Check-in times for Eurostar

[Drsatan]

Myself and a group of friends will be travelling from St Pancras to Brussels on Saturday 10 September on the 1506 train. Myself and one other friend will be returning on Sunday 25 September on the 1256 Eurostar from Brussels to London. We will be travelling on the 0942 service from Cologne on the same day which will arrive at Brussels at 1135.

Will we have enough time to go through passport control if we arrive at St Pancras at 1330-1400? I've read that you should arrive at St Pancras with at least 90 minutes to spare, although my ticket suggests 45 minutes is sufficient.

At Brussels, will we have enough time to go through security assuming the train from Cologne isn't running late? My ticket suggests allowing at least 90 minutes.

 

[railfan99]

My wife and I will also soon be using Eurostar from St Pancras.

She may need to have a Eurailpass validated at the station (traditional 'paper pass' not a mobile-linked one).

Will the Eurostar booking office staff have experience in doing this? Do there tend to be long queues or have the vast majority of passengers already received their ticket(s) via smartphones or by printing out at home and hence very few need to visit the BO?

 

[Tester]

My wife and I will also soon be using Eurostar from St Pancras.

She may need to have a Eurailpass validated at the station (traditional 'paper pass' not a mobile-linked one).

Will the Eurostar booking office staff have experience in doing this? Do there tend to be long queues or have the vast majority of passengers already received their ticket(s) via smartphones or by printing out at home and hence very few need to visit the BO?

Keep in mind that Eurailpasses can be validated at any National Rail booking office, and in advance (subject of course to dates not then being changeable).

 

[TFN]

I travel regularly on Eurostar and allow myself 60-75 mins at St Pancras and 45-60 mins at Brussels. You should be ok provided you have your tickets ready.

 

[scarby]

I travelled on Eurostar from Brussels to London on Thursday and for my train they didn’t even open the electronic ticket gates until just over an hour before departure. So I can’t see much point in being at the entrance before that, especially as it is just a hall with no facilities.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 30 Jul 2022 ==

My wife and I will also soon be using Eurostar from St Pancras.

She may need to have a Eurailpass validated at the station (traditional 'paper pass' not a mobile-linked one).

Will the Eurostar booking office staff have experience in doing this? Do there tend to be long queues or have the vast majority of passengers already received their ticket(s) via smartphones or by printing out at home and hence very few need to visit the BO?

When I travelled this time with Interrail from Brussels they didn’t even bother to check I had a pass - the paper Eurostar ticket just let me through the barriers. Obviously I can’t promise that will be the same at London.

 

[rvdborgt]

When I travelled this time with Interrail from Brussels they didn’t even bother to check I had a pass - the paper Eurostar ticket just let me through the barriers. Obviously I can’t promise that will be the same at London.

I have read multiple similar comments on various fora...

 

[railfan99]

I have read multiple similar comments on various fora...

Thanks, but I can't afford the risk, so I'll have to ensure her pass is validated. Plus there's on train checking by French conductors I assume.

 

[AlbertBeale]

Thanks, but I can't afford the risk, so I'll have to ensure her pass is validated. Plus there's on train checking by French conductors I assume.

If you mean on-train checking on the Eurostar, I doubt it! I've never had a Eurostar ticket looked at after I've gone through the check-in at the departure station since the early days of the service when the passport checks happened on board - I guess they looked at tickets at the same time then. (At one stage there were sometimes people to meet and greet you on the platform when you boarded - they would look at the tickets to help you get in the right carriage; but that's also something that hasn't happened to me in years.)

I agree that being at StP an hour ahead of departure seems OK currently; and if a Cologne train scheduled to arrive in Brussels 100 minutes ahead of the Eurostar was seriously late, causing problems with catching the Eurostar, you'd surely be entitled to be put on the next available train instead, even if they're separate tickets. The conductor on the Cologne train would endorse your ticket, and Eurostar would normally cope with that.