Paul Corfield wrote:

I once took well over an hour to reach the train having had to queue on
Waterloo main concourse, then in line in the Eurostar ticket hall, then
to get through security and immigration, then to get to the platform and
on to the train. It was absolutely horrendous. All the trains were late
and everyone was very tense and fed up with people panicking that they
were going to miss their trains. It took over 30 minutes for Eurostar
management to wake up to the fact that they had a crisis on their hands
and that they needed to reassure their customers that they would not be
left stranded.

The fact that Eurostar staff routinely refuse to let anyone through the
gates until about five minutes before the train is due to go, don't
bother explaining the situation to anyone, make no announcements and are
generally unhelpful is a right pain in the arse.

People understandably assume that a lot of the queues are people who are
there early for a later train and that the people on the next one have
already gone though, and the staff do nothing to explain that this is
not the case, hence the generally panicky atmosphere before the
gateline.

Going back a few years, this ALWAYS happened at the Gare Du Nord, whilst
the Waterloo end ran really smoothly. Nowadays, it's the complete
opposite (though GdN still needs more space after check-in for people to
stand).

During peak hours, the huge lounge at Waterloo is useless, since you
never actually get a chance to sit down, due to not being let through
until it's time to go. I'm sure the shops in the lounge are *delighted*
at losing so much custom.

On the return be aware that you have to clear French and UK immigration
in Paris and then French customs. Oh and then you may have to clear UK
immigration (again) and UK customs in London - I really do find this to
be completely ludicrous. Still it keeps civil servants employed I
suppose.

And French immigration in London too.

Enjoy Eurostar - just try to ignore the tedium in getting through the
terminals.

Oh and if your train is over an hour late and you need to claim, I
suggest written or photographic evidence - Eurostar customer service
have told outright lies about arrival times to me on at least one
occasion.

Dave (used to travel on Eurostar a lot, and wished there was a choice,
as they have gone right downhill over the past five years)