Delays at Calais

[Metrider]

On Monday, I was returning to the UK via ferry from Calais. The queues were absolutely horrendous! While P&O did email to say that things were "taking longer than usual" and to reassure us that we would be put on the next ferry if we missed our scheduled one, I still don't feel like I've had any explanation as to why the queues were so long.

There was a long queue for "check in", and even worse, after you got through that it seemed like the 20+ lines for the various ferry operators then had to funnel into around 8 lines to go through the passport check booths. There was no guidance or queue management, and as you might expect this caused a lot of honking, shouting and frustration as people didn't want to let others merge in front of them. In the end, we barely made it onto the next ferry after our scheduled one, which was two hours later!

Even more astonishing is that, even though it was absolute pandemonium, there appears to be no record that this ever happened, apart from a few tweets by P&O saying that queueing time is now 150 mins, now 180 mins, etc. No news article, and as I say, no actual explanation of any kind for the hold up!

This might seem a little unfair, but honestly, as far as I can tell, the entire thing seems to me to have been caused by French border staff doing their job very slowly on purpose? I have no idea why they would do this, but it's really the only conclusion I can come to given how fast they were putting cars through compared to the very quick service provided at the UK border booths just afterwards.

I love hopping over to France, but this experience has really made me consider whether the risk of this happening again is worth it. For example, if I'd had my four year old in the car with me, it would have been absolute hell.

 

[thejuggler]

Its the middle of the summer holidays and French workers go on holiday too, so it is likely an increase in passengers has coincided with fewer staff.

Avoid August is the best advice, simply not worth it.

 

[The Planner]

The tunnel can be just as bad and disorganised in my experience too. Can remember a couple of occasions where I have got to the barrier to check in and my departure time has suddenly moved two hours later on the French side, and neither end has amazing facilities.

 

[Thames99]

I'm not sure if this was the cause at Calais, but French unions are quite partial to a grève du zèle (a zealous strike) where workers operate very carefully and in great detail to cause congestion and delay. This happened at the Gare du Nord a few years ago where all luggage was inspected very thoroughly resulting in huge Eurostar queues and missed trains.

 

[Metrider]

I'm not sure if this was the cause at Calais, but French unions are quite partial to a grève du zèle (a zealous strike) where workers operate very carefully and in great detail to cause congestion and delay. This happened at the Gare du Nord a few years ago where all luggage was inspected very thoroughly resulting in huge Eurostar queues and missed trains.

I remember, because I was in that queue as well taking the Eurostar back in 2019! Maybe I'm just cursed?

 

[crablab]

Avoid August is the best advice, simply not worth it.

I did it this route in May; I do not say lightly that it was one of the worst experiences of my life.
Those imagining a motorway jam are wildly misunderstanding the issue.

There was no guidance or queue management, and as you might expect this caused a lot of honking, shouting and frustration as people didn't want to let others merge in front of them.

Identical experience; people were weaponising their cars almost like battering rams. A couple of objectionable individuals were altering between yelling & walking up and down threatening those who "let people in", in their view. Overall, it was a hostile & threatening experience and absolutely nowhere for you to escape in this sea of stationary vehicles.

This might seem a little unfair, but honestly, as far as I can tell, the entire thing seems to me to have been caused by French border staff doing their job very slowly on purpose? I have no idea why they would do this, but it's really the only conclusion I can come to given how fast they were putting cars through compared to the very quick service provided at the UK border booths just afterwards.

Agreed.

 

[Cloud Strife]

There was a long queue for "check in", and even worse, after you got through that it seemed like the 20+ lines for the various ferry operators then had to funnel into around 8 lines to go through the passport check booths. There was no guidance or queue management, and as you might expect this caused a lot of honking, shouting and frustration as people didn't want to let others merge in front of them. In the end, we barely made it onto the next ferry after our scheduled one, which was two hours later!

Yes, I've never understood why it's designed like this. A better option would have been to build a joint French-UK passport control area where check-in is currently located with however many lanes they could agree on, and then a larger check-in area later on, so 8 lanes would go into 20, not 20 into 8.

It's an incredibly poor design, and even if nothing can be changed about the current layout, it would make sense to only release cars from the check-in area when there's a free booth for French passport control. It could easily be automated in a pain-free way, and it would solve the mess with queuing instantly.

 

[crablab]

It could easily be automated in a pain-free way, and it would solve the mess with queuing instantly.

The queueing mayham exists on the other side of check-in too; greater staff presence and proactivity would help, along with physical demarcations of the lanes.

Ultimately the root cause of the stress/aggression is people having to queue for multiple hours, missing their booked ferry etc. The road layout would be far less of an issue if processing was more efficient.

 

[Metrider]

Yes, I've never understood why it's designed like this. A better option would have been to build a joint French-UK passport control area where check-in is currently located with however many lanes they could agree on, and then a larger check-in area later on, so 8 lanes would go into 20, not 20 into 8.

It's an incredibly poor design, and even if nothing can be changed about the current layout, it would make sense to only release cars from the check-in area when there's a free booth for French passport control. It could easily be automated in a pain-free way, and it would solve the mess with queuing instantly.

I definitely agree. The current system is so unclear, there aren't even lines on the ground to guide cars towards this booth or that booth - so it's really just left up to the driver. While there are staff walking about, they only seemed to intervene when a bus needed to cut across about five lanes of traffic (much to everyone's extreme frustration!).

The queueing mayham exists on the other side of check-in too; greater staff presence and proactivity would help, along with physical demarcations of the lanes.

Ultimately the root cause of the stress/aggression is people having to queue for multiple hours, missing their booked ferry etc. The road layout would be far less of an issue if processing was more efficient.

Absolutely. If French customs were processing vehicles in a reasonable time, tempers would not be so high. People are generally happy to let someone merge in front of them if that only means a minute or two wait. In the situation I was in, it was more likely to be about an extra twenty minutes and possibly missing the next ferry. What a disaster!

 

[Mike99]

Fortunately I live in East Anglia and for all the situations given above I now avoid ferries between Dover - Calais and vv and also because of the lack of suitable waiting area at London St Pancras for Eurostar, especially at times of delays, I now use Harwich to Hoek of Holland ferry its overnight oubound and a 14:15 departure from Hoek back to Harwich for 19:45 on the return, very easy check in procedure and even as a foot passenger very straight forward.

 

[Thames99]

Fortunately I live in East Anglia and for all the situations given above I now avoid ferries between Dover - Calais and vv and also because of the lack of suitable waiting area at London St Pancras for Eurostar, especially at times of delays, I now use Harwich to Hoek of Holland ferry its overnight oubound and a 14:15 departure from Hoek back to Harwich for 19:45 on the return, very easy check in procedure and even as a foot passenger very straight forward.

Are they now taking fingerprints and photos on this route or is it still passport stamping?

 

[Mike99]

The last time I went out in late May nothing different at Harwich but coming back at Hoek customs sorted out the new system. I was in a queue of just me so very nicely done just a few minutes.