@jon This is the default at least for #TGVs in France as well, mostly for "#security" reasons I guess. The platform is announced about 20 minutes before departure. This is not yet as bad as in the US where rail travel is apparently modelled after air travel (based on my experience of a Amtrak journey between Charlottesville VA and Washington DC around 2008). My experience with french customs is quite recent though, two months worth of Interrail in March and April.