Paris attacks – Security gates on Thalys train platforms in Paris and Lille operational from December 20th

Paris attacks – Security gates on Thalys train platforms in Paris and Lille operational from December 20th

Security gates installed on Thalys train platforms in Paris’ Gare du Nord and in Lille’s train station at the request of the French government will be operational from December 20th, reveals Thalys. Each unit is made of a gate to check passengers as well as an X-ray scan to check luggage. To ease traffic flow, seven units will be spread out over two platforms used by Thalys trains in Gare du Nord. One unit is in place on the concourse of Lille’s Europe station. Sniffer dogs trained to detect prohibited items will also be used. 

A special queue will be reserved for priority passengers, such as people with reduced mobility, elderly passengers and pregnant women. 

“The whole system was designed to enable us to control all passengers in the time it usually takes to board, twenty minutes. Platforms will be announced twenty minutes before departure, and access to platforms will be closed two minutes before departure, which is the current norm,” says the company. “With this in mind, Thalys is advising all passengers including those with luggage, to arrive approximately twenty minutes before departure.” 

Setting up security gates was a measure taken following the November 13th Paris attacks and the failed attack on a Thalys train between Amsterdam and Paris at the end of August this year. 

(Source: Belga)


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