Dover to stagger coach departures to avoid Easter queue nightmare

Delays of up to 14 hours were reported in the run-up to Easter, mainly by coach passengers. The port said it was now installing “temporary border control infrastructure” as contingency capacity for coach processing. 

“The infrastructure is being trialled this week in readiness for the coming weekend,” it said.

Dover has also held talks with operators to reduce coach volumes on the expected peak travel day, Good Friday. It said ferry operators DFDS, Irish Ferries and P&O “are working with their coach customers to spread the travel across a three-day period, from Thursday 6 April to Saturday 8 April”.

Following last weekend’s issues, the government admitted problems stemmed from “new processes” following Brexit, which require passport checks of each coach passenger.

Another issue has been French border control at Dover. The port said French authorities “would be fully staffed to process outbound travellers despite predicted lower coach volumes”.

Port of Dover added: “This weekend is again expected to be busy at the Port for car traffic which has been processed according to plan so far over the Easter holidays, although coach traffic is expected to be one third lower than the weekend of 1 April.”

It added: “All Port of Dover stakeholders are acutely aware that last weekend was a horrible situation for many travellers, including the elderly and schoolchildren.

“It is the top priority of all parties to ensure a better experience for travellers this weekend. These additional measures are intended to significantly improve traffic throughput and give travellers a better start to their holidays.”

Coach and car drivers are being advised not to arrive early for sailings, “so as to avoid unnecessary bottlenecks in the Dover area”.