Richard you’re right to highlight the curse of UK Border Force requirements, which insist Eurostar travellers from places other than Paris and Brussels leave the train for security checks at Lille. Even in the days of train travel across the Iron Curtain when it existed, did you need to do that. The checks were rigorous and intimidating, but nobody had to get off the train.
Alexander thank you for your comment,which resonated with me of course, given where I now call “home”. To amplify your point, many Brits may be surprised to learn that the Schengen border-free area does allow nation states to instigate border controls under exceptional circumstances. Germany has been doing this on and off since 2022, but is determined to ensure trains are not delayed. So they co-operate with their Czech or Polish counterparts to conduct the controls on the moving train. On the Prague - Berlin route , police from either state board the train at the stop before the border, and get off again at Bad Schandau, the border station. Last year I saw the Czech police nabbing a Syrian immigrant, but only because he was sitting near me. There was no drama. No one else on the train had a clue.
When i relate this story to those who defend the Tunnel situation they point out that there is also the separate security check of baggage to be done. But that raises the question, does it really need to be done? Is the Channel Tunnel really a higher risk than other major tunnels and bridges in Europe, many of which cross borders? No one has ever convincingly argued that it is.
Richard you’re right to highlight the curse of UK Border Force requirements, which insist Eurostar travellers from places other than Paris and Brussels leave the train for security checks at Lille. Even in the days of train travel across the Iron Curtain when it existed, did you need to do that. The checks were rigorous and intimidating, but nobody had to get off the train.
Alexander thank you for your comment,which resonated with me of course, given where I now call “home”. To amplify your point, many Brits may be surprised to learn that the Schengen border-free area does allow nation states to instigate border controls under exceptional circumstances. Germany has been doing this on and off since 2022, but is determined to ensure trains are not delayed. So they co-operate with their Czech or Polish counterparts to conduct the controls on the moving train. On the Prague - Berlin route , police from either state board the train at the stop before the border, and get off again at Bad Schandau, the border station. Last year I saw the Czech police nabbing a Syrian immigrant, but only because he was sitting near me. There was no drama. No one else on the train had a clue.
When i relate this story to those who defend the Tunnel situation they point out that there is also the separate security check of baggage to be done. But that raises the question, does it really need to be done? Is the Channel Tunnel really a higher risk than other major tunnels and bridges in Europe, many of which cross borders? No one has ever convincingly argued that it is.