Cloud Strife
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- 25 Feb 2014
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Slovenia (Središče ob Dravi) - Croatia (Čakovec) works like this.
The train stops at Središče ob Dravi, where Slovenian police enter the train to carry out exit checks. You can board/alight the train here, but the police won't start checking until everyone has got on/left. There's such few passengers that it's very easy to deal with - when I was there two years ago, the police even laughed at having some different documents to check for once.
The train then proceeds to Čakovec, where the Croatian police enter the train (as it stands on the platform) and checks are conducted before any passengers can leave. Again, in practice, you're free to go once you've been checked.
In reverse, the Croatian exit checks take place on the platform, while the Slovenian police carry out entry controls in the same way as the Croatians do.
I believe it works in an identical way on the trains to Lendava from Čakovec.
From Poland, most (but not all) international trains crossing the Schengen border have on-board checks. The exception is the local train between Terespol and Brest (Belarus), where checks are carried out in the international part of the respective train stations. The trains that go through to Grodno from Białystok have a mix - checks are carried out in the international section of Grodno station, while the Polish checks are conducted on-board.
Otherwise, trains such as those between Lviv and Przemyśl have on-board checks, with the former international station in Przemyśl no longer in use for some strange reason. I've never received a satisfactory answer to this, as it seems illogical that arriving/departing passengers could use the international station in comfort.
I believe that in this case, it's your obligation to inform the relevant customs office *in advance* that you intend to carry more than the limits across the border. They'll normally give you permission to travel, and you just have to inform them once you arrive about the arrival of the goods. Norway has quite a well established system for declarations, so for instance, you can use an app to pay for alcohol/cigarette duties. A friend tells me that it's quite common for them to tell people to simply travel and not to worry about paying taxes if it's a minimal amount - but you still need to make the pre-declaration if you're going by train.
Otherwise, if you enter Norway by road/sea/air, you need to declare the goods upon entry. The Norwegian/Swedish border is actually quite strongly controlled in terms of goods, and if you have something to declare, you can only cross the border at a handful of points.
No, it's not unique. The US has a preclearance facility in Vancouver, for instance. Before Slovakia joined Schengen, there were Slovak and Austrian controls in Bratislava-Petrzalka station. I believe Sopron also had joint Austrian and Hungarian controls.
There is really no reason why controls couldn't be carried out while the train is in motion, but the logistics of the Channel Tunnel with the 'slots' make it difficult. One option, of course, could be to deny access to the Eurostar to anyone that wasn't from the EU+a handful of trusted countries.
The train stops at Središče ob Dravi, where Slovenian police enter the train to carry out exit checks. You can board/alight the train here, but the police won't start checking until everyone has got on/left. There's such few passengers that it's very easy to deal with - when I was there two years ago, the police even laughed at having some different documents to check for once.
The train then proceeds to Čakovec, where the Croatian police enter the train (as it stands on the platform) and checks are conducted before any passengers can leave. Again, in practice, you're free to go once you've been checked.
In reverse, the Croatian exit checks take place on the platform, while the Slovenian police carry out entry controls in the same way as the Croatians do.
I believe it works in an identical way on the trains to Lendava from Čakovec.
From Poland, most (but not all) international trains crossing the Schengen border have on-board checks. The exception is the local train between Terespol and Brest (Belarus), where checks are carried out in the international part of the respective train stations. The trains that go through to Grodno from Białystok have a mix - checks are carried out in the international section of Grodno station, while the Polish checks are conducted on-board.
Otherwise, trains such as those between Lviv and Przemyśl have on-board checks, with the former international station in Przemyśl no longer in use for some strange reason. I've never received a satisfactory answer to this, as it seems illogical that arriving/departing passengers could use the international station in comfort.
My recent two trips by train across the Norway/Sweden border, at Riksgransen on the Narvik-Kiruna line, did not involve alighting from the train, any red or green channels, or any intervention by officials.
I believe that in this case, it's your obligation to inform the relevant customs office *in advance* that you intend to carry more than the limits across the border. They'll normally give you permission to travel, and you just have to inform them once you arrive about the arrival of the goods. Norway has quite a well established system for declarations, so for instance, you can use an app to pay for alcohol/cigarette duties. A friend tells me that it's quite common for them to tell people to simply travel and not to worry about paying taxes if it's a minimal amount - but you still need to make the pre-declaration if you're going by train.
Otherwise, if you enter Norway by road/sea/air, you need to declare the goods upon entry. The Norwegian/Swedish border is actually quite strongly controlled in terms of goods, and if you have something to declare, you can only cross the border at a handful of points.
Our system for Eurostar is already fairly advanced, and possibly unique.
No, it's not unique. The US has a preclearance facility in Vancouver, for instance. Before Slovakia joined Schengen, there were Slovak and Austrian controls in Bratislava-Petrzalka station. I believe Sopron also had joint Austrian and Hungarian controls.
There is really no reason why controls couldn't be carried out while the train is in motion, but the logistics of the Channel Tunnel with the 'slots' make it difficult. One option, of course, could be to deny access to the Eurostar to anyone that wasn't from the EU+a handful of trusted countries.