Long delays for holidaymakers
Thousands of travellers heading across the English Channel to France were caught up in long delays over the weekend of 22 and 23 July. Many families setting off on their summer holidays got stuck in long queues of traffic that lasted for hours.
How bad were the delays?
Thousands of cars and lorries were stuck in traffic jams at two places in Kent, England: Dover, where many ferries depart for France, and Folkestone, at the UK side of the EuroTunnel, which transports cars by train to France. Andrew Dyer-Smith and his family, who were going to France for their summer holiday, arrived in Folkestone at 9am on 23 July for a train at 10.30am but spent the whole day stuck in traffic. Dyer-Smith said they had been “slowly crawling along” for 21 hours. Some lorry drivers had to wait for more than 18 hours in queues with no toilet facilities. Volunteers handed out supplies like food and water.
Why are there hold-ups?
The start of the school summer holidays is always a busy travel period, so many people are asking why the ports weren’t prepared for lots of traffic. The UK Government’s
Foreign Secretary, Liz Truss, blamed French border control, saying they hadn’t provided enough staff to check people’s passports. However, France’s transport minister, Clément Beaune, blamed Brexit (the UK’s departure from the European Union), which he said has led to “more and longer checks” at the border.
Will the disruption continue?
The queues returned to normal after the weekend, but people are worried that there could be long delays all summer. “It’s a very vulnerable situation, it takes very little to cause further issues,” said Toby Howe, senior highway manager at Kent County Council. Holidaymakers could face more problems while travelling this summer. Rail strikes and flight cancellations are also expected to cause disruptions.