'Security gates to be installed at Lille, Paris train stations'

Paris: France will install security gates at stations in Paris and Lille for the Thalys cross-Europe rail services by December 20 in one of a raft of measures introduced after the Paris attacks, minister Segolene Royal said on Tuesday.

A Thalys train from Amsterdam to Paris was attacked by a heavily armed man in August, but he was overpowered by passengers.

The French government has decided "to install gates for the Thalys in Lille and Paris before December 20," Royal, who is ecology minister but has responsibility for transport, said.

The high-speed Thalys service links Paris with Lille in northern France, the Belgian capital, Brussels, Amsterdam in the Netherlands and the western German city of Cologne.

Passengers boarding those trains do not currently have to pass through security checks, unlike for the cross-Channel Eurostar train services to Britain which have airport-style security.

Royal indicated that Belgian, German and Dutch authorities would also install security gates, although those countries have not yet confirmed that.

She said France was also considering bringing in a system of named tickets for Thalys passengers.

France has tightened security at its borders and within the country following the jihadist attacks of November 13 on the French capital in which 130 people were killed.