Eurostar chaos as tourists slam ‘dirty’ Paris station full of ‘drugged beggars’ | World | News

Eurostar travellers have slammed the chaotic and squalid conditions of the Gare du Nord in Paris, and have called on French authorities to “do something about it” fast.

The station is a major travel hub and is the jump off point for those travelling to France by Eurostar from London.

It is one of France’s busiest railway stations, with some 100 million people passing through it every year.

With the Paris Olympics looming large this summer, it is likely to see even more passengers using its facilities.

Yet the iconic station would appear to be unfit for purpose according to the testimonies of travellers on Tripadvisor.

Tourists have recounted horror stories of coming across human excrement, “psychotic” beggars and brawling security personnel in a litany of complaints.

In a post to the travel review site, Mike Chalkwell from Didcot wrote: “As soon as you approach or exit the station you run the gauntlet of the psychotic, drunk, drugged, beggars and likely thieves.

“Whilst there seem to be plenty of police in Paris they never seem to be in evidence outside the main railway stations.

“As a visitor, one is instantly put off. Do something about it Paris.”

Another traveller witnessed an unseemly brawl between security guards, who were supposed to be protecting passengers.

They said: “A physical fight broke out between the security guards in front of the children.

“Obviously we couldn’t call security to deal with it because they were throwing punches at each other.

“It was an absolutely disgusting representation of France to international visitors and has put me off.”

Others complained about the lack of proper organisation and help for those using the Eurostar, calling it the “worst station in the world” and “confusing and messy”.

One Eurostar passenger noted there was no signage, information or staff on hand to help confused passengers.

Many reviewers sought to warn passengers about rogue taxis operating from the station and expressed anger that the authorities had not cracked down on the scammers.

Kelly from Las Vegas wrote: “Watch out for scam taxis! We lined up in the designated taxi queue and were only going 1 mile to our hotel.

“Was charged 75 Euro. Total taxi scam with zero regulation. Take Uber.”

While Zoe from Kent said: “Got into the official taxi line and the SNCF guard directed us to a taxi. 4 of us and luggage.

“He covered his meter…then tried to charge us 87.50 to go 4.5 miles to our next station.

“Gare Du Nord, millions of people use you…why are you allowing this?”

Express.co.uk has gone to Eurostar for comment.