iProov's facial biometric system to be used by Eurostar's users for contactless travel

As such, rail passengers using Eurostar services will take advantage of a facial biometric corridor to enable contactless journeys. The walk-through system will allow customers to complete ticket checks and border exit processes at St. Pancras International station without needing to come into contact with people or hardware. Passengers planning to travel on Eurostar services would be offered an accelerated pre-boarding option. Prior to travelling, they would use the Eurostar app to scan their identity documentation before iProoving themselves. The iProov facial biometric check uses patented controlled illumination to authenticate the identity of the user against the ID document.

The iProov solution checks that the user is the right person, and matches the identity portrayed in the passport. The illumination process checks that the user is a real person, rather than a photo, video, or mask, and that the user is authenticating right now. This protects against large-scale criminal attacks using deep fakes. The passenger would then receive a message confirming that their identity document had been secured and a ticket or passport would not need to be shown again until they reached their destination. A kiosk solution at the station would allow passengers without access to smartphones to complete the same process.

The concept is already trialled in airports to facilitate speed and safety and manage immigration, and it is now being brought to train travel as part of the First of a Kind (FOAK) competition run by Innovate UK and funded by the Department for Transport. The iProov solution, developed in partnership with Eurostar and Canada-based travel and immigration solution specialists WorldReach Software, is planned to be in live operation by March 2021.