Luxury train operator cuts service ahead of biometric passport checks so passengers will have to join train in Paris
When the Orient Express began operating in the 19th century, passports were optional – the only paperwork required by British travellers was a copy of the Thomas Cook Continental Timetable.and 21st-century biometric checks are killing off the romance of crossing borders for modern passengers looking for the nostalgia of the luxury train journey that inspired Agatha Christie and Hollywood.
Things may get worse, Belmond fears, because the UK and EU are planning new biometric passport checks and extra red tape. If the technology works smoothly, that could mean travellers over 12 years old will be able to use electronic entry gates and potentially save some time. But since even babies will need to provide biometric data, there is scepticism in the tourist industry about how the checks will work in practice. EES was due to begin this year but is now likely to come into force after the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Not that the VSOE is entirely authentic, compared with the original service, he added. “It was a much more businesslike train than most people imagine. The real thing would not have had pianos or lounges or bars, and certainly no balcony,. You would have had sleeping cars and sat in your compartment in day mode most of the time.”
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