In the old days, before the Schengen agreement, passport control on cross-border trains in Europe took place on the train, between stations. Officers got on and checked everyone before stopping again just over the border. Then they got on the next train going in the other direction. Not a problem and nobody had to wait in stupid lines like they have to at airports.
Passport control on trains won't be the problem. Everything else about Brexit will be the problem.
1
I know a few living in the UK and they support Brexit. Not because the dislike the rest of Europe or believe it will help make the UK great again. They were not even that drawn in my the flood of immigrants which strained social safety nets. It was about those that are in charge of the EU - un-elected bureaucrats - that decided what laws the UK could enact, and decided which would be enacted despite being unpopular. It would be like giving the UN power over US laws and their enforcement. Some here no doubt would embrace that as they naively believe the US is evil and the UN the global good guy. But I for one would resist that with my life.
The NYTimes has never presented the complexities of the EU and the fact that it is an appointed body in Brussels that rule the continent. Never delved into the laws they negated and those they enacted that all the EU countries must abide. There are some positives which Europeans love - not having to deal with inter-country passports, and being able to engage in commerce without the taxes and rules businesses used to face. And having a common currency; although that works better for some countries over others and the UK never implemented the Euro over the pound. But there were a lot of negatives to this experiment and those should not be scoffed at as if those that support Brexit are just a bunch of lousy, racist nationalists. Much more complex, and understandable.
2
Actually, the analyst pictured standing under the arch will figure out a way to make money. They always do. Just like the Trump family will walk away unscathed when our national nightmare is over.
1
Did I miss something? This article describes a group of privileged people who travel on high speed trains, eating and drinking at expensive restaurants and hotels. They don't produce anything but mere lobby governments for handouts or favors for their employers or clients.
2
@Donna Gray
Just because their work entails traveling by the most expedient way does not make them privileged. Where they eat or drink is hardly anybody's business - I would assume they paid the bill with the money they earned. They may not "produce" material things but they impart advice/knowledge which their clients are willing to pay for. What is it that you missed?
1
The article sounds like the book Animal Farm but here the pigs are the good guys.
2
Border controls are slow in France, especially between 12 and 2 in the pm. I flew from London to Nice in March and the shiney new electronic border system was installed but out of commission. It was still tied off in October. I guess the unions aren't happy.
This article borders on pure fiction - 15000 person lines at St. Pancreas Station? A 12 week window before Eurostar collapses? please. I had to clear border controls every time I took it - dozens of times over a multi-year period - so what exactly will change? Particularly with the increased technology making the checks quicker, very little.
1
@GM
Nonsense. What will change? Tightened controls. The French conducted a test run a few months ago and it produced major friction for travelers although many (including a relation of mine who uses it all the time) avoided taking the Eurostar aware of the likelihood of delays.
2
@GM
Not just passports, there will be customs clearance and checks as well which will take additional time for all travellers.
1
It would appear that the British government couldn't care less: Brexit with or without an agreement is fine especially with Johnson. These people live on another planet and not in Europe; what matters to them is THE PARTY and not the people of the UK.
2
Eurostar is great but it has become increasingly profit maximising since the British government sold its share. Now owned by the French - the Belgians have a 10% stake - but with 60% of its passengers from the U.K. they have recently reduced service to reduce capacity and increase ticket prices. In the new green age this is ridiculous especially when you consider the tunnel as a whole is only used to 58% of its capacity. It is not sensible for such a strategic asset to be operated on total neoliberal lines. And the lines - yes worse especially in the morning from London but still much better than flying.
I am an American living in Paris who works for an international technology company. I travel frequently on the Eurostar between Paris and London for business (often multiple times a month).
There is no question that a “no deal” scenario will greatly stretch the current infrastructure and process - as was made readily apparent during the demonstration enacted by French customs agents a few months back. After they enacted stricter controls and began to question travelers (peppering everyone with “how much cash are you carrying?”, etc) trains snarled to a halt, with almost half canceled and lines extending throughout the main station. Business travelers began to (gasp!) fly to London in order to ensure as little disruption as possible, something previously unheard of.
Recently Anglophone passengers have been allowed through automated border control in addition to E.U. citizens in Paris Gare du Nord (as opposed to the previous more complicated process for “All Passports” which involved a visit to both the French and U.K. border agents in addition to manually filling a crossing card). While this certainly helps relieve congestion now, if the E.U. citizens are forced to revert to the manual process there is no doubt the gears will quickly jam. While processes could certainly be tweaked and costs increased, the reality is that in a system built for a “soft” border any evolution to a “hard” border will be arduous and potentially life-threatening to the Eurostar.
2
There has been strong 3G/4G for cellphones for the length of the tunnel since 2014 (which is great).
We enjoyed the Eurostar for a short visit to Paris while vacationing in London. The security screening was quick, efficient and uneventful at St. Pancras. The return from Paris was a security bureaucratic nightmare, with French officials chatting with one another and occasionally checking IDs as lines stretched through halls and down escalators into the main terminal. They even delayed departure almost an hour due to the inefficiency. I can't imagine the same French fiasco brought into St. Pancras for the outbound trips.
1
Surely once successfully Brexited no Britons will wish to leave the utopia of Singapore-on-Thames even for the briefest of train holidays, and the Eurostar will be missed less than, say, the Concorde. Or Jeremy Corbyn.
3
The writer seemingly fails to understand, that there are already passport checks between the UK and continental Europe - of course also at the Eurostar terminals. The UK never signed up to the Schengen agreement of intra-Europe passport-free travel, do showing your passport before boarding is par for the course. It is happening now and will happen in the future. Nothing to see here, move on.
3
Absolutely, I flew to Italy over the summer from England with a UK pass and getting through passport control took over an hour. The whole article is much ado about nothing!
2
@Chris Schengen doesn't deal with customs, which will require checks post Brexit.
1
Now: just show your passport.
Post-Brexit: present your passport to be checked for visa/waiver.
Just the same as before?
I'm not sure how highly automated passport checks constitutes 'border free'. Just because it's not a face to face with a grumpy official?
The electronic checks work extremely efficiently (and machines are generally more efficient than humans) checking your details against dozens of databases.
Leaving from London, you go, one after another, through near identical sets of electronic checks, the first labelled 'British border' and the second, 'French border'. So, not 'border free'. On your way back, you do the same process and when you get to London (which is NOT in the 'borderless' Schengen area, there are unpleasantly thuggish looking officers from the UK Border Force pulling people out of the line for questioning.
About the only thing that will change after Brexit is that UK citizens will need a visa - similar to the US 'ESTA' system. These are valid for five years and will cost less than $20. They'll also be electronic, so processed at those automated gates. So, still a lot easier for Brits than getting into the US.
Why does America persist in this delusion that the EU has 'open borders'. That's simply untrue. Google 'Schengen Area'.
2
I have a U.S. passport. I have taken Eurostar from Paris to London in June for ten years. I arrive at the station an hour before the train leaves. I'm through passport control and security and in the waiting room in thirty minutes. When I arrive at the London station there are no controls. DISCLOSURE: My travel is noon on Sunday. No apparent business travelers.
As Americans, we traveled from London to Paris via the Eurostar back in 2016. Ironically, only a few weeks before the Brexit referendum.
As non-EU persons we needed to go through the more complicated passport inspection process. at St. Pancras That said, it was relatively easy and took little time. But if the same process will now be required for Brits heading to the Continent and EU persons returning home it will become a nightmare.
Figuring that Brexit is now a done deal, it will be imperative for both Britain and the EU to develop a fast track document check similar to the TSA Pre-check system used in the US to speed airport security clearance for regular travelers.
Nonetheless, the clearance process between Britain and the EU is destined to become more complicated. For business people it will be another "cost" of what is economically a misguided, if not mad, policy move.
22
The idea that the Eurostar is going to be so impacted by new, stricter passport checks that it would fold or cease to exist seems far-fetched. As others point out, there are already passport checks for U.K. & French passport holders at Gare du Nord and St. Pancras. The UK isn’t a part of the Schengen treaty today and so there is already a “hard” border between the U.K. & continental Europe. Exiting the EU ought not cause a substantial difference in the time it takes to pass through border checks. How extensive the checks are, or whether France would continue to allow UK passport holders to use automated kiosks for faster processing should be up to their discretion. Kiosks in some parts of Europe already allow passport holders from the USA, Australia, Canada, and other non-EU, non-Schengen countries to use them, allowing for expedited passage.
The French government is also the majority owner of Eurostar, so it would make little sense for them to enact border checks that are so slow that they would impact the service and cause it to lose business or close.
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@Brian Hofman Its worth considering how slow passport control can be without the automated gates though. Especially since this won't just be passport control, as currently exists, but customs as well, meaning bags will be screened. It's pretty normal for a bus to take over 30 minutes at Eastern or Southern European checkpoints, and it once took Hungarian authorities over an hour to clear our bus for schengen.
That erases a lot of the time savings that make Eurostar so attractive in the first place.
8
@RMurphy yes exactly, the problem comes from the added customs checks. French customs went on a ‘grève du zèle’ - work by the rule - in March / April this year, applying all the customs checks required per the local laws. Just by spending a few extra seconds on each passenger, asking the purpose of their trip, where their tax residency was, whether they were carrying certain things etc. — these added seconds pf checks resulted in trains delayed by 4 hours. See relevant article on this ‘work by the rule’ industrial action in the NYT earlier this year.
8
What a shame it would be if Eurostar was a casualty of Brexit. I've taken it numerous times -- London-Belgium, London-Paris -- and I've enjoyed the experience every time. We need more affordable rapid transit options like that, not less.
27
The irony that Brexit negotiators take the Eurostar to Brussels and could kill the service by their actions.
14
@Sergei Pontoise Just as climate change scientists contribute to global warming by traveling to climate change conferences
1
Brexit will cause a ton of problems, but passport control will not be one of them. The UK has always been outside of Schengen, and passport control has ALWAYS been a fiasco. Interestingly, it recently just got better, which means that the government has been doing some internal streamlining.
11
Before the UK joined the EU, and before the existence of the "Chunnel," people somehow successfully made the journey from the British Isles to the Continent and vice versa by plane or boat. Now of course there is the option of the train. Is is also true that people all over the world travel through hard borders every day, e.g., Americans frequently visit European nations, or Mexico and Canada for that matter. Articles like this one seek to plant a "sky is falling" mentality when problems like this are easily solvable and solutions are clearly in evidence all around the world. While Brexit is certainly much more complex than its advocates ever considered it is also certainly not an unsolvable problem. Perhaps the potential difficulties presented by our media today are just a means to keep too many journalists employed. Some might justifiably call all this just so much "fake news."
1
@Gary
People did indeed make that journey before the UK joined the EU (actually the EC, back in 1972). I was one of them. It was an incredibly tedious process - train, boat, train - with long waits, crowds, forms and documents. You could write off a whole day actually travelling no more than about 75 miles. British customs at Dover was particularly ponderous, bureaucratic and intimidatory.
Please don't tell those of us that made that journey that deeply disliking it is 'fake news'.
5
After Brexit, maybe we could loan them some TSA staff to handle the "new" boarding regulations...
1
The consultants always win, don't they?
Looks like I need to change my travel plans.
The most uncomfortable train I’ve ever boarded, and not inexpensive for the discomfort.
1
@Mark
Yes, it is very fast. Probably very disturbing to an American without any prior experience of high speed TGV type trains.
I'm 6ft 1in and really pretty obese, too. No comfort issues with me. And, that's Standard not First Class.
3
The light at the end of the tunnel is ..
.. that on the Brexit train.
I'm someone who thinks Brexit is moronic, but I'm really unclear on why the expected catastrophe at the Eurostar -- and the article does not explain. There aren't 15,000 person lines at the airport where they check passports. Besides, Eurostar already checks passports. Why would it suddenly be so different? There might be an answer but it would have been nice to see an explanation here.
3
@FF
Currently they do not check EU-citizen's passports to board the Eurostar. They go through an express line while non-EU persons such as American travelers go through a more elaborate check.
Once Brexit takes places a longer security clearance process including a passport check will apply to Brits traveling to the Continent.
3
@George
We made the trip earlier this year and the French border control did their usual thing for an Australian passport - look, compare, scan, stamp, hand back - yes, the line was a bit longer, but only moved slightly slower than those with EU passports, so it wasn't all that elaborate or time consuming and much less so than US passport control.
regards
@George
That's simply untrue. EU citizens get their passports checked TWICE - at both British and French electronic border gates. That's going both ways - and coming into the UK there are additional 'random' stops.
I am, at least for now, an EU citizen. making that journey several times annually.
Is an American citizen the best source of info about what happens to EU citizens?
2
In these populist times, I don't think people are going to have sympathy for those living the European equivalent to the Acela Corridor lifestyle. Sympathy for the professional and managerial class is quickly eroding on both sides of the aisle, just like it is for billionaires.
2
What’s funny (to me) is that this piece mostly served to remind me — just in time to cancel the unnecessary flight I had booked — that the Eurostar runs between Brussels and London, an intercity trip I need to make in the spring. Fingers crossed, I guess!
2
@LC
See my comment. As an American the security process you will need to go through for the Eurostar will not change. As a non-EU person you already face a somewhat tighter clearance process.
1
@George
I’m aware. By “fingers crossed” I just meant, here’s hoping there aren’t actually 14,999 EU nationals boarding at Brussels with me. (The fact that I plan to buy the ticket reveals that I’m not that worried about this).
So, if the UK does evetnaully leave the EU, the easiest way for non business travelers to enjoy Eurostart is simple - skip the UK.
Support the Eurostar in Europe.
5
This is nonsensical. Eurostar only runs to London.
4
@G Rayns
No it doesn't. Eurostar connects Brussels, Paris, Lille and Amsterdam. It may go further in time.
'Only runs to London'? British exceptionalism at its best, matey...
2
@nolongeradoc The only way to take Eurostar without visiting London is to go from Lille to Brussels, or Brussels to Amsterdam (in one direction!). And these routes are also served by other operators. If you go from Paris-Brussels and Paris-Amsterdam it's Thalys, not Eurostar.
Without London there is no reason for Eurostar to exist.
1
Um, no mention of the time that the passage from London to someplace on the continent takes?
@Wile_E I've done the Paris/London journey about a half dozen times. It takes about two and a half hours. The best part is that at each end of the journey you are at train stations located in the midst of the city. It beats an airplane even before you think about greenhouse gas issues.
6
@Wile_E Probably because there are plenty of references over the past 25 years it's been running
1
This it total codswallop, as the Brits say
When you leave or enter the UK via the chunnel, you have to go through immigration
Nothing will change
2
@Paul
What you fail to realize is that EU-citizens go through a much quicker security check to board the Eurostar than others such as Americans.
The purpose of this article is to explain that after Brexit the tighter security check will apply to all travelers. This will slow the process considerably for all travelers.
7
Just another nail in Britain's economic and cultural coffin. The old white guys don't care much as all they want to do is ride out their wealth to the grave. Let the youngsters figure out the fix to their selfish disaster and economic ruin. It's true. Look it up.
14
@Loud and Clear
That's a gratuitous slap. You play the hand you're dealt. We did, and we built that tunnel.
1
Any risk to the Eurostar is just one small symbol of the exercise in self harm called Brexit. Here is the position of the two main parties: Labour - First we will become Little England - and then Little Marxist England. Conservatives: First we will become Little England - and then Grand Cayman on Thames.
Oddly enough there is a third centrist moderate party called the Liberal Democrats. But who cares?
Whom the Gods would destroy, they first make mad.
10
The premise of the piece is click bait since the UK is outside of the Schengen zone - everyone is subject to immigration checks going in or out now. Unlike in the US, Canada and the UK, where self-important immigration clerks make it their business to grill visitors, France's systems are mostly automatic since France trusts the data bases that actually provide risk assessments and residency/visa info on incoming visitors.
11
The British side is automatic too. Why wasn't this pointed out? Has the author used it?
1
The genesis of Brexit are xenophobia and racism as were genesis of Donald Trump; this same xenophobia and racism are where each nations destructions await.
15
A line 15,000 people long??
I don’t believe that number. I believe it was in the report but I think it’s fantasy.
I have no inside knowledge but that number sounds made up by people trying scare folks about brexit.
2
@Apm I agree with this comment. As other comments have noted, the current system requires passport and immigration checks already. It probably will slow a bit but it is not likely to flat-out stop which is what would have to happen to have such a line.
Could we all just admit what I've known since about two days after the original vote, already? Brexit will never occur. It's impossible to do. Not without some massive geopolitical reorganizing (e.g., Northern Ireland). Britain will hold a vote soon that will basically amount to "All those in favor of nullifying the original Brexit vote, check 'yes'."
And 50.1% (at least) will check "yes" to be done with this idiocy.
12
@Alex - About the only thing I follow in British politics closely is Lord Buckethead but it seems as though folks voted for something without thinking it through first. Kind of like voting for a wall paid for by Mexico. It sounds great emotionally but unless the Tooth Fairy steps up real soon (and Native Americans give up tribal land and ranchers give up Rio Grande access) it just isn't going to become a reality. And it appears as though Britain has neither a Warren-with-a-plan or a Tooth Fairy in their near future on this one. I agree with you that they should just vote on it again and perhaps table the idea until they get some more teeth for under the pillow.
4
@tom harrison ...that reminds me.... I haven't heard anything lately, or ever, of Mexico sending any checks or Washington receiving any checks from Mexico for that BIG BEAUTIFUL WALL.
3
With all of our religious people who defy facts and devalue education, I always thought Americans were the dimmest people in the ...advanced world. Of late, the British have jumped to first place. Cheers!
20
Big picture: how will this affect my vacation?
6
What vacation?
6
With every report the Brexit madness becomes more apparent.
Other than some changes in immigration, I am certain that UK will retain 90% of EU regulations. UK, of course,will survive, whether they will prosper is another question. The end is near, the trouble is what will there be beyond.
Greta Thunberg would not have any troubles with this: knowing that this train service would be closed down. All of the "professional" class referenced in this article should travel to the Continent the old way: take a boat.
3
@BT
How do you get from SF to Berkeley?
@BT
or the new way...take a zoom or a gotomeeting.
A question I have never seen investigated: Did law and accounting firms contribute heavily to the “Leave” campaign? Did their professional societies?
They are profiting enormously (!!!) from Brexit as every contract and every financial plan has to be redrawn.
They are the only ones who are winning, and they are winning big. I would not be surprised if these kinds of fees make up 35% of the UK’s GDP for a few years.
4
Even as the US has made a huge poor choice in the last few years, the poor choice that has been made with Brexit will be far more lasting in its damaging impacts. I feel very sad for the UK, a nation I love and that my ancestors came from. For many years I have flown in to London and during my time in Britain have used Eurostar to spend time in Paris with friends even though the lines could be bad at both ends to clear security and passport control. With Brexit, those lines will be horrendous and I won't do that anymore. Integrated in to the EU and under progressive leaders like Tony Blair, Britain witnessed itself become a leading successful country and London never saw more prosperity. Now, supported by reactionary leaders and by voters left behind and left out of the 21st Century economy who wrongly think that Brexit will be the solution to all their problems, the UK faces a far different future that could bring the whole nation down.
20
@BruceE
It's a lot like the U.S.
Voters who feel they've been "left behind and left out of the 21st C. economy" have taken steps to yank the American and British populations back into the 1950s when middle class people didn't feel any connection to international business markets, international media and international travel.
Trying to put the toothpaste back in the tube through a series of destructive decisions and denial.
6
@BruceE
Bruce, you have no idea what the effects of our poor choices in the US will be. Those Do-The-Puy aggies who voted Red, along with a MINORITY of the rest of the country, may have started an avalanche of fiscal ruin for the US. A $trillion a year in new US debt (in times of plenty!) along with active Fed Quantative Easing ($60 billion/month in money printing at a time of stock market records!). We will not be able to sell US bonds forever, and when market interest rates skyrocket there will be no money for the Military nor Medicare nor Social Security. So...who says Britain's future will be worse? If you can add, you will know that disaster awaits all but the US $Billionaires and $100-millionaires. They are building massive luxury facilities in the Cayman Islands for them to move to. Google it.
2
It’s a train for goodness sake, a fast train, but a train nonetheless. There is no reason it should be impacted any more that airlines that serve the UK and the Continent. Just looking for problems?
5
@Thomas Smith
It's just a train that traverses an international border. That makes it different from your average Amtrak train.
1
Come on--won't there be quite a lengthy period for negotiating all such things after Brexit is voted for? It sounds like the separating UK would simply cut off all existing ties...Unlikely!
1
Being an American citizen in London,I get so many criticism about American political issues. Most British people seem to diss about current US political climate which is understandable but I would like to gently remind them that once Brexit ? it’s forever.
Trump isn’t forever. I have more hope for my country.
40
@Jungyeon Cotter As a resident of the US and a frequent traveller to France and Britain, I find the politicl situation more than discouraging in both countries. Trump may not be "forever" and given his age and his eating habits he may be dead before his present term is up, but I do not have much hope for the US after Trump and the trumpistas have wrecked the political and social system. There are plenty oif enablers and would-be Trumps hanging around, ready to perpetuate the gross and crude society he is steadily im;osing on us. He is only an aberration in the present day political world if his army of hollering supporters strays away ... just look at the wall of young kpersons behind him, cheering and whooping away, and looking as though they had been recruited in the local sororities and fraternities to be there (and perhaps they were ?) He will not leave the White House but stay for another four years, at the end of which, the American Empire will be in its decline and fall; it happens to all such political systems in time -- read your Gibbon on declien and fall.
1
@Jungyeon Cotter the UK will always have the Windsors
They can keep them!
Brexit - an unparalleled example of national self-harm.
72
@Paul
Unparalleled? We’ve got Brexit bested by a mile (or 1.609 kilometers)!
So how come that this “tribe of Euro commuters” gets a pass when it comes to climate change. Sure it’s a train and not a plane, but it uses carbon nonetheless. I bet you most of this could be done by email or Skype. Meanwhile the rest of us are told by elites like this to bicycle everywhere.
1
and what is wrong with the bicycle?
3
@Wolf Bein
'Sure it’s a train and not a plane, but it uses carbon nonetheless. '
Teslas are coal powered luxutr cars, yet Liberals keep bragging about them.
The fact is that everything that uses electricity, s coal powered.
Until a battery is found that does not require recharging, we will have coal burning plants powering electric cars and trains.
3
@Wolf Bein It's electric. Sure, it has a carbon footprint but not that of a good ol'fashioned coal-powered steam engine… It also has a capacity of 900 passengers, they wouldn't fit in your bike's basket.
9
Mr. Rahman is INCORRECT in saying that the U.K. never signed up to political integration. Mrs. Thatcher in Stuttgart signed for the U.K. the Solemn Declaration of Ever closer Union on June 19th, 1983 with no reservations.
4
I live in London and take the Eurostar regularly. There are already passport checks, both automated and manual (with personnel) on both sides for all EU and non-EU citizens. I find it hard to believe that French officials will make border crossing more difficult for UK citizens when EU automated gates now allow Singaporean, USA, Norwegian, Canadian, South Korean, Icelandic, Swiss, Lichtenstein, Japanese, Australian or New Zealand passports. It feels like this reporter is making a meal of mere speculation, and stating very few actual facts.
23
@Lorenz
Agreed. So do I as a Norwegian resident of the UK. It is a thin basis for an article - as Eurostar say. There will be no 'no deal' in any event.
10
Maybe if all the London-based elites put more thought into transport links between London and the Midlands and the North and Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland we wouldn't be leaving the EU in January 2020.
5
@Stuart
What businesses want to locate in the North of England?
7
This is certainly true but to be fair HS2 is being built (subject to review but that is a foregone conclusion). Better late than never.
Pre EU and pre Chunnel,
I would have to pass through Customs and Immigration in Calais/Dover when taking any of the water crossing options (ferry, hovercraft)
I guess a hard border will be installed.
1
Oddly, she doesn't mention that the Eurostar is prohibitively expensive already. In 13 years in France, I never once took it to UK, where my children were students. It's much cheaper to fly in Europe. Before the Eurostar, it was completely the opposite: trains were cheap, flying was not.
19
@rjkrawf : The real problem is the subsidies for airlines and the taxes on train travel.
6
@Rose Actually, airpline prices are lower because of competition, which - in case you don't know - no longer exists in the US.
6
While I think Brexit is utter folly, "15,000-people-long lines at St. Pancras" is pure scare-mongering. The US-Canada border is a hard border, but there is no line at Toronto's Union Station for the train to New York for customs check, nor is there one at Penn Station. Why? All passport checks are done aboard the train.
22
@Donriver I agree. As a US citizen I have used the Eurostar many times and stood in the same line as everyone else. The passport checking time is no longer for me, as a non-EU citizen, than anyone else. If all the Brits overnight become non-EU, the lines will be unaffected.
12
@Donriver apparently you've not ridden the Eurostar. Like you, I regard the idea of 15k-long queues as absurd scare-mongering, but Eurostar is nothing like US/Canada rail service. There are barely any stops, and almost certainly not long enough to deal with anyone whose documentation wasn't clear before entering the tunnel from either direction.
1
@Donriver
You take a train from Union Station to go to New York? Does anyone else know about this?
Nigel Farrago probably wants to shut the Eurostar down, though only after he's moved to Germany.
15
@Paul Adams I thought he might be moving to the US. Apparently he was planning on that 3 years ago, most likely to Maine. Thankfully, I haven't run into him here yet.
5
@Bob R WEll, Trump thinks he would be a marvelous British ambassador in the US; asnd the equally absudrd Boris Johnson might well agree with his dear friend, Trumpi, and send Farage to Washington as the ambassador -- would at least get Farage out of Johnson's hair ... and the perks are excellent ... what a thought -- well no more ridiculous than Trump as presient and Johnson as PM. Why not !!
We're having an election and our two main parties are promoting delusional and fraudulent schemes which perfectly characterise their respective leaders deficient personalities. Johnson's strap line is 'Let's Get Brexit Done'. This is a lie. If it ever occurs it will take years to Get Brexit Done with the diversion of resources to negotiate with the EU a squandering of our future prosperity. Corbyn want's to nationalise in a programme which will take us back to the dysfunction of the 1970s. Furthermore he doesn't want this election to be about Brexit for his position on the topic is incoherent. Never has Britain been faced with such rotten and dishonest choices. Never have we had the leadership of both major party leaders hijacked by extremists at the same time in an election.
The Eurotunnel is irrelevant for 90%+ of Britons and it's difficulties will pale into insignificance compared to the disruption we face if Johnson succeeds in having the power to sign his dangerous withdrawal agreement. The clamour for an Independence referendum in Scotland will become deafening and will create even further division among us if the ballot does not require a super majority to proceed. Our 'popular' press has much to answer for.
69
@LRS
10% of Britons is still a lot of people to say nothing about the people in other countries that are also using it and adding to the economy.
7
@LRS
As in everything it was built to make money which the article clearly cites it does. Yes the primary passengers are the top 10% but it also encourages increased tourism and a boost to business enterprises with an eye to greater efficiency.
3
Let’s use it, and the high speed network while we can!
On 10 December my husband and I will take a day trip to Cologne to see the Christmas markets. 2 and a bit hours to Brussels, then 110 minutes, from Brussels toCologne. Spend the afternoon there, then home.
On 7 January, London to Paris in 2h 20, Paris to Hendaye in 4h 41, Hendaye to San Sebastián in 30mins... 4 days there in the Basque Country then home ...

29
Have fun! Be safe!
5
Re the comments so far, in summation; for practical and economic reasons Brexit won't effectively make it substantially harder to travel in and out of the UK. Little will change because the UK needs access to the huge combined EU market and to preserve the trade block Brussels won't make concessions lest it invite a flood of requests from member states. The UK will comply in exchange for access about as much as ever, even it's currency won't change, but being outside the system it will have less of a say than before. All this for some vague notion of regaining its "sovereignty' or the fool idea that good buddy USA will treat them any better than Canada, Mexico or Japan - all major allies and trading partners. Nationalist do love their pyrrhic victories.
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BREXIT will have an impact on the movement of goods and services between the EU and Britain. There should be very little impact on travellers. Only those who are in Britain or the EU on a visa, should be affected. They would need another visa to travel across (or under) the Channel.
Anybody who can travel to both the EU and Britain without a visa, shouldn't notice any difference. That would include US citizens.
I have heard, that nowadays travel from Canada to the US is like going from West Germany to Communist East Germany used to be, before the Berlin Wall fell. I don't believe that either the EU or Britain have any plans to put up a new Iron Curtain.
But then, who knows. The United States did. Maybe the Brits will too.
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@TD wrote
"I have heard, that nowadays travel from Canada to the US is like going from West Germany to Communist East Germany used to be,"
Bunk !
I travel regularly between Vermont, and Canada, sometimes just for buttertarts, and cheese bread, in Quebec.
Never had any problems, and my car hasn't even had a random secondary inspection since 2018. 99% of the time, I just show my enhanced drivers license, which identifies me as a US citizen.
I have friends who travel down from Canada, and as long as they have a valid Canadian passport, no problem.
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@ skier 6
I travel the other way around, from Montréal to Vermont, 2-3 times a year to enjoy the beautiful Vermont scenery, and I can confirm that it is very easy to cross the border. As long as I show my passport and answer a few questions, I can enter the U.S.
Coming back to Canada is just as easy.
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@skier 6 We travel to Canada frequently, and it's a piece of cake, especially if we go via the Canaan/Hereford crossing. We've never had more than 1 car in front of us, and it takes no time. Coming back is almost as quick.
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St. Pancras station doesn't get many trains other than Eurostar, and seems to have plenty of room for more passport control folks but Gare du Nord in Paris is very crowded already. The alternatives are pretty bad so I'm sure they'll figure it out with only a moderate amount of torture for travelers, like we're used to.
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St.Pancras is very busy with many trains besides Eurostar to Scotland and all over central and northern England.
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@Roseberry. Just for the record, St. Pancras is one of the busiest railway stations in the U.K.!
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@William You guys must be combining St. Pancras with Kings Cross, which are next door to each other but I arrived on the Eurostar just last July and there were no other trains and the place was empty. Trains to Scotland leave from Kings Cross, I'm pretty sure, and it's always busy, I know and the underground connects them and is always busy too, but St. Pancras itself is very serene, like the first picture in the story. That's St Pancras for sure and I don't see a crowd.
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Another fearmongering article on how bad a no deal Brexit might be. However, the author does get it right that it is the EU (France in this article) that would be the baddies making such long passport inspections.
The truth is that when traveling around Europe on a non EU passport my personal observation is there hasn't been much difference between the length of time it takes to get through Immigration and Customs on a non EU passport vs a EU passport.
Even more importantly, regulations are always driven by people, and when there is a will and need, especially when it looks bad as well as bad financially, a way is created to get around the problem. I have no doubt that France would ever choke up 50,000 people per day using the Eurostar for any length of time. Talk about the public relations and financial nightmare that they would put upon themselves. It simply will not happen.
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@Cruise Cycle
I agree. I travel in and out of the UK often on my trips from Canada to different European destinations. I have an EU and a Canadian passport. It does not matter which one I use, it is still chaos when arriving at Heathrow or
Gatwick for transfer to other places. I've missed many planes over the years when really there was plenty of time.
I cannot see that Brexit will make matters worse. Maybe it will get better.
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@Petras Off topic, but the mess in Heathrow is largely gone. The automated gates have been opened to US, Canadian and many other passports. I waited 2.5 hours last year - in the Fast Lane! Now it's just a matter of a few minutes and 30 sec at the passport scanner.
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@Gareth Richards
Somehow I placed the comment in the wrong spot. I have avoided Heathrow for a while but that is good news.
Taking the Eurostar was one of the funnest experiences I had when visiting Europe. How thrilling to be able to cross the border in such an efficient and comfortable way. They even made an exception for me and reissued a hundred dollar ticket when I missed my initial departure (I played the naïve tourist card, which wasn’t entirely inaccurate).
Altogether a great train and one I hope will stick around for centuries to come, despite this foolish departure (pun intended)
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@CP
There are passport controls in these two countries. When people arrive on plane of ship into Iceland and Norway the passport people do not know beforehand what nationality people are. The same coming into my native Sweden. Wether we arrive from London or Frankfurt (from Canada)
my husband and I have to show our passports even though I carry an EU passport in addition to my Canadian one.
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@CP
That's my main thought. It's a great ride, especially while sipping champagne in first class before breakfast.
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Great opportunity to point out that London-->Paris is 305 miles (74 miles more than New York-->Boston, and 79 miles more than New York-->DC), and Eurostar does the trip in 2 hours, 16 min. Acela does NYC->Boston in 3 hours 45 minutes, and NYC->DC in 3 hours).
Great illustration of how far behind the US is in getting people from Point A to Point B quickly and efficiently. And we're one country!
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Don't forget that you need to be at the Eurostar terminal at least 60 minutes before departure as you must pass ticket control, airport security style checks, and double passport checks. But yes, the train's faster than any in North America.
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@Shamit Patel The Acela also makes a handful more stops than the Eurostar but your point is well made! Even the non-stop Acela service from NYC to DC is scheduled for 2 hours, 35 minutes.
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If you have the right ticket, or the “Carte Blanche” frequent traveller card, you can turn up at St Pancras with 15 minutes until departure and use the dedicated line. It’s really excellent.
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There are already passport checks on Eurostar.
Iceland and Norway aren’t in the EU and there are no passport checks between those countries and most other European states. Which is to say, EU member status doesn’t really matter for travel, Schengen treaty participation does.
Eurostar is fast, convenient and reasonably priced. It’s often the optimal way to travel between London and France/Belgium/Netherlands.
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