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France rolls out new security gates for its TGV high-speed trains

The Local France
The Local France - [email protected]
France rolls out new security gates for its TGV high-speed trains
Photo: AFP

The Montparnasse train station in southern Paris has installed new security gates, with all the major train stations across France to soon follow its lead.

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The ticket scanners, known as portiques, similar to those on the Paris Metro are being installed in a bid to boost security on France's trains but also to fight against ticket fraud.
 
The machines are also meant to save time and ease passage for travellers, although some fear they will simply lead to delays in the departure of trains.
 
The gates, which are already installed in Montparnasse station in Paris, will come into use on Tuesday.
 
Rail operator SNCF has said the gates will eventually be installed at Gare de Lyon and gare de l’Est in Paris, as well as at stations in Marseille, Rennes, Nantes, at the Aix-TGV stations, at Lyon-Perrache and Part-Dieu, Bordeaux, Saint-Pierre-des-Corps, and Tours.
 
SNCF ticket conductors will still operate on the trains however to check the validity of passengers discount cards, if they have them that is.
 
The security gates are however not the same as the full x-ray scanners, like those seen at airports, that were installed at Gare du Nord for the Thalys line that serves Brussels and Amsterdam.
 
The gates, that were installed at Gare du Nord in December 2015 after the Paris terror attacks, came at an estimated cost of €2.5 million a year, but experts said they were a waste of money that would do nothing to deter terrorists.
 
"The terrorists will say ok, if you are going to control security on the trains, then we will just target the Metro or the buses," French terror expert Francois-Bernard Huyge told The Local at the time. 
 
"They can make their choice of target. I'm afraid it will still happen."
 

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