New contactless check-in for travellers makes boarding at Eurostar’s St Pancras train station quicker

Wednesday, July 19, 2023

Thanks to new contactless border checks, boarding at Eurostar’s busy London hub will be quicker and easier. The ‘SmartCheck’ system rolled out yesterday, uses facial biometric data to replace the manual UK exit checks.

This is the first time a train company has adopted biometric face verification.Presently, it is just available to Eurostar’s Business Premier and Carte Blanche passengers.

“SmartCheck in St Pancras International station is a solution for a faster and seamless check-in experience,” says Eurostar Group’s CEO, Gwendoline Cazenave.

The passengers can opt in to the service before travelling. For this, they must scan their passport and face alongside their tickets on the SmartCheck iProov.me app – the biometric solution provider behind the system.On reaching the station, they will then be able to use the dedicated SmartCheck corridor with its walk-past facial biometric checkpoint.

This contactless, ticketless process replaces the existing check-in at gates and the manual UK border exit check.

Passengers will still need to complete baggage inspection and the manual passport check through French border control.

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