I was reading on 12 July of the delays at Calais and at LeShuttle. We made the decision to avoid Calais last year, and now we schedule everything to come back via Dunkirk.
The last few times we have returned to the UK via Calais, weāve always been delayed. This has been happening on and off for the last two or three years. Iāve sent coaches to Europe over six times this year, and every time we come back, we do so via Dunkirk with DFDS.
The simple reason for this is that Dunkirk has only one sailing every two hours, of which the maximum number of coaches taken is five or six, and there is much less traffic.
Itās quite a happy camp. French and English passport control get on well together because they typically only get one coach every two hours. The crossing is half an hour longer than between Calais and Dover, but itās less hassle.
Three ferry companies meanwhile use Calais, and there could be 10 coaches on each ship. If in a period from about 0800hrs-1000hrs 25 vehicles need processing, the last ones that arrive will miss their crossing.
The port tells us it takes 20-25 minutes per vehicle to complete the passport process. Staff donāt want coaches arriving too early because the port is still processing the vehicles that arrived two hours earlier, yet we still see drivers trying to catch earlier crossings, and those that do aim for their scheduled crossings then get delayed.
In June I was speaking with a German who told me that every time he goes to Calais, which he does four times a year with a school group, he is made to unload all the children. These are kids with backpacks and large sports bags with clothes in them, who are then made to walk down the lines and sent through security scanners.
This process takes at least 45 minutes, and so he too is now favouring Dunkirk. There are more people going back to LeShuttle for the time factor, but itās expensive. Logistics govern where you go.
Dover is not without its issues either. After the Western Docks challenge, we go down to the main Eastern Docks section of the port. There is a route āMā where the coaches all normally go, and when we get to the two booths (English and French) we are waved through because we already have the security seal on the doors of the vehicle.
Now, however, staff have started to move car traffic across in front of line āMā which have four more check bays processing passports to the right. Having completed our checks at the Western Docks, we then get delayed because of cars.
Eventually that will change, but how they programme the promenade at Dover with traffic is a problem. The last three times we have been have seen us pulled into the security check. Itās as though they know weāre not going to return via Calais, so they give us some trouble in Dover to make up for that.
The other problem a lot of us have is the construction happening in Dover harbour. If you miss a ferry through passport processing times, it is a long walk to access any facilities from the DFDS end for Dunkirk and Calais. There are toilets there, but farther along where P&O and Irish Ferries are located, passengers have much better facilities, with a large area with shops, food and toilets.
Roger Bull
RB Travel
Kettering
