Eurostar - the train that thinks it's a Plane

Eurostar is undoubtedly a good thing.   But it constantly seems to want to pretend to be a plane, and adopt all the aspects oft ravelling by plane - good or bad - while it ignores what people value from a train.

First off, why does it need a check in arrangement?   No other trains need this.   And please don't say it's to do with security.   There are no links between the passenger and the ticket (apart from a name, which may be common) and the check-in merely checks the ticket.   No other international day train requires a check-in 30 minutes in advance, even where there are serious border requirements such as crossing into Russia.

And what about all the bag searches?   As far as the tunnel is concerned, a lorry load of margarine will do more damage to the tunnel than a suitcase full of semtex, as we have seen.   And is Eurostar more of an attractive target than a TGV or an ICE, or any other inter-city target.   The train bombers in London and Madrid show that if terror is the objective, bombs on underground and suburban trains are far more effective - and these are far harder to defend.

Of course, any form of security check will reduce risk, but is the cost and detail involved justified by the reduction in risk it achieves?

So what is actually the need for the check-in and security arrangements?   Is it just about exercising control?

Then there is the level of service.   On a plane there are serious restrictions on weight and space which justify the quality and approach to catering.   But these restrictions don't apply so strongly on a train.   So why does Eurostar follow an airline style to catering?   Only to achieve, it must be said, a lower standard.   During the last year, the food I have eaten on Eurostar is routinely worse than most airline food.   The opportunity is there to do much better, but it has been lost by thinking in terms of airline approaches.

To be fair, many of these issues are determined by the security services or the Border and Immigration Agency.   But do they not have anyone who is considering the end to end approach rather than just individual opportunistic approaches to different components?