St Pancras timings for Eurostar

[zero]

I am taking the 0559 to Paris next week.

When we were in the EU I would happily leave home at 0415 and take the a night bus to arrive St Pancras at 0520 for a train at 0559.

During peak travel seasons I might not have reached the ticket gates until (the equivalent of) 0550, but we always made it. I wouldn't even be stressed as I saw everyone around me was also on my train.

With reports of longer queues and delays at airports I was wondering whether the same is also the case with Eurostar, and if I should be a bit more cautious and get the earlier bus at 0345, also because it may take a bit longer to go through passport control?

Or is 35 minutes likely to still be fine and if I went too early I'd end up sitting around in the crowded lounge area for half an hour doing nothing? My train seat map looks to be 75% full.

 

[zwk500]

35 minutes is pushing it a bit, although for the 0559 you may be fine. Last few times I've used Eurostar from London I've got there about 1hr before departure and got through in good but not excessive time, although they are pretty good about pulling people to the front of the queues for upcoming departures.

 

[hexagon789]

I am taking the 0559 to Paris next week.

When we were in the EU I would happily leave home at 0415 and take the a night bus to arrive St Pancras at 0520 for a train at 0559.

During peak travel seasons I might not have reached the ticket gates until (the equivalent of) 0550, but we always made it. I wouldn't even be stressed as I saw everyone around me was also on my train.

With reports of longer queues and delays at airports I was wondering whether the same is also the case with Eurostar, and if I should be a bit more cautious and get the earlier bus at 0345, also because it may take a bit longer to go through passport control?

Or is 35 minutes likely to still be fine and if I went too early I'd end up sitting around in the crowded lounge area for half an hour doing nothing? My train seat map looks to be 75% full.

Eurostars official policy used to be 30/10 mins Std & Std Prem vs Business Prem.

The current official policy is 120/45 mins.

Check-in however is open until 30/15 mins before.

I've read a few recent reports of people turning up at the official times, only to be sat on the train for 30 mins after it was due to leave before it actually left!

I think it's luck of the draw as to what it's like on the day.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

Eurostars official policy used to be 30/10 mins Std & Std Prem vs Business Prem.

The current official policy is 120/45 mins.

Thus losing one (if not the biggest) of it's key advantages above flying - no need to turn up hours before.

It's a shame Brexit has caused this; with the far higher fares than easyJet, Ryanair and sometimes even the flag carriers - and longer journey times - Eurostar desperately needs to look at ways to make themselves desirable to current flyers.

They may attract rail enthusiasts and those with a fear of flying or climate change, but those groups are a small minority.

 

[hexagon789]

Thus losing one (if not the biggest) of it's key advantages above flying - no need to turn up hours before.

It's a shame Brexit has caused this; with the far higher fares than easyJet, Ryanair and sometimes even the flag carriers - and longer journey times - Eurostar desperately needs to look at ways to make themselves desirable to current flyers.

They may attract rail enthusiasts and those with a fear of flying or climate change, but those groups are a small minority.

As far as I'm aware the new limits have only applied since COVID due to the preclearance nature of the passport controls and requirements for COVID vaccination/tests for entry to France/Belgium.

And they are only current, Eurostar are due to cut them when the restrictions are ended.

 

[alex397]

I can’t give my own experience of using Eurostar in recent times, but I visited London during the recent school half term, and the queue was all the way back to the area underneath the Southeastern platforms, by the destination boards and Starbucks. I’ve never seen a queue for Eurostar that far back before, but the fact it was half term might have had an impact.

If Eurostar could operate as an ordinary international railway like on the continent we wouldn't get as many queues and problems, but alas..

 

[Mawkie]

I travelled on the 0816 Lon - Ams a couple of Mondays ago and was through in 15 mins (that's from when I joined the queue, though the barriers, luggage search, covid check, and 2 lots of passport control.)

 

[AlbertBeale]

Eurostars official policy used to be 30/10 mins Std & Std Prem vs Business Prem.

The current official policy is 120/45 mins.

Check-in however is open until 30/15 mins before.

I've read a few recent reports of people turning up at the official times, only to be sat on the train for 30 mins after it was due to leave before it actually left!

I think it's luck of the draw as to what it's like on the day.

Last week I arrived about 1 hour before the train was due to leave. Eurostar staff were - rather rudely in fact, though for our own good! - segregating people joining the queue to get to the turnstiles, so that those for an earlier departure went through the turnstiles first. This was quick, as usual, though with the common slow trudge through the bag check/scan immediately afterwards causing a bit of a bottleneck leaving the turnstiles.

Passport scanning by both UK and French officials was - as always, before and after BREXIT - reasonably quick and not really as slow as it felt. All in all, plenty of time for the usual hanging around in the waiting area until the departure was ready for boarding. Personally, I wouldn't risk being at all late for the 30-minute deadline at the ticket turnstile (I've heard of people being turned away) - which means enough leeway for travel delays and for queues at St P [which, according to a post above, can be horrendous at, eg, school half-term holidays]. If things are busy, and/or there's congestion because of a late departure, and so on, that half hour can be needed, so it's fair enough for Eurostar to insist on that.

Thus losing one (if not the biggest) of it's key advantages above flying - no need to turn up hours before.

It's a shame Brexit has caused this; with the far higher fares than easyJet, Ryanair and sometimes even the flag carriers - and longer journey times - Eurostar desperately needs to look at ways to make themselves desirable to current flyers.

They may attract rail enthusiasts and those with a fear of flying or climate change, but those groups are a small minority.

That suggests there aren't many people with a fear of climate change. I think there are - but the point is that few of them are prepared to act rationally as a result of that fear, such as by stopping flying. (See last weekend's New Scientist for more on the disconnect between the science and the action...)

As far as I'm aware the new limits have only applied since COVID due to the preclearance nature of the passport controls and requirements for COVID vaccination/tests for entry to France/Belgium.

And they are only current, Eurostar are due to cut them when the restrictions are ended.

Surely checks on COVID vaccination status, etc, are no longer required for travel between the countries involved in Eurostar journeys? (I never needed to show anyone my vaccination certificate at any stage for any purpose when travelling via France, Belgium, Germany, Netherlands in the last week [though masks were still wanted for public transport in Germany].) So presumably all Eurostar references to check-in times beyond what used to be normal will disappear now?

 

[hexagon789]

Surely checks on COVID vaccination status, etc, are no longer required for travel between the countries involved in Eurostar journeys? (I never needed to show anyone my vaccination certificate at any stage for any purpose when travelling via France, Belgium, Germany, Netherlands in the last week [though masks were still wanted for public transport in Germany].) So presumably all Eurostar references to check-in times beyond what used to be normal will disappear now?

Well, that's what I was getting at - the inflated times were for when such a process was required. Now there have been the various relaxations, Eurostar could presumably cut the times, but they have yet to do so and when asked why they trotted out that catch-all excuse:
"Due to COVID protocols". You feel that you should ask them to define what they actually mean by that, but given that was their excuse I doubt you'd get either a satisfactory or sensible answer.

 

[zwk500]

Well, that's what I was getting at - the inflated times were for when such a process was required. Now there have been the various relaxations, Eurostar could presumably cut the times, but they have yet to do so and when asked why they trotted out that catch-all excuse:
"Due to COVID protocols". You feel that you should ask them to define what they actually mean by that, but given that was their excuse I doubt you'd get either a satisfactory or sensible answer.

Belgium only reduced their restrictions in late May, and Eurostar staff will be mindful that restrictions could be re-imposed at any time. Having said that, when I used the train to both France and Belgium in the spring they still had warnings about the UK passenger forms which had been dropped a while before I travelled. I don't envy the job of somebody working from home in the UK attempting to keep track of 4 countries COVID requirements alongside the Customs and Immigration issues they deal with every day.

 

[paul1609]

Last week I arrived about 1 hour before the train was due to leave. Eurostar staff were - rather rudely in fact, though for our own good! - segregating people joining the queue to get to the turnstiles, so that those for an earlier departure went through the turnstiles first. This was quick, as usual, though with the common slow trudge through the bag check/scan immediately afterwards causing a bit of a bottleneck leaving the turnstiles.

Passport scanning by both UK and French officials was - as always, before and after BREXIT - reasonably quick and not really as slow as it felt. All in all, plenty of time for the usual hanging around in the waiting area until the departure was ready for boarding. Personally, I wouldn't risk being at all late for the 30-minute deadline at the ticket turnstile (I've heard of people being turned away) - which means enough leeway for travel delays and for queues at St P [which, according to a post above, can be horrendous at, eg, school half-term holidays]. If things are busy, and/or there's congestion because of a late departure, and so on, that half hour can be needed, so it's fair enough for Eurostar to insist on that.



That suggests there aren't many people with a fear of climate change. I think there are - but the point is that few of them are prepared to act rationally as a result of that fear, such as by stopping flying. (See last weekend's New Scientist for more on the disconnect between the science and the action...)



Surely checks on COVID vaccination status, etc, are no longer required for travel between the countries involved in Eurostar journeys? (I never needed to show anyone my vaccination certificate at any stage for any purpose when travelling via France, Belgium, Germany, Netherlands in the last week [though masks were still wanted for public transport in Germany].) So presumably all Eurostar references to check-in times beyond what used to be normal will disappear now?

In theory the checks are still in force for entry to France from the UK so Eurostar and Euro tunnel still have to allow time for them to be carried out. in Practice they are not.

 

[Jim the Jim]

Last I was there (a couple of weeks ago) they said to arrive 90-120 mins in advance as normal but then wouldn't even let us join the queue till 75 mins before departure. I got through quite quickly but then they held the train an hour because people were still coming through. (I think they had additional problems on earlier trains with a change of set meaning they had to reissue seat reservations, and a train coming in late, which contributed to the problems further.)

 

[jmh59]

Our first time on Eurostar a couple of weeks ago - at St Pancras the queue filled the zig-zag bit by the ticket gates, went the full length of the arcade (?) round the corner and into a mass of people nearly out the door. We were not allowed to join the queue (we had been as there were no signs at all) and told the queue was for the earlier Brussels train. Fair enough but tell people more clearly or at least more frequently.

Gare du Nord on return was bad too but not nearly as bad as London - escalator bust, no clue as to where to queue. By the time we got through the queue to the lounge it was time to board.

 

[bspahh]

Eurostars official policy used to be 30/10 mins Std & Std Prem vs Business Prem.

The current official policy is 120/45 mins.

Check-in however is open until 30/15 mins before.

I've read a few recent reports of people turning up at the official times, only to be sat on the train for 30 mins after it was due to leave before it actually left!

I think it's luck of the draw as to what it's like on the day.

https://www.eurostar.com/uk-en/travel-info/your-trip/check-in has these check in times for Eurostar at St Pancras:

	Standard & Standard Premier members	Premier Business	Carte Blanche	Classique & Avantage members	Special Assist
How long before departure should I arrive? (mins)	90	45-60	45-60	90	60-75
How long before departure does the gate close? (mins)	30	15	30	30	30

 

[FOH]

The queue on Monday afternoon for check-in went all the way through the station and all the way outside back down the station along the cab drop-off road

 

[riceuten]

One of the points of using Eurostar was how unlike it was with airlines - that you could arrive 30-45 minutes prior to departure. It's become the same as flying now. The bottleneck at STPI is the luggage search, though occasionally immigration now as well (particularly now you need to be stamped into France). I've always found Midi in Brussels the least organised of all the stations, though luggage checks at St Pancras seem to be done at a crawling pace and using mainly untrained ZHC contractor staff (I had one tell me that my shortwave radio "wasn't allowed" on the train).

 

[zwk500]

One of the points of using Eurostar was how unlike it was with airlines - that you could arrive 30-45 minutes prior to departure. It's become the same as flying now. The bottleneck at STPI is the luggage search, though occasionally immigration now as well (particularly now you need to be stamped into France). I've always found Midi in Brussels the least organised of all the stations, though luggage checks at St Pancras seem to be done at a crawling pace and using mainly untrained ZHC contractor staff (I had one tell me that my shortwave radio "wasn't allowed" on the train).

It's still overall a nicer experience than airport flying, and has the massive advantage that everything is concentrated at the departure end, so you can plan for connections at the arrival end with a reasonable degree of confidence.
As COVID recedes and Passport procedures get improved, expect that recommended arrival time to drop a bit towards 30-60 minutes.

 

[FOH]

Sorry I don't see that. I see something that is overwhelmed and can no longer provide a consistent travelling process. If I'm traveling for business reasons I'm no longer going to tolerate hour long queues and sitting on the floor of the departure hall waiting for my delayed service to board (and no my employer won't allow Business Premier).

 

[hexagon789]

I don't perceive that the airlines providing a better service over the same routes at the moment. At the very least Eurostar aren't cancelling things in the same way BA and EasyJet are.

We'll see what the comparison is like in a few months if either mode has settled down to a more normal approach on timings as well as reliability. If Eurostar are still playing the same tune in September but the airlines have stopped cancelling things all over the place and people aren't queuing for hours to get through security, and in many cases missing flights, then I'll happily say Eurostar are doing badly.

 

[Mawkie]

... and sitting on the floor of the departure hall waiting for my delayed service to board (and no my employer won't allow Business Premier).

I must say the departure hall at Eurostar is woeful! If you have a Paris and an Amsterdam (as I did the last time I travelled), there are nowhere near enough seats for even 1 train load let alone 2, so people were just sitting around on the floor. I perched on the almost floor level silver safety barriers around the outside of the lift, but is that the "Standard Premier" experience they want to give?

I don't recall from the last times I travelled, but is the lack of seating a 'covid' thing, or has it always been like that?

 

[FOH]

I must say the departure hall at Eurostar is woeful! If you have a Paris and an Amsterdam (as I did the last time I travelled), there are nowhere near enough seats for even 1 train load let alone 2, so people were just sitting around on the floor. I perched on the almost floor level silver safety barriers around the outside of the lift, but is that the "Standard Premier" experience they want to give?

I don't recall from the last times I travelled, but is the lack of seating a 'covid' thing, or has it always been like that?

It's always been like that but because of the dreadful queues/check-in times people are arriving earlier hence busier for longer

 

[Ian99]

At Paris, it always seems to be like that. It was one of the reasons that recently I chose to take the Eurostar from Lille to London rather than from Paris .

 

[AlbertBeale]

Our first time on Eurostar a couple of weeks ago - at St Pancras the queue filled the zig-zag bit by the ticket gates, went the full length of the arcade (?) round the corner and into a mass of people nearly out the door. We were not allowed to join the queue (we had been as there were no signs at all) and told the queue was for the earlier Brussels train. Fair enough but tell people more clearly or at least more frequently.

Gare du Nord on return was bad too but not nearly as bad as London - escalator bust, no clue as to where to queue. By the time we got through the queue to the lounge it was time to board.

Reading this, I'm glad that the queues were not so bad when I went from St P last week (as per my post above); returning from Bruxelles Midi was really no problem - though they've taken over part of the space for duty free now, post Brexit (though I saw no-one buying anything!) - presumably because of lower numbers than in St P.

It does seem that a main part of the blockage is the slow baggage checks at St P; at the Brussels end on the way back, someone was picking up bags and loading them as quickly as people arrived - it seemed far more slick than the London end. In St P the slow access into the baggage check area was stopping people from going through the entry gates as fast as they would otherwise have been able to. I'd have thought that if Eurostar specifically asked people to join the queue for the ticket gates no longer than about an hour before departure - maybe saying "45-60 mins" - then the queue would be manageable, with at most two different overlapping trainloads to deal with at once (and clearly-labelled different queues); and everyone would be through the gates by their 30-min deadline; at least they would if this was combined with much faster baggage checking to get things running smoothly. Asking people to arrive too far ahead just overloads the entry area, and leads to too many people for the waiting area to deal with comfortably. More is less, I'd say.

 

[Gerald Fiennes]

At the end of the day, the STP departure lounge is just too small to cope with the numbers. This was worsened by the C374 trains, which carry more pax per departure. I suppose it might just work if the checkin period was just45-30 mins pre departure as it sort of was back in the olden days but now, where there two deparatures in close proximity (due to the requirement for flighting of ES across Northern France and through Lille?) and people are arriving up to 90mins in advance it is poor to very poor. Cramped, no seats, queues forming up on rumours of departure platforms being announced and all this for what are typically $$$ fares if you don't book considerably in advance. Planes are not always great either, but they are normally better at coping with the volume. Perhaps some of the shopping area will need to be reclaimed? Or the luxury of a full sized arrival hall dropped, so that part of that area could be used for departures? Another might be to permit train boarding earlier (30mins?), which given the turnrounds are quite generous might work if the operators can be persauded to contemplate it.... . STP is getting as bad as the Gare du Nord departure area (this is not something one wishes to emulate), but even that is due to be extended (for the 2nd time since 1994) on a new raft over the low number platforms that SNCF are planning, I think.

 

[30907]

where there two deparatures in close proximity (due to the requirement for flighting of ES across Northern France and through Lille?) and people are arriving up to 90mins in advance it is poor to very poor.

The problem is the tunnel, which offers two paired paths every 30min. The current slightly reduced service fortunately mostly doesn't use both paths, but it certainly has been an issue.

 

[edwin_m]

The problem is the tunnel, which offers two paired paths every 30min. The current slightly reduced service fortunately mostly doesn't use both paths, but it certainly has been an issue.

Isn't the UK section also a problem, where the slower 395s have to be pathed between flighted Eurostars?

 

[zero]

Well I decided to take the earlier night bus and the oyster reader wasn't working. Then not wanting to pay the same price I should have for a 10 minute ride on a connecting bus, I walked the rest of the way to St Pancras arriving at 0510.

There would have been no queue at the ticket gates except that people wouldn't move down. Most queued up at the first security line and I overtook them all at the far end.

Vaccination records were checked by Eurostar staff, one manually and then another person scanning QR codes further along. After the first check, 4 unvaccinated passengers were informed that they were not allowed to travel unvaccinated and asked to leave the secure area; they went quietly (I don't understand how you can manage to book a ticket and not know this - or know the circumstances when you are allowed to travel and protest your removal in order to state your case to the French border police).

This was followed by another Eurostar staff member scanning passports to leave the UK (well in my case it was the same person, because they switched roles every 5 minutes) and then French immigration did not say a word and just stamped everyone, only asking a few questions to those people who required a Schengen visa in their passports.

Got through at 0525 and the queue for Pret extended to the immigration booths. Boarding started at 0540 and the queue for Pret was still that long.

 

[duesselmartin]

just went from Brussels to London on EST last week. Processing was swift and nobody checked the vaccination status.

 

[edwin_m]

Arrived about 1600 yesterday afternoon for the 1801 to Paris - straight through the checks and the departure lounge was nearly empty. But there was no train around 1700 and an Amsterdam just after the Paris so it was full and standing before departure time. There are quite big gaps between some of the rows of seats so some extra ones could be added without needing to enlarge the space.

 

[Matt_pool]

I went on the 17.56 from Brussels to London on 14/06/22. I arrived 60 minutes early as advised and the queue was snaking around the concourse at Midi and eventually went out the entrance onto the the street. It was roasting hot in there and very unorganised. To cut a long story short we left 70 minutes late. The excuse that Eurostar gave for the long queues and delay in departure was was that the train was fully booked!