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Eurostar owner addresses Brexit impact

by editor

The head of France’s SNCF railways has addressed fears that Brexit might majorly disrupt Eurostar links to Britain.

The “fundamentals to run Eurostar are there even if there is no deal,” Guillaume Pepy told reporters in Paris. SNCF has a 55% stake in Eurostar.

We are working towards a solution so that whatever the scenario, Eurostar passengers can travel, he added. We are perfectly aware that the devil will be in the details, so we are working on the details, he said.

Despite his optimism, there are still problems which need solutions, said the boss of the SNCF. These will have to be settled in the coming weeks, he added. 

These include problems with legal certificates for sections of the route, he noted, as well as addressing how to carry out identity checks and customs controls before people board the train. That also leads to the question of delays, said Pepy, as “if we have delays at the border crossing, do we delay the train by a few minutes or do we send people on the next train?”

According to a confidential report from the British government revealed Thursday by the Financial Times, a backlog of as many as 15,000 people could be formed at the Saint Pancras terminal, which in turn could affect timetables.

 


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