Paris-Montparnasse train station is the first to officially launch the new type of boarding, this Tuesday, 4th April. Travelers will now have to go through ticket validation terminals before boarding the train.
The SNCF will install “gates” in 14 major TGV stations by the end of 2018 to fight against fraud, beginning on Tuesday at the Montparnasse station in Paris, said a spokesperson. Gates are already installed at the entrance of train platforms of the Montparnasse train station, but will only be activated for two platforms, initially.
“Tomorrow we put the device in operation” and then “will ramp up gradually,” said Delphine Couzi, director of operations and service to customers of SNCF Voyages, the entity responsible for the operation of the train.
Soon in Nantes and Rennes
Tested for over a year at Montparnasse and Marseille, these “gates” – not to be confused with the Thalys gantries equipped with scanners – will normally be “well established for the opening of high-speed lines to southwest and Brittany”, said the official.
On the 2nd July, all TGV platforms of Montparnasse, but also the stations of Nantes and Rennes, should be “operational”, she added.
“The ambition is to have 14 major train stations that can benefit by the end of 2018” , the Gare du Nord, East and Lyon in Paris, or those of Aix-en-Provence Perrache.
Release time controllers
The generalization of these gates is twofold: to allow controllers to “spend more time with customers and less time with fraudsters” , summarized Mrs. Couzi, recalling that fraud in the train is about 100 million euros per year.
These “gates” will be provided by IER, a subsidiary of the Bolloré group, through a market of about 15 million.
From either side of the new automated access, SNCF agents will be responsible for guiding and informing travelers, especially to facilitate the transition groups, children, elderly and disabled.
