Eurostar’s SmartCheck shutting down, new EES e-gates coming to London

Rail service Eurostar will stop offering its SmartCheck biometric check-in at the London St Pancras station: The dedicated lanes will cease operations on February 13th, 2025. In the meantime, the company is preparing for the introduction of the EU’s new Entry-Exit System (EES) biometric traveler registration scheme with new ePassport gates and extra passport control booths.

Eurostar is planning to increase its capacity at St Pancras station which connects London with Belgium, France and the Netherlands. By February, the e-gate number will be increased from eight to 11 while 49 EES pre-registration kiosks will be deployed.

The SmartCheck program has provided invaluable data and insights to the railway firm as it prepares for future border crossing technology, a Eurostar spokesperson told the Railway Gazette International.

SmartCheck trials started in 2021 in the wake of Brexit and the introduction of new border controls for EU citizens traveling to the UK. The biometric lanes were officially introduced on premium rail plans in July 2023.

The system is based on biometric technology from iProov and Entrust‘s IDVaaS technology for digital travel credential management. To enroll, travelers can submit a selfie to iProov’s biometric face authentication app and scan their passport NFC chip, a capability added by identity verification company Inverid.

Inverid and iProov are also the companies behind the EES pre-registration app launched by Frontex. The so-called Travel to Europe app will be used to streamline EES entry processes which require non-EU citizens to submit fingerprint and face biometrics on their first crossing of Schengen borders.

While the app will not be able to scan travelers’ fingerprints, iProov has been working on the challenging task of developing remote fingerprinting. For now, travelers will have to visit self-service kiosks or border guards to enroll their fingerprints.

The app has already been piloted at the Swedish airport Arlanda and the Netherlands’s Schiphol airports under the name QuickBorder.

The EES border scheme is expected to be introduced in 2025 after several years of delays. The European Union has proposed a progressive introduction of the system, abandoning its plan to deploy the EES simultaneously in every country.

Article Topics

ABC gates  |  biometrics  |  border security  |  Entry/Exit System (EES)  |  Eurostar  |  facial recognition  |  iProov