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An application that is meant to reduce the number of disruptions that British passengers who are going across the Channel suffer will not be ready in time for a new EU border arrangement, according to the CEO of Eurostar, who told the BBC of this information
In line with the Entry Exit System (EES), which has been severely delayed, those who are not citizens of the European Union will be forced to register their fingerprints and a photograph at the border beginning in the month of October.
We were under the impression that the software that was developed by the European Union would make it feasible for passengers to do this task off-site, so saving travelers in the United Kingdom from having to wait in significant lineups.
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During an interview with the BBC, Gwendoline Cazenave, the chief executive officer of Eurostar, said that the firm was making preparations for the inspections that would take place at stations since the app would not be accessible in time. Cazenave stated that the company was making these preparations.
EES will be utilized in place of stamping passports on a regular basis. The surveillance of persons who are entering and leaving the European Union is going to be increased as a result of this measure, which is the reason for its implementation.
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In spite of this, there have been a number of warnings that the extra time that consumers are need to spend in order to complete their first registration might potentially result in long lineups at the terminals of the Port of Dover, Eurostar, and Eurotunnel ticket agencies.
At these places, the French border police perform checks throughout the process of persons leaving the United Kingdom.
It was seen that Gwendoline Cazenave, who works for Eurostar, was present at the St. Pancras station in London with athletes from Team Great Britain.
As part of the preparations for the transfer to EES that will take place this autumn, Ms. Cazenave said that Eurostar has begun erecting more than 49 kiosks at St. Pancras. This shift is scheduled to take place in 2016.
“It is all about preparing the customer flow in the station, and to have as many staff members as possible, as much space for the customers to cross the border in a seamless manner,” she said to reporters. “It is all about having as many people as possible.”
He claimed that the application would make things simpler, and despite the fact that the European Union had declared that it would launch EES without it, “we are hopeful that they will deploy it soon.” Eurostar’s chief of operations stated that the application would make things easier.
It has been brought to the attention of the P&O director that the launch of the EU border system need to be delayed. The EU border system is responsible for ‘negative effects’ that endure over the long term.
As a consequence of the huge amount of autos, coaches, and trucks that are processed at the Port of Dover, it is projected that the port would have unique backlog challenges. This is due to the limited space that is available at the port.
In March, a director at P&O Ferries said that the implementation of the information technology system should be delayed for an additional period of time beyond the month of October and beyond.
It has been reported by Getlink, the proprietor of Eurotunnel, that extra processing facilities are now being built in Folkestone and Calais in order to handle the modifications.
It is necessary to restore the number of passengers
Eurostar saw a significant decrease in the number of passengers and revenue as a result of the pandemic; but, by the end of the previous year, the cross-Channel train service had recovered to the levels it had been at before to the COVID epidemic.
The organization believes that there will be as many as two million travelers during the Olympic and Paralympic Games that will be held in Paris in future summer.
Additionally, Eurostar has relations with the Belgian and Dutch teams, as well as the athletic squad from the United Kingdom. This is in addition to the German Olympic team.
During the month of November, when tickets for the trip between London and Paris were made available for purchase, Ms. Cazenave said that the number of sales was three times more than the average amount.
The fact that she recognized that the prices of Eurostar tickets were higher than the prices of airplane tickets did not change the fact that she said that the service was “not the same.” In her explanation, she said that travelers could use trains that transported them right into the center of the city, and that there were no extra expenses for things like making reservations for seats or bags.
Additionally, she said that there was a need for travel that was responsible to the environment.
