Increasing Thalys and Eurostar security

Minister of Security and the Interior Jan Jambon has reached an agreement with France, the Netherlands and the UK to create a pilot project aimed at increasing the security of the Thalys and the Eurostar. By introducing passenger lists and passport checks, the security services will be able to check whether wanted criminals are on those international high speed trains. “The aim is to already have the system operational by the end of this year,” says the Minister.

“Together with those neighbouring countries we will, in close cooperation with the train companies, see in the coming months how we can register passenger names,” says Jan Jambon. The names on those passenger lists will then be compared against a database of internationally-signalled terrorists. A mandatory passport check will also be introduced on the Thalys trains, to see whether the name on the passport corresponds with the name on the train ticket. The same check has already been introduced on the Eurostar.

Gradually ramping up security

“We turned our attention first to air traffic. Now it’s the high speed trains’ turn. For ship traffic and international coach services we are also looking at the same system. In this way we are endeavouring to ramp up the level of security gradually,” the Minister concludes.