Airport Security - Eurostar Security

[Dave Gittins]

Went by Eurostar to Paris last Saturday from Waterloo and thus through their quasi airline check-in. They even have exactly the same Heimann baggage X-ray scanning equipment and Archway Metal Detector found at airports.

This put the fear up me a little as I had my usual Swiss army knife and nail clippers (with small penknife blade) in my pocket.

With a brave face I put my phone, wallet, car keys, pens etc. into the little plastic tray to go through the scanner and also had to take off my coat to put that through. (no sport at 7.15 on a frosty morning !!)

We had the usual palaver with the archway metal detector as my belt buckle set it off and I made 2 or three trips through it and got patted down until I was metal free.

Went to collect my bits from the back end of the scanner and nonchalantly collected the usual stuff and the Swiss army knife and so on without the security staff batting an eyelid.

I was expecting to get them taken from me and to try and negotiate leaving them to collect on my return, that evening, or summat.

Nobody questioned those things which any self respecting airport would have (understandably) had off me in an instant.

So what was that about then ??? Were they only looking for Kalashnikovs, chainsaws and semtex ?? :confused:

[Jordan D]

The reason they don't collect the sharp objects is because you don't have access to the driving car. The car is accessible externally only, and further more, its not possible to do much with the Eurostars, as the driving systems automatically shut down when red lights are overridden on the new lines/French/Beligium lines.

Jordan

[BahrainLad]

I venture that they're looking for

Definitely - Explosives. They're the only way in which you could pose a security risk to the tunnel. People carry knives and other weaponry on trains all the time (ever been to Croydon?). Attempting to hijack a Eurostar would be futile; the only terrorism possible would be a bomb in the tunnel.

Perhaps - Drugs? Assisting customs at the other end? (Altho' the Belgian customs are fairly non-existent at Gare de Midi!)

[GwynM]

Maybe because it's difficult to fly Eurostar into the top of Canary Wharf?

All to do with the balance of risks:rolleyes:

[Dave Gittins]

It all seems a bit false though - perhaps to give that "airline like" appearance that they sesm to crave.

Whilst appreciating that I couldn't get at the drivers, and anyway knowing that the signalling system would control the train if I did, the places they were looking - like in a mobile phone, wouldn't be able to carry enough dynamite to blow me cap off.

Contrast that with taking a car on "Le Shuttle" from Folkestone to Calais, where there is next to no security - other than HM Customs or Les Douaniers giving you a stoney look as you drive slowly past them.

:confused:

[419]

On a slightly different subject, why, when passengers pass through airport security, any small sharp objects are taken from my luggage, but you are allowed on board carrying a 1 Litre bottle of spirits. Apart from the possibility of a molotov cocktail, surely a broken bottle is far more dangerous than a pair of nail scissors 2 inches long.

419

[PAXboy]

419 - you are correct. This (and similar) points have been made countless times in this forum over the past years.

My weapon of choice (which I would deploy against a miscreant, rather than a member of the crew) is a lap top computer weighing 2Kg.