Paris Gare du Nord's new facelift should speed Eurostar passengers through the station, says Felicity Cousins.
Business travellers with regular meetings in Paris will have spent a lot of time in the queue at Gare du Nord, thinking of a better design for the Eurostar check-in, border control and security area.
For years Business Premier passengers would climb up the stairs to the fast-track line on the mezzanine level but, having swiped their ticket, would then be squeezed into a torrent of passengers being forced into a small space to queue for French and British border control.
After that, travellers then had to contend with two meandering security lines. At times it was crowded, hot and disorganised and although, as a regular commuter between Paris and London, I never missed a train, there were several occasions at peak times (7.13am and 7.43am) where checking in half an hour before boarding was put to the test.
Hopefully this scenario is now a distant memory, because over the summer a new improved mezzanine level was unveiled. The works were timed to be completed for the London Olympics but this wasn’t the sole reason for the changes. The Games, after all, were on for just a few weeks, whereas passenger numbers on Eurostar have been increasing steadily year on year.
Numbers were up 4 per cent to 2.24 million in the first quarter of this year, from 2.15 million a year ago, although this figure has been driven by leisure traffic. Passenger numbers for business travel on Eurostar remained “flat” last year and it’s likely that, just as in the airline industry, business travellers have downgraded to the cheaper fare categories since the economic downturn.
Baptiste Oberlin, terminal manager at Eurostar Gare du Nord, explains why the refurbishment took place: “We wanted to manage the flow of passengers, as there used to be a bottleneck. The refurbishment should help, not necessarily with speed as you can’t speed up security, but it will give people more space.”
Eurostar has been operating from Gare du Nord for 18 years and rents the ticket shop on the mezzanine level, the check-in and departure area, and its office space from the station owners, Gares et Connexions, part of SNCF. It was Gares et Connexions that financed the refurbishment, working closely with Eurostar on the design.
Reuben Arnold, head of commercial development at Eurostar, says: “Eurostar has been at the centre of the design of this project because we have the experience of cross-channel rail customers, who have been instrumental in giving customer feedback. The constraints have been quite a challenge as it is a protected building – the equivalent of English Heritage in France.”
Because of building restrictions, the physical changes are not huge. Instead, Eurostar has worked with the original space, tweaking and moving parts of check-in and security to improve passenger flow. Previously, there were three different staircases leading up to check-in but now the mezzanine is accessed from escalators at the far end (as well as lifts), so once upstairs passengers walk straight into a queue, rather than backwards and forwards down the line.
The Eurostar ticket shop and self-service ticket machines have also been moved closer to the entrance to the mezzanine level to give more space further forward. There is still a dedicated fast-track line for Business Premier passengers and Carte Blanche-holders for check-in, but no such favouritism is allowed at border control, and all passengers must join the same queues regardless of what type of ticket they are clutching.
Still, the space after check-in has been widened so there isn’t the same crush as before, and the border control booths have increased in number, although these posts are not always running at full capacity, much to the frustration of some passengers.
Arnold says: “We work closely with the UK Border Agency to help them man the booths according to the demand of the passenger flow. It does work – especially now, as previously even if we had the staff there weren’t as many booths.”
After passport control, passengers are now directed towards the X-ray machines, rather than sideways and around the corner. There are two new X-ray machines with lower luggage belts so passengers don’t have to lift heavy bags up too high.
Arnold says: “We have done a lot of in-depth modelling to optimise the layout. It’s not all about speed – it is about the whole customer experience and how much space passengers have around them.”
Once through security, the seating area has been increased from 100 to 150 spaces. The business lounge has not changed drastically, though the décor has been refreshed. Oberlin says: “We asked business passengers and they were happy with the lounge, but we did introduce a new wifi access system at the beginning of the year.” Wifi codes are now placed on tables throughout the lounge so passengers can log on straight away.
Arnold explains: “It’s a refresh, not a redesign – but we are redesigning our Brussels lounge, partly because we are seeing an increase in passengers as a result of connections, but also to create a more business-like environment.”
With Eurostar’s new trains and expanding fleet (see below), the works come at a good time, but may also reflect an acknowledgement of future competition for the Tunnel. It has been widely reported that Deutsche Bahn plans to run high-speed trains between Frankfurt, London and Amsterdam in 2015.
This puts the pressure on Gare du Nord to be as pleasant an experience as possible for passengers, but Arnold is not fazed: “At the moment Deutsche Bahn is planning to operate via Brussels, but in terms of Paris we don’t know what the changes will be and we are not aware of any new entrants.”
- Visit eurostar.com. For reviews of Paris properties, including the new W and the refurbished Citadines Prestige Les Halles, see businesstraveller.com/tried-and-tested.
Eurostar evolves
Eurostar will introduce the first of its ten E320s in mid-2014. The new trains have been accepted by the Tunnel, and Eurostar says they will be “subject to the usual safety checks, which will happen much nearer the launch time, to test them on the infrastructure”. The 900-seat trains will feature wifi access and design by Italy's Pininfarina, known for its work with Ferrari. The current 27-strong fleet of 750-seat trains will also undergo an overhaul – from this month, the first train will be taken out of service to be wifi equipped and refurbished to match the new E320s.
The design process started in 2009 with customer research, and passengers tested concept designs and mock-ups throughout the process. Eurostar’s Reuben Arnold says: “We found they wanted comfort, space and internet access.” Trains will also offer an “infotainment” service so passengers can plug in their mobile devices and watch programmes from their seat.
As for what routes the €320s will serve, despite a recent article in the Financial Times hinting at Eurostar’s new destinations, Eurostar told Business Traveller that nothing had yet been confirmed. Arnold says: “The €320s are capable of operating to new destinations, and we bought them with that in mind, but we haven’t decided which destinations yet, or when.”
Eurostar is also introducing a quiet coach on all of its services. Passengers booking Business or Standard Premier tickets for travel from September 11 will be able to choose a seat in a quiet coach at no extra cost.
