Holidaymakers hit with journey disruption amid Dover delays and rail strikes
A nine-lane-wide queue stretched alongside the white cliffs all through Saturday morning on the method to the border the place French guards have been checking passports.
Thousands of rail staff are additionally placing, which means solely round half the variety of trains will run in sure areas, whereas different locations might have none in any respect.
Port of Dover officers stated in a single day that over 35,000 folks had handed by means of on their solution to France on Friday and had advised travellers on Saturday to not arrive greater than three hours earlier than their sail time.
At 7am, they wrote: “The current average processing time through to the border is 120 minutes, as per our peak travel plan for the busiest times.
“Rest assured, you will be on the next available sailing upon reaching check in.”
Members of the RMT are on strike
/ PA ArchiveIn addition, rail strikes imply disruption on main traces out and in of London, together with Avanti West Coast, London Northwestern Railway, Northern, Southeastern, Southern, South Western Railway, and Thameslink.
Other affected companies embody c2c, Caledonian Sleeper, Chiltern Railways, CrossCountry, East Midlands Railway, Gatwick Express, Great Northern, Great Western Railway, Greater Anglia, Heathrow Express, LNER, TransPennine Express and West Midlands Railway.
There are additionally delays or half closures on the Bakerloo, District, Hammersmith and City, Piccadilly, DLR, and Overground.
A Rail Delivery Group spokesperson stated the strikes have been disrupting the plans of households through the summer season holidays.
They stated: “This will lead to disappointment, frustration and financial strain for tens of thousands of people. We apologise for the inconvenience caused and understand the impact on individuals and businesses.
“Our advice is to check before you travel.”
The ongoing industrial dispute has been worsened by plans to close most ticket offices.
In a message to families whose summer holiday plans have been affected by the latest walk-out, the RMT senior assistant general secretary said “we need to stand together rather than fight each other”.
Standing on a picket line outside Euston Station, Eddie Dempsey said: “What I’d say to them is, if they’re honest, people are going to find it difficult on a strike day.
“But everyone in this country is finding it hard when it’s not a strike day.
“And the reason for that is because we’ve got a Government that is presiding over a massive cost-of-living crisis, everybody’s wages have been falling, all of our public services are under-funded, we can see all of the services we rely on in the country in a state of managed decline, nothing’s getting better.”