TE24 International Desk:
A long traffic jam outside the port of Dover, Britain’s main gateway to Europe, on Saturday, with officials warning that the chaos could be worse than on Friday.
Due to slow border controls and a regular flow of trucks, those who started their journey at the start of Britain’s summer holidays faced long waits.
The Kent Resilience Forum, which brings together local councils and emergency services, declared a “serious incident” and Port of Dover CEO Doug Bannister said travelers were expected to experience delays of up to six hours on Saturday.
The British government has blamed the problem on a lack of French border guards, but France says more checks are needed because Britain is no longer a member of the European Union.
Border controls at Dover and the French port city of Calais have been “harmonised”, with French authorities checking passports on British soil before departure and vice versa in France.
“I thought today would be busier than yesterday,” Bannister told BBC radio. “Yesterday we had about 85,000 cars, but today we were told about 10,000, so it’s going to be a very busy day here.”
Border Guard
Bannister said on Friday that the number of French border guards at Dover had increased since the disturbances.
French municipality Georges Francois Leclerc said 60% of the 9,000-10,000 vehicles expected to go on Saturday passed without problems. British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, who will succeed Boris Johnson as prime minister, blamed the French on Saturday.
This is a situation caused by depletion of resources at the border. The French authorities have to deal with this and I am very clear about that. “The travelers are on their way. The Folkestone Eurotunnel service also faced a line extending 3.2 km behind the entrance to the harbour.
Some airports also struggled with staffing to cope with post-pandemic travel recovery, causing port delays. A chaotic scene at London Airport in recent weeks. Rail traffic is also regularly disrupted due to strikes this summer.
800 km traffic:
At the start of the busy summer travel season, other European countries have seen similar travel problems.
Traffic in France around Paris and between Lyon and Valence was particularly heavy on Saturday. As of Saturday afternoon, the agency recorded a peak of 790 kilometers (490 miles) of traffic on major roads used by tourists, Euronews reported.
This summit was less than the 930 km (577 mi) recorded in France the year before.
As Croatia’s tourist season approaches its peak, traffic will increase on all roads leading to attractions on the Adriatic coast.
According to Jelena Ivuli, coordinator of Croatia’s state-owned shipping company Zadrolinija, passengers arrived early Saturday morning over waves at the ferry port entrance.
They expect over 750,000 passengers and over 150,000 vehicles over the weekend. In Switzerland, holiday traffic was backed up on the Gotthard North Portal, which is more than 15 kilometers long, with wait times of up to two and a half hours.
