How long in advance to arrive for Eurostar

[jon81uk]

Last year at Brussels there was no queue for the ticket gates, but we waited 20-30 minutes for passport control so even though we were at the ticket gates 45 minutes before, it was close to departure time when we made it through passport control (in the end the train was late anyway). They might have added extra capacity since but there was only two desks open at the time and there didn't seem to be any rush to stamp passports.

 

[30907]

Last year at Brussels there was no queue for the ticket gates, but we waited 20-30 minutes for passport control so even though we were at the ticket gates 45 minutes before, it was close to departure time when we made it through passport control (in the end the train was late anyway). They might have added extra capacity since but there was only two desks open at the time and there didn't seem to be any rush to stamp passports.

I had a 61min delay for the same reason in July, having joined a long queue about 75min before departure. ES policy seems to be to hold trains until people have cleared security, and to board everyone who was in the queue at T-30min

 

[YorkshireBear]

Thanks folks!

 

[Trainbike46]

Now the timetables are out I am just looking at the train home from Cologne.
Eurostar website says arrive at Brussels 90-120 minutes before departure. The standard connection from trains is about 85 minutes. If the ICE or Thalys is late, are they likely to say that you were not scheduled to arrive at the recommended time so we won't accommodate you on the next service? Never had to worry about this before so just wanted to check how it worked considering the unreliability of German rail services now a days.

Just a 205 minute wait at Brussels is not appealing!

Eurostar differentiates between recommended time to arrive (which is stupidly 90-120 minutes at Brussels), and the minimum arrival time (which is 30 minutes at Brussels).

So if your ICE would arrive 85 minutes before your eurostar is scheduled to leave, you should be absolutely fine as it is way more that the minimum arrival time. If your ICE is delayed you should still be absolutely fine, and eurostar have historically allowed travel on the next train if you miss yours.

Just as an aside, I once was on a delayed train into Brussels, which opened the doors at its platform 10 minutes before the eurostar departure, and made it through security and onto the eurostar on time. The staff are really good at getting people through quickly if needed.

 

[kevn42000]

I am writing this on the 8.16 to Amsterdam from St Pancras. Made a bus journey to reach St. Pancras at 5.39 for the 6.16, but missed a connecting bus as the first leg of my journey arrived 8 minutes late at the stop where I was to change bus. Arrived at the St Pancras entrance to the ticket barriers at 5.48 - 28 minutes before departure (which turned out to be late anyway). The screen said the gate was closed. With hindsight, I should have tried pretending I was getting another train and tried the ticket at the scanner - as plenty of time and hardly anyone waiting. But I was turned away when I was honest about my destination - of course I might not have been let in by the machine reader itself, although business class was still allowed to board and I assume they are linked to the same system. Tried to persuade them to let me board at business entry but the guy manning that was seriously arsey - zero humanity. "Respect the ticket". Fortunately, although the staff at customer services were not going to over-rule him, they did at least find space for me - after a fair delay - on the 8.18 at no extra cost. I went through the ticket barrier over 2 hours before departure in spite of the train not being on the display board by that stage, to relax and kill time in the departure area. The strangest thing is that, even with this delay, I almost made the 6.16, as it was delayed by about 5 minutes. If the European passport control had been a bit quicker I would have. Anyhow, the moral of this tale is not to rely on buses, even when you catch them at 4.39am with zero traffic, and suffer the cost of a taxi. Because at St Pancras for sure, the staff enforce the 30 minute rule.

 

[Failed Unit]

I was shocked that last week, at both Paris and London I was in the departure lounge from arriving at the station within 10 minutes. Minimal queues anywhere (including the baggage scanning at Paris which always seems very slow)- Felt like a train again, but not sure if it was a one off.

 

[Taunton]

but the guy manning that was seriously arsey

This is the sort of thing that happens when you outsource a customer-facing function to the lowest bidder, which is inevitably the company who in turn have engaged minimum-wage staff who have no idea of customer handling. And indeed, some will enjoy doing this - particularly if it's someone in an expensive business suit who they are "just applying rules" to.

 

[nwales58]

Just a 205 minute wait at Brussels is not appealing!

I'm planning journeys to/from southern Germany and Switzerland at the moment.

Via Paris Est now looks much more appealing than it used to.

 

[YorkshireBear]

I'm planning journeys to/from southern Germany and Switzerland at the moment.

Via Paris Est now looks much more appealing than it used to.

I trusted the ICE, arrives bang on time today into Brussels straight onto Eurostar. Cologne to Leeds in what will end up being around 8 hours.

 

[mad_rich]

I'm very surprised they refused access at -28 minutes. That goes against every anecdotal report I've heard that they tend to be flexible.

It sounds more like BA's hard 35min deadline at Heathrow T5, after which thou shalt not pass security.

Maybe they're tightening up given possibility of delays at passport control.

 

[Watershed]

I am writing this on the 8.16 to Amsterdam from St Pancras. Made a bus journey to reach St. Pancras at 5.39 for the 6.16, but missed a connecting bus as the first leg of my journey arrived 8 minutes late at the stop where I was to change bus. Arrived at the St Pancras entrance to the ticket barriers at 5.48 - 28 minutes before departure (which turned out to be late anyway). The screen said the gate was closed. With hindsight, I should have tried pretending I was getting another train and tried the ticket at the scanner - as plenty of time and hardly anyone waiting. But I was turned away when I was honest about my destination - of course I might not have been let in by the machine reader itself, although business class was still allowed to board and I assume they are linked to the same system. Tried to persuade them to let me board at business entry but the guy manning that was seriously arsey - zero humanity. "Respect the ticket". Fortunately, although the staff at customer services were not going to over-rule him, they did at least find space for me - after a fair delay - on the 8.18 at no extra cost. I went through the ticket barrier over 2 hours before departure in spite of the train not being on the display board by that stage, to relax and kill time in the departure area. The strangest thing is that, even with this delay, I almost made the 6.16, as it was delayed by about 5 minutes. If the European passport control had been a bit quicker I would have. Anyhow, the moral of this tale is not to rely on buses, even when you catch them at 4.39am with zero traffic, and suffer the cost of a taxi. Because at St Pancras for sure, the staff enforce the 30 minute rule.

I'm afraid if you'd asked on this thread beforehand, you would likely have been advised that planning to arrive just 7 minutes before the 'boarding' cutoff time is a recipe for disaster for any mode of transport, let alone if you're subject to the vagaries of traffic and bus punctuality.

Eurostar is strict on the 30 minute cutoff for commercial reasons; it's imposed to encourage people to upgrade to Business Premier which "only" has a 15 minute cutoff. Even if you pretended you were on a later train, the barriers likely would have rejected you anyway.

Eurostar is of course very customer unfriendly in adopting this approach, but sadly with airlines being their only effective competition they have effectively morphed into an airline on rails, thus combining the worst of both aviation (e.g. security threatre and pointlessly early boarding deadlines) and railways (e.g. being stuck for hours if there's a problem on the line).

 

[nwales58]

Cologne to Leeds in what will end up being around 8 hours.

How it used to be. And still works if your fallback is hourly or better services back from London until late evening.
But if you have another 5+ hours back from London, eg to Cornwall, Scotland or Llanenwhiryrolyrmynydd, trains only 2 or 3 hourly, reliability matters. A delay in Germany causing arrival at St Pancras after 1700 can become very expensive.

Back on Eurostar check-in, it would be nice if they could handle as priority late check-in due to delayed connecting trains. Years ago when check-in was 20 minutes and the Brussels trains only half-full they used to be brilliant, but there was seldom any queue unlike nowadays.