friendly bunch. on Thu 26-01-23 10:37; edited 3 times in total
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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I used it start of December. No real issues in either direction.
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You know it makes sense.
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Any advantage queues-wise to travelling on an EU rather than a UK passport?
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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The problems took off when Eurostar dropped proper direct services from STP to Bourg St M. There are lots more British skiers passing through Paris now because of this. Loads more luggage to scan and check and ski equipment etc. Paris Gare du Nord doesn't have the space for it all. Eurostar was glorious 20 years ago and it has slipped and slipped and slipped ever since - absolutely crap management choices all the way. I know a lot of people who have worked there at one time or other and they will all give you the same info. These issues were piling up well before Brexit too. Brexit doesn't help but it is not the root cause.
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Poster: A snowHead
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FAQ
