A pilot scheme to expedite the processing of school groups at the Port of Dover has met with favourable reports from coach tour operators since its introduction on 3 April.
Under the trial, organisers of school groups have the option of supplying in advance the name, date of birth, nationality and type of identity document for every passenger via a spreadsheet to the French border authorities. Of the three passenger ferry operators working at Dover, P&O Ferries and Irish Ferries are confirmed participants.
School trips specialist PGL Beyond thinks the pilot scheme has worked well thus far on trips through Dover arranged by its various brands. Shelly Dugdale, Ground Transport Contracts and Relationship Manager, says: “As the UK’s leading educational travel provider, we believe it’s our duty to actively support initiatives that improve the travel experience for school groups.
“That’s why we’ve been fully engaged with the pilot scheme in conjunction with Port of Dover and ferry operators designed to streamline French border controls.
“During June, we submitted advance passenger information for approximately 45% of our groups across NST, EST, Studylink, and PGL.
“The impact was clear — average coach processing times were reduced from 10 minutes to just two and a half minutes. We regard this as a significant step toward creating a more efficient and less stressful travel experience for both young travellers and their educators.”
The estimated time of two and a half minutes for processing under the scheme was also quoted in May by Voyager School Travel, which called it a “great success”.
Matthew Arnold, Managing Director of Kent-based Bayliss Executive Travel, admits his business has had limited exposure to the scheme so far, with several of its trips going through the Channel Tunnel rather than by sea.
“It has worked well when it has been used,” he says. “I think our concern will be on busy days when there could potentially be a delay between the coach passing through the new arrangements and getting to the port and especially where we need to change drivers because of a long journey on the other side of the channel. So that’s the only real issue we have at the moment.”
Meanwhile, SLT Tours of Doncaster, although admitting none of the groups it had transported used the process, points out that it has only received communication promoting the pilot from one ferry operator.
