image source, Good pictures
- author, Katie Austin
- stock, BBC Transport Correspondent
New EU border checks and travel to the Olympics will make the Port of Dover „exceptionally busy” this summer, its boss has warned.
Doug Bannister said travel to the Olympics in France from July 26 is expected to see a 30% jump in passenger numbers.
Meanwhile, capacity for cars in the port’s queues will be reduced to prepare for the EU’s new biometric border entry system, the „Entry Exit System”, which is due to arrive this autumn.
Mr Bannister said processing hours inside the port from July 18 would be „between 6am and 1pm on Fridays and two hours each weekend of the summer holidays until Sundays”.
He advised people not to come more than two hours before the booked ferry crossing and not to come without reservation.
The administration blamed long border processing times and bad weather for the disruption.
This summer the port, ferry operators, the Kent Medway Resilience Forum and both British and French border authorities have put in place measures to cope with the expected high demand.
These include spreading demand for travel at peak times, increasing the number of border checkpoints for tourist vehicles from 7 to 11 and a new goods clearance system on Kent roads.
Mr Bannister said groups would share hourly forecasts with relevant travel operators so they could plan accordingly.
„With even more tourists coming this year, we have the added challenge of implementing our infrastructure work that France and the EU will need to support the EU’s new entry and exit system, which will go live in October,” said Mr. Bannister said.
In addition, the port has issued the following advice to passengers:
- Allow plenty of time for your journey. Any passengers unable to cross due to overcrowding will be placed on the next ferry at no extra charge.
- Travel to the ferry terminal only via the prescribed major routes.
- Make sure you have enough food, snacks and entertainment to provide your family with a comfortable trip
- Keep passports open and ready before border controls to ensure the fastest possible transit and minimize waiting time for other vehicles.
A government spokesman said: “We will be working with local authorities, Port of Dover and Eurotunnel throughout the summer to help improve processes and reduce delays, and we will be in close contact with ferry operators, French authorities and Kent Medway Resilience. Forum.”
In May, the BBC published more details on how the EU’s entry-exit system will work at Dover when it starts in October, including processing cars and boxes separately and reclaiming some land from the sea to make more space.
Arrangements are underway at major channel crossing points in an effort to prevent queue confusion.
Under the Entry Exit System (EES), non-EU nationals, including Brits, must register biometric information when they cross the border for the first time.