Coaches appear to have enjoyed smooth progress through the Port of Dover last weekend as a repeat of damaging scenes witnessed at previous peak times this year was avoided.
Despite a reported 350 coaches being expected to cross the channel last Friday at the start of school half-term weekend, mitigations taken by the port were an apparent success.
Phil Smith, Coaching Manager at the Confederation of Passenger Transport, told routeone he had not heard of major issues.
In April at the start of the Easter break, coaches were delayed by up to 24 hours at the terminal, following similar problems in Calais in February. However, the port put in place measures to speed up the border control process and issued advice to coach operators.
On Friday afternoon the port reported on Twitter: “As predicted, Port of Dover is busy but traffic currently processing well and according to plan. Waiting times for cars now down to under 30 mins and coaches 60 mins.”
Mr Smith, who was given assurances of improvements at the Port of Dover AGM which he attended last week, says: “It appears their plans did the job. I think there were some minor delays maybe up to 60 minutes at one point but nothing that was going to cause a fundamental problem. I think we’re reasonably happy.”
Grange Travel took seven coaches from Dover last weekend and its Commercial Director, Ruth Honey, told routeone all went through controls within two hours, although she says: “There was nowhere near the volume that there was at Easter and February.”
Johnsons Quality Coach Travel likewise put several coaches through the terminal but General Manager Kyran Flynn says no major issues were experienced. “It was like a normal bank holiday weekend at Dover and Calais,” he says. “It was just busy rather than there being delays.”
CPT was informed in advanced that the number of French border control officers at Dover would be more than doubled to cover the peak period. Coach drivers were also told not to turn up more than three hours before their departure time.
