The busiest UK port said it’s ramped up processing capacity to help ferry more people to the continent, while cautioning that travelers should still expect significant delays during the peak summer travel season.
Port of Dover has worked with ferry operators and border officials to more than double coach processing at the French border, alongside a plan for extra bus lanes. The moves aim to avert a repeat of recent disruptions, which saw travelers plunged into hours-long waits over Easter.
Despite the measures, passengers may need to wait for as long as two and a half hours to be processed on the first pair of weekends starting July 23 due to the travel rush in those early windows, according to Port of Dover Chief Executive Officer Doug Bannister. Holidaymakers traveling between Thursdays and Sundays, the peak days this summer for getaways, are anticipated to take about 90 minutes to pass through border controls.
The Port of Dover handles about 1.7 million passengers during the summer period. More heavy trucks pass through Dover than all other UK ports combined, with about 110 miles (177 kilometers) of freight traffic each day.
Coaches will be split into so-called difficult units, where passengers have multiple nationalities and points of origin, and simpler ones where those aboard share nationality and were picked up together, such as school children from the UK or the EU.
Any issues with France have also been smoothed over, according to Emma Ward, the port’s chief operations officer. Officials from both sides have worked “every step of the way” to deal with traffic flows, including the insertion of additional process points, she said.
The port has yet to see traffic flows return to pre-Brexit levels due to increases in processing times. Prior to the UK’s exit from the European Union, the port could see as many as 15,000 cars pass through during peak days, whereas Ward expects the number to be closer to 10,500 this coming Saturday.
Passengers who opt to travel via ferry from Dover should expect a smoother journey, according to Abby Penlington, director of Discover Ferries. Greater flexibility should see cars driving straight out of the port on the other side without waiting for border control or baggage reclaim, with those who miss their booked crossing time able to board the next available ferry, he said.
Another aspect of the improved operation is a contraflow system which helps relieve traffic around Dover and its local neighborhoods by prioritizing tourist traffic and holding freight to avoid gridlocks, according to Toby Howe from the Kent Resilience Forum.
