00:00 London Mayor Sadiq Khan is worried about the terrible signal that will send chaos to the world,
00:04 announced at St Pancras station where the Eurostar is arriving with the entry in force of a new system of entry and exit control.
00:10 The resettlers from third countries entering the European Union will be subject from the end of 2024
00:16 to an automated system of entry and exit control, Entry-Exit System (ES).
00:21 This centralized database will include in particular photographs of the face and digital fingerprint of the traveler.
00:28 Last month, a British parliamentary committee had warned about the significant delays,
00:32 up to 14 hours according to them, that the ES could lead to the borders.
00:36 And in particular at the London station of St Pancras where the Eurostar trains arrive,
00:41 essential railway links for the capital.
00:43 In the current state of things, these new post-Brexit controls will cause chaos in St Pancras,
00:49 with potentially huge service reductions and waiting lines for passengers at rush hour,
00:54 this was worried Saturday in a statement by the Labour Mayor of London Sadiq Khan.
00:58 He calls on the government not to wash its hands of this direct consequence of Brexit,
01:03 which would send a terrible signal to tourists and companies around the world,
01:07 while the London economy is barely recovering from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
01:11 The Eurostar Railway Company, as well as High Speed 1, HS1,
01:16 a company that operates the railway line that connects London to the entrance of the tunnel under the Channel,
01:20 have also expressed their concerns.
01:23 Eurostar estimated that the new system had been more designed for airports
01:27 than for terminals located in stations.
01:29 The City of London says that the St Pancras station will have only 24 ES control counters,
01:35 allocated by the French government,
01:37 while models suggest that it would take nearly 50 at rush hour.
01:41 Ministers must now offer HS1 and Eurostar all the support they need
01:46 to solve these problems of great urgency.
01:49 "Service reductions and longer delays are simply not an option," said Sadiq Khan.
01:54 MHCLC
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