Eurostar passengers leaving London will have the ability to keep away from guide ticket and passport checks by UK officers by means of a brand new facial verification system.

The launch of the know-how at St Pancras station is geared toward easing congestion.

To take part, passengers should use an app earlier than journey to scan their identification doc and confirm their face and ticket.

At the station, they stroll in entrance of a display screen and have their face detected.

If they’re authorized, they will proceed by means of doorways which open routinely.

The SmartCheck system, developed by iProov, is offered to Business Premier and Carte Blanche passengers.

Bags will nonetheless being scanned by safety employees, and border officers in Paris are persevering with to test passports.

It emerged earlier this 12 months that Eurostar was being compelled to depart hundreds of seats empty on trains to and from London to keep away from lengthy queues at stations.

The state of affairs has since improved, however dozens of seats aren’t being supplied on the market on some providers.

Enhanced post-Brexit checks carried out by French border officers have considerably elevated the time it takes to course of passengers on the station.

Eurostar chief government Gwendoline Cazenave mentioned: “Providing a seamless station experience to our customers is a priority for Eurostar.

“By introducing SmartCheck, we grow to be the primary rail journey operator to undertake biometric face verification.

“This innovation will enhance our customer departure journey, which is crucial to provide Eurostar’s unique travel experience.”

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Andrew Bud, chief government of iProov, mentioned: “By creating a biometric corridor, we are moving security checks away from the station, saving precious time and space at the border, streamlining the boarding process to one that’s far faster, more convenient, less crowded and stressful, yet even more secure.”

Heathrow Airport started trialling facial biometric scanners in 2019, however the venture was dropped when passenger numbers collapsed as a result of coronavirus pandemic.