On November 6, 2007, Queen Elisabeth II inaugurated EUROSTAR St Pancras station, an old Victorian station and hotel refurbished into a prestigious station, after many years of work. It is with legitimate pride and an aggressive advertising campaign that British authorities were pleased to announce the completion of the first high-speed rail track on UK soil.



As the United Kingdom is not part of the Schengen zone, British authorities were extremely concerned about making sure that the new rail infrastructures are equipped with reliable and user-friendly access control systems. EUROSTAR selected Automatic Systems’ proposal: automatic rapid flap professional doors integrated with magnetic stripe and bar code readers.



EUROSTAR decided to work with us again, after the very first installation of access control equipment in the eighties, a modern sign of the company's good reputation with this prestigious and demanding contractor.



For EUROSTAR customers' service is of prime importance. EUROSTAR agents have been designated to welcome passengers at St Pancras station in front of the access doors. Their job consists in assisting travellers either with the ticket insertion or the bar code reading, so that customers depart relaxed from London towards continental Europe. This is the case of Carine G., a Belgian tourist who left London after a full day of shopping in The City. As she

remarks: “These new automatic home gates are very user-friendly: with these large doors, no problem at all to go through the machine with my loads of parcels." "Also", she goes on, "I particularly appreciate this type of equipment because it is not aggressive. And last but not least, their building design is more attractive than those in Brussels which look more old-fashioned."



Quite a positive comment for The City – and Automatic Systems – in the perspective of the 2012 Olympic Games. The British home capital must rely on the best systems in order to cope with the thousands of visitors expected to attend the 30th Olympics. The Olympic village at Stratford will be served by a EUROSTAR station built for the occasion.



In this major endeavour, EUROSTAR paid particular attention to every issue. The company even simulated boarding procedures with 5,000 voluntary passengers during several days. Intensive and repeated tests were necessary to put the equipment under pressure. An average of 20,000 travellers a day is expected at St Pancras Station alone during the Olympics.



EUROSTAR made the right move by choosing professional partners in access control equipment. Due to its multicultural corporate identity, EUROSTAR rapidly understood the advantages of cooperation with its foreign suppliers. The whole project became reality thanks to a Customer/Supplier partnership and mutual progress hand in hand. And for us, Automatic Systems, it is a bright example of synergy with our parent company, IER.