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Eurostar bans travellers from taking spirits on board

Passengers who wish to bring bottles of spirits on Eurostar trains may get a shock at the departure gate after the travel operator quietly changed its policy to prohibit high-strength alcohol on board.

Eurostar trains no longer permit spirits to be taken on board, and wine and beer have been restricted

Eurostar rolled out its new policy last autumn, but seemingly without a public announcement. Travellers can now only take bottles of spirits by using the company’s registered luggage service, Euro Despatch.

In a statement, Eurostar said: “The change to our alcohol policy was made in autumn last year. Alcohol is limited to one bottle of wine or four bottles/cans of beer per person.

“This decision was made to maintain a pleasant environment on board for all our travellers.

“Those who wish to take more with them for consumption at home can do so using our registered luggage service, Euro Despatch.”

Passengers recently took to Twitter to clarify what alcohol they could take on board, only to find the policy had changed.

One Twitter user, Mark Smith, travel writer and author of train travel website Seat61.com, wrote: “Eurostar has quietly changed its luggage policy, and now no-one is allowed on with even a small bottle of spirits given (or to be given) as a present for example. And no more than 1 bottle of wine. This is completely unnecessary. Eurostar is a train not a plane.”

A subsequent Tweet of his said: “This is completely out of sync with all other connecting trains: LNER or Virgin Trains or Chiltern Railways this side, SNFC TGVs or DB ICEs or Thalys on the other side. Eurostar is part of a network. Leaving such nannying to the airlines, trains should be relaxed and easy-going.”

Last September, London Cocktail Club created a winter cocktail menu for the cocktail bar in the business lounge at the London terminal of Eurostar.

In 2015, Eurostar launched its own gin in partnership with Silent Pool Distillers.

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