Dover warns of long ferry delays as Britain’s summer getaway begins

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Travellers have been warned to expect significant queues at Dover this weekend as the port and ferry operators prepare for the biggest summer getaway since the introduction of post-Brexit border checks. 

The UK’s busiest port on Monday said passengers should plan for waits of up to two and a half hours at French border controls in peak morning hours during the next “couple” of weekends, as the school summer holidays begin.

Other peak days this summer will see waits of about 90 minutes, according to modelling by the port in Kent.

Doug Bannister, Dover port’s chief executive, said the “extreme popularity” of travel through the port this summer would put pressure on border infrastructure following the imposition of new passport checks in France in 2021 after the end of the Brexit transition period.

It takes the average car between 60 and 90 seconds to pass through the border checks, which take place on UK soil, up from 30 to 60 seconds before the implementation of the Brexit deal between the EU and UK.

Bannister said the port had installed a range of new processes in preparation for the summer, including extra French border posts and a new coach processing facility. He also welcomed a “strong commitment” from French authorities to “resource appropriately” during the busiest periods.

The port is preparing for 10,500 cars to pass through on Saturday, its busiest day since 2019.

“I am confident that we have everything in place that we possibly can have . . . we are maximising whatever we can do within a constrained space,” Bannister said.

Motoring group the RAC on Tuesday forecast 12.6mn holiday trips by car this weekend in the UK, above the comparable period in 2019.

New passport controls at the EU border have posed a significant problem for UK ports and railway stations that host French border posts. Eurostar this year said that it had been running some trains more than one-third empty to prevent bottlenecks at London St Pancras, its UK hub.

The Port of Dover is also working to avoid a repeat of the chaotic scenes in April this year when some coach passengers were left waiting for up to 14 hours because of the passport checks.

But Bannister contrasted the expected queues at the port with the time people typically spend passing through airports, saying: “You are talking three to four hours. Here I am talking two and a half hours at the busiest times. It kind of puts it in perspective.”

He added that cross-Channel ferries had typically suffered less disruption than airports, which have been hit by bouts of delays and cancellations over the past year.

“People know they can rely on these ferries sailing,” he said.

Meanwhile, Eurostar on Tuesday announced the rollout of a facial-verification system for some passengers travelling from St Pancras.

The company said the system would allow business-class passengers and those with loyalty cards to speed up check-in and UK border checks by verifying their tickets and UK exit formalities before arriving at the station.

It will not, however, apply to the French border, which has typically been the source of queues at the station.