What does "Your ticket gate closes 30 minutes before departure" mean on a Thalys ticket?

Upvote:0

IIRC, Rotterdam has a 'gate' but it's right at the platform so you still should show up at 30 min there as well. It might just be screening, not ticket checks.

Eurostar only processes tickets for one train at a time and during a certain window so yes, you need to be at least be in line at 30 min.

Eurostar has such hard requirements due to the significantly more complicated check-in process. Since the trains boards much faster then an airplane, Eurostar needs you checked in, through Immigration, through screening and in the departure hall well before the actual boarding time of the train.

Rotterdam-Brussels is just a domestic train ride. No Immigration controls unless they're doing spot checks.

Upvote:3

Yes, the text appears to be boilerplate added to each part of the ticket. In Rotterdam, Thalys works like a regular train, there is no special check of any kind, whether luggage inspection or check-in procedure and no gate blocking access to the train. Unlike some other stations, you won't even find an attendant at each door of the train.

Upvote:5

Currently there is no direct Eurostar from Rotterdam to London. You need to get off the train and go through security at Brussels, so I suspect that's what the 30 minutes is referring to. Boarding at Rotterdam shouldn't cost any significant amount of time. There is no luggage screening or anything like that, you just need to scan you ticket's bar code at one of the the station's entry gates.

The reason is that there are no check-in facilities at any of the Eurostar stations in The Netherlands yet. There is a direct train when you return from London to Rotterdam, because you've already cleared security in the UK.

Seat 61 has more detailed information.

Upvote:5

I can confirm that despite the misleading wording on the ticket, there is no "gate" at Rotterdam, and the only notable step required was to scan in the ticket before boarding.

So, as of February 2019, there no need to present oneself 30 minutes in advance.

Should plans come to fruition, Eurostar boarding may in the future be possible at Rotterdam. Until then, and while the journey involves a separate Thalys train to Brussels, this is not the case.

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