The Channel crossing sees long delays from the U.K. side as summer holidays really begin in Britain.
Truck drivers and tourists together clogged the customs lines at the Port of Dover and in nearby Folkestone, with hours-long waits. Take the ferry or the railway shuttle, it made no difference. All through the three-day weekend, wait times rarely dropped below 90 minutes.
Tourists intending to cross either above or below the water both have to clear border checks, performed by French officials, before they can embark. Since Britain left the EU in 2020, severing the right of entry for British citizens into France, border clearances have taken much longer. Instead of a mere ID check, border officials now have to check a whole list of factors:
- That the traveler isn’t at risk of violating length-of-stay protocols.
- That the passport is not expired or about to expire.
- That the traveler has a return ticket.
- That the traveler has trip insurance.
- That the traveler is not indigent.
These don’t take long, but they do take much longer than before.
According to British officials, the delays this weekend have been caused by inadequate French staffing. According to the French, the booths have been fully staffed for all but 75 minutes of the entire weekend. The French go further to point out that in 2020, the UK government turned down a request by the French to double the number of booths from 5 to 10 at the border point. The addition would have cost an estimated £33 million.
And if tourists think the delays are bad, they’re much worse for freight drivers. The M20, a major road into Dover, as been partially shut down to act as overflow parking for freight trucks waiting for required checks to allow them to cross into the Channel into France. Truck drivers can expect to wait hours or days to be inspected.
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