France is resisting efforts to increase daily Eurostar services in a
fresh twist to a row between border guards and travel companies that
last week tipped millions of summer holidays into chaos.
In
a dispute that will draw parallels with a row that brought Dover to
standstill on Friday, border officials in Paris are at loggerheads with
the Channel Tunnel train operator over its plans to add to the number of
trains running between London and Paris every day.
Eurostar, whose future was put in doubt last year
in a funding row between France and the UK, is understood to be pushing
to increase the number of services between the two capitals to 17 a
day.
City sources said that the desire to ramp up services was in
part to honour commitments contained in leasing agreements for
Eurostar’s fleet of Velaro trains, built by Siemens at a cost of €600m
(£510m).
Failure to hit this frequency could cause financial issues with
honouring lease payments in the fullness of time, sources said. However,
they said that there was no suggestion of an immediate threat to the
company.
French border and security officials at Gare du Nord are
understood to be insisting that they can only cope with a maximum of 13
trains a day, causing a significant headache for Eurostar bosses and
hurting hopes of capturing a boom in demand for overseas travel this
summer.
An extra four services would allow thousands more people
to travel to the Continent every day, easing pressure on ferries and
airlines after passengers suffered a wave of flight cancellations and hours-long traffic jams around Dover.
Eurostar wants to run 17 trains between London and Paris per day - CHRISTOPHE PETIT TESSON/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
France
is resisting efforts to increase daily Eurostar services in a fresh
twist to a row between border guards and travel companies that last week
tipped millions of summer holidays into chaos.
In
a dispute that will draw parallels with a row that brought Dover to
standstill on Friday, border officials in Paris are at loggerheads with
the Channel Tunnel train operator over its plans to add to the number of
trains running between London and Paris every day.
Eurostar, whose future was put in doubt last year
in a funding row between France and the UK, is understood to be pushing
to increase the number of services between the two capitals to 17 a
day.
City sources said that the desire to ramp up services was in
part to honour commitments contained in leasing agreements for
Eurostar’s fleet of Velaro trains, built by Siemens at a cost of €600m
(£510m).
- ADVERTISEMENT -
Failure
to hit this frequency could cause financial issues with honouring lease
payments in the fullness of time, sources said. However, they said that
there was no suggestion of an immediate threat to the company.
French
border and security officials at Gare du Nord are understood to be
insisting that they can only cope with a maximum of 13 trains a day,
causing a significant headache for Eurostar bosses and hurting hopes of
capturing a boom in demand for overseas travel this summer.
An
extra four services would allow thousands more people to travel to the
Continent every day, easing pressure on ferries and airlines after
passengers suffered a wave of flight cancellations and hours-long traffic jams around Dover.
Frustrated holidaymakers queued for hours to board ferries at Dover on 22 July - Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg
Eurostar
ran around 25 services each day prior to the pandemic, including to
destinations such as Brussels and Amsterdam as well as Paris.
French
border police and security scanning personnel claim that they are
suffering from chronic staffing shortages and cannot handle more
train services, sources said.
One said: “It's in no-one's interest
to upset the apple cart. Getting on top of the post-pandemic surge in
demand requires goodwill and collaboration on all sides.”
On Friday, border officials from Police Aux Frontières (PAF) sparked chaos at Dover amid claims that staff failed to turn up to work.
Weirdly The Telegraph have published that piece without a single mention of the "B" word and the role it's self evidently played in the chaos of last week.
If Eurostar want to increase from 13 to 17 trains a day, couldn’t the company pay the French authorities to train up more staff and employ them, build extra booths at the station in Paris and install the technical support mechanisms?
This has come to the attention of more of the population this weekend, because of the delays for tourists travelling by car, however HGVs have been experiencing frequent problems since we 'left' the EU. The increased paperwork and checks required to cross the border increase the time taken and queues build up. Lorry parks for checks, have been created at great cost to the taxpayer, but there are frequent delays in Dover and the Dover TAP scheme means lorries are held on lane 1 of the A20 on the approach to the port.
Brock is a never ending nightmare for those living with it and a very expensive one as well.
At least the problems caused by Brexit are being highlighted.
Think Simon Calder has explained it multiple times that it isn't the French it was the UK's decision to have the extra checks on passports and customs and the UK Government who declined to share the investment in extra staff and facilities.
Along with the travel chaos that staff are caught up in making them late to work and having to work extra, due to staff shortages as someone who works at the port said the Daily Mail and Tories are lying to cover their asses again need the press to come down and investigate exactly what's going on.
Client of mine was at Paris airport - queue for British passport holders was very long, and the French were being deliberately slow - he holds dual nationality, so used his Lebanese passport to go through a different booth - in his view they are doing it deliberately because they are annoyed about Brexit
Mind you, the French have form for being ignorant and having short memories - in 1966 De Gaulle ordered all US troops to leave France - Dean Rusk (US Secretary of State) replied ‘does that include the 60,000 dead ones in cemeteries’
Indeed when I was in bayeux last month on the war visit, restaurant owners twice told me they were full when there were empty unreserved tables, only to go down the queue and cherry pick French citizens out to sit.
Why I dont work there anymore and certainly wouldn't holiday there. But had to pay my respects to those that fell so those owners could be racist and ignorant.
To be fair they havent vandalised the cemeteries yet.
France is resisting efforts to increase daily Eurostar services in a
fresh twist to a row between border guards and travel companies that
last week tipped millions of summer holidays into chaos.
In
a dispute that will draw parallels with a row that brought Dover to
standstill on Friday, border officials in Paris are at loggerheads with
the Channel Tunnel train operator over its plans to add to the number of
trains running between London and Paris every day.
Eurostar, whose future was put in doubt last year
in a funding row between France and the UK, is understood to be pushing
to increase the number of services between the two capitals to 17 a
day.
City sources said that the desire to ramp up services was in
part to honour commitments contained in leasing agreements for
Eurostar’s fleet of Velaro trains, built by Siemens at a cost of €600m
(£510m).
Failure to hit this frequency could cause financial issues with
honouring lease payments in the fullness of time, sources said. However,
they said that there was no suggestion of an immediate threat to the
company.
French border and security officials at Gare du Nord are
understood to be insisting that they can only cope with a maximum of 13
trains a day, causing a significant headache for Eurostar bosses and
hurting hopes of capturing a boom in demand for overseas travel this
summer.
An extra four services would allow thousands more people
to travel to the Continent every day, easing pressure on ferries and
airlines after passengers suffered a wave of flight cancellations and hours-long traffic jams around Dover.
Eurostar wants to run 17 trains between London and Paris per day - CHRISTOPHE PETIT TESSON/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
France
is resisting efforts to increase daily Eurostar services in a fresh
twist to a row between border guards and travel companies that last week
tipped millions of summer holidays into chaos.
In
a dispute that will draw parallels with a row that brought Dover to
standstill on Friday, border officials in Paris are at loggerheads with
the Channel Tunnel train operator over its plans to add to the number of
trains running between London and Paris every day.
Eurostar, whose future was put in doubt last year
in a funding row between France and the UK, is understood to be pushing
to increase the number of services between the two capitals to 17 a
day.
City sources said that the desire to ramp up services was in
part to honour commitments contained in leasing agreements for
Eurostar’s fleet of Velaro trains, built by Siemens at a cost of €600m
(£510m).
- ADVERTISEMENT -
Failure
to hit this frequency could cause financial issues with honouring lease
payments in the fullness of time, sources said. However, they said that
there was no suggestion of an immediate threat to the company.
French
border and security officials at Gare du Nord are understood to be
insisting that they can only cope with a maximum of 13 trains a day,
causing a significant headache for Eurostar bosses and hurting hopes of
capturing a boom in demand for overseas travel this summer.
An
extra four services would allow thousands more people to travel to the
Continent every day, easing pressure on ferries and airlines after
passengers suffered a wave of flight cancellations and hours-long traffic jams around Dover.
Frustrated holidaymakers queued for hours to board ferries at Dover on 22 July - Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg
Eurostar
ran around 25 services each day prior to the pandemic, including to
destinations such as Brussels and Amsterdam as well as Paris.
French
border police and security scanning personnel claim that they are
suffering from chronic staffing shortages and cannot handle more
train services, sources said.
One said: “It's in no-one's interest
to upset the apple cart. Getting on top of the post-pandemic surge in
demand requires goodwill and collaboration on all sides.”
On Friday, border officials from Police Aux Frontières (PAF) sparked chaos at Dover amid claims that staff failed to turn up to work.
We often park our car in the White Cliffs National Trust car park and sit on the grassy slopes above Dover's eastern dock watching the movements within the port. There are a huge number of ferries going in and out each day.
I checked DFDS and P&O timetable for next Saturday and there are 15 crossings from Dover to Calais for DFDS and 14 for P&O. Irish Ferries also run a service from Dover to Calais.
Client of mine was at Paris airport - queue for British passport holders was very long, and the French were being deliberately slow - he holds dual nationality, so used his Lebanese passport to go through a different booth - in his view they are doing it deliberately because they are annoyed about Brexit
Mind you, the French have form for being ignorant and having short memories - in 1966 De Gaulle ordered all US troops to leave France - Dean Rusk (US Secretary of State) replied ‘does that include the 60,000 dead ones in cemeteries’
Indeed when I was in bayeux last month on the war visit, restaurant owners twice told me they were full when there were empty unreserved tables, only to go down the queue and cherry pick French citizens out to sit.
Why I dont work there anymore and certainly wouldn't holiday there. But had to pay my respects to those that fell so those owners could be racist and ignorant.
To be fair they havent vandalised the cemeteries yet.
I remember when I was about 10, we went on camping holiday to France - went on a toll motorway, and it was evident that we were lost (1980 so pre satnav etc - Dad driving, Mum map reading) - got to a toll booth, and Mum (who was of course on the side of the car where the toll booth man was) tried in her limited school learned French, to explain where we were trying to get to - this bloke just stared at her, and let her struggle to say what she wanted to say - once she finished, she turned to Dad and said that we would have to try somewhere else, as she couldn’t explain things to the bloke, and he clearly didn’t speak English - bloke in toll booth then announces that he speaks perfect English, but he would not help us, as there was a queue of cars behind us now - my Mum had grab Dad’s arm and stop him getting out of the car to whack the bloke - Dad was incensed that the bloke had been such a tosser, and effectively belittled Mum
No queues or traffic at Portsmouth ferries to France and Spain this weekend. French border checks done in France. Smooth as it should be
Yesterday I heard a discussion with someone in charge of the Port of Calais, who explained why the checks have to be done on the UK side. With the number of ferry movements into Calais each day, the ferries would be queuing up to enter the port, due to the length of time taken for vehicles to disembark and then be checked.
Need some grown ups from both sides to sit down and sort it out as it does neither any favours and potentially harms future tourism.
My faith in politicians to resolve matters is at an all time low as all they ever seem to do (both parties) is play the blame game and shoot themselves in the foot.
How the hell can we ever hope to work together to combat climate change when we can't resolve, in global terms, some relatively minor local difficulties.
This is clearly a consequence of Brexit but one which could have been mitigated. I went across the channel via Euro Tunnel 8 weeks ago. It took a few minutes as opposed to a few seconds or no seconds to go through the French customs/border control, which is on the British side. We were fine with that, no problem at all. Drove off the train on time and on our way.
When you have to take time with every car though, you need more booths for when things are busy. In the same way as congestion on a motorawy has a knock on effect down the miles. You need a lot more booths as it was definitely a measure to let a lot of cars just pass through in busy periods before and you need to compensate for no longer having that opyion. But these will only be needed in busy periods and that is a logistical issue to solve. Why does the port and indeed Eurotunnel have the same facilities as before? Surely somebody could have looked at it and said how do we solve this and it would be easy to solve and in the way of things, probably not that expensive and if the French didn't want to pay for it, we could with an undertaking they provided the number of customs staff.
Throwing insults and blame at the French will not help this of course. And some people on here that think this is the answer have no wish to travel to France so they don't care. Not their problem. So their views or solutions shouldn't matter. But i'm sure a lot of reasonable people can see that this is more a logistical cock up that could have been solved even after Brexit.
We often park our car in the White Cliffs National Trust car park and sit on the grassy slopes above Dover's eastern dock watching the movements within the port. There are a huge number of ferries going in and out each day.
We often park our car in the White Cliffs National Trust car park and sit on the grassy slopes above Dover's eastern dock watching the movements within the port. There are a huge number of ferries going in and out each day.
We often park our car in the White Cliffs National Trust car park and sit on the grassy slopes above Dover's eastern dock watching the movements within the port. There are a huge number of ferries going in and out each day.
boy, you do know how to have fun
It's actually very interesting and a good place for a picnic.
We often park our car in the White Cliffs National Trust car park and sit on the grassy slopes above Dover's eastern dock watching the movements within the port. There are a huge number of ferries going in and out each day.
boy, you do know how to have fun
It's actually very interesting and a good place for a picnic officer
Client of mine was at Paris airport - queue for British passport holders was very long, and the French were being deliberately slow - he holds dual nationality, so used his Lebanese passport to go through a different booth - in his view they are doing it deliberately because they are annoyed about Brexit
Mind you, the French have form for being ignorant and having short memories - in 1966 De Gaulle ordered all US troops to leave France - Dean Rusk (US Secretary of State) replied ‘does that include the 60,000 dead ones in cemeteries’
Indeed when I was in bayeux last month on the war visit, restaurant owners twice told me they were full when there were empty unreserved tables, only to go down the queue and cherry pick French citizens out to sit.
Why I dont work there anymore and certainly wouldn't holiday there. But had to pay my respects to those that fell so those owners could be racist and ignorant.
To be fair they havent vandalised the cemeteries yet.
I remember when I was about 10, we went on camping holiday to France - went on a toll motorway, and it was evident that we were lost (1980 so pre satnav etc - Dad driving, Mum map reading) - got to a toll booth, and Mum (who was of course on the side of the car where the toll booth man was) tried in her limited school learned French, to explain where we were trying to get to - this bloke just stared at her, and let her struggle to say what she wanted to say - once she finished, she turned to Dad and said that we would have to try somewhere else, as she couldn’t explain things to the bloke, and he clearly didn’t speak English - bloke in toll booth then announces that he speaks perfect English, but he would not help us, as there was a queue of cars behind us now - my Mum had grab Dad’s arm and stop him getting out of the car to whack the bloke - Dad was incensed that the bloke had been such a tosser, and effectively belittled Mum
We didn’t holiday in France after that trip !!
They even had the ‘ump back then with the Brexit vote! Bloody frogs!
For what it's worth I visited Paris with a group from my then girlfriend's work in the early eighties, we were booked in a self service restaurant for lunch and being unfamiliar with the fare we were all taking a good look at what was available. The ignorant manager was virtually shouting at us to hurry up.
In the nineties I was with my wife in Marseilles at traffic lights looking at an atlas that had a tiny detail of the centre of the city, because the start/end of the Autoroute de Soleil was closed due to an accident and we had no idea how to get to the first junction from where we were. A guy saw our UK plates and pulled alongside us on his moped and asked, in English if we were lost. We explained the situation and he said "follow me", and proceded to lead us to the junction we needed.
The moral of this story chums, is that people are either c***ts or nice, nationality is not relevant. And clearly neither is which football team you support...
Essentially been a hostage to this nonsense in Hythe since Friday, We apparently have the issue of some 'politicians' now proposing lorry parks, and utilising Manston airport, which was always available, but the resilience forum, and others refused to consider this, several months ago. That alone will not solve the issue, as in the opinion of many it will need a holding bay before Maidstone, and and for the private companies that operate Eurotunnel , and the Ferry operators to draw up plans to facilitate, this with KCC, and Highways England, and pay for it!
Having had a new knee cap three weeks ago, I am still recovering from mobility issues, I hope to be driven up to Bexley tommorow, and probably face the A20 on the way home. This needs to be sorted out ASAP, to me there is not one thing that can be done, but a number of things that need to be implemented, and that will take years to come on stream in my opinion. In the meantime the village roads of Kent are screwed!, and hard luck the residents.
All this after 6 years of poor management, and a lack of vision. Blaming the French is a pointless exercise, we need our so called 'leaders' to come out with proposals which stops the M20 being lorry park, the one intention it claimed not to want to do!.
Why any poor HGV driver would want to come to the UK and face this nonsense is both unfair and not fit for purpose, no toilets, showering, and a complete lack of parking, let alone a decent hot meal is scandalous.
Hopefully, there is a solution/s to this mess, but frankly it escapes me and any resident down here!
What a load of bollocks on here by the remoaners.The vast majority of people do not give a shit about the more intricate side of politics.When the vote to leave was taken,"The Majority " of the voters where pissed off with being told what to do by other countries,pissed off with our own laws and court judgements being subject to over ruling by a load of pumped up over paid,un elected self indulgant popinjays in Brussels and Strasbourg,have any of you ever seen the extravagant buildings,the fleets of Mercedes which constantly ferry noneties about holding volumes of paper which are probably blank.If the French or whoever else in the EU wants to punish us by delaying our holiday makers,thats a pitiful reaction to not getting their own way,personally the EU countries can get stuffed.Look how they policed the Champions league final,blamed the English for everything.As far as I am concerned they can get knotted I wouldnt set foot in their little republic for anything.
I am not a 'remoaner' as you put it, I voted to leave, but can now see the damage that decision has had on the UK. It is not only a disaster for Kent, with the traffic chaos caused by our decision to place a border between ourselves and the EU, but is having a dramatic effect on our economy as well. The lack of free movement is having a dramatic effect on staff shortages too. The NHS in particular desperately needs more staff and they could come from the EU if we let them.
I stopped reading the Daily Mail when I realised how much rubbish and lies they print and how it was influencing my thinking.
I did not single out any particular person for my comments.I just fail to understand why a reciprocal agreement between the EU and the UK could not have been agreed to facilitate an easier way to travel either way.The emphasis on here is the border problems,but have you travelled around kent recently,if you get to Dartford from medway in less than an hour you have had a result.Delays all over the country damage the economy. While agreeing more could be done to get EU workers here,the laws had to be tightened the amount of "dodgy" workers here prior to brexit was astronomical,perhaps now they will have to be on "the book" the prospect of coming here is less attractive,I still get the Mail but only for the excellent puzzle pages,just reading one or two pages and I am at the wrist slashing stage.
I'm glad I took the decision to stay local near to family, friends and The Valley. I'll never be going near Dover, Folkestone or similar. If I'm going abroad it'll be by plane.
I'm glad I took the decision to stay local near to family, friends and The Valley. I'll never be going near Dover, Folkestone or similar. If I'm going abroad it'll be by plane.
Comments
Brock is a never ending nightmare for those living with it and a very expensive one as well.
At least the problems caused by Brexit are being highlighted.
Along with the travel chaos that staff are caught up in making them late to work and having to work extra, due to staff shortages as someone who works at the port said the Daily Mail and Tories are lying to cover their asses again need the press to come down and investigate exactly what's going on.
Totally different story.
Why I dont work there anymore and certainly wouldn't holiday there. But had to pay my respects to those that fell so those owners could be racist and ignorant.
To be fair they havent vandalised the cemeteries yet.
French border checks done in France.
Smooth as it should be
Eurostar is owned by the state owned French Railways and financed by American and Canadian investment funds.
Nothing to do with "us" any more - so not our problem! We certainly have no influence over how many trains the French want to run!
https://www.brittany-ferries.co.uk/ferry-routes/ferries-france
Ferries to Spain | England to Spain Ferries | Brittany Ferries (brittany-ferries.co.uk)
I checked DFDS and P&O timetable for next Saturday and there are 15 crossings from Dover to Calais for DFDS and 14 for P&O. Irish Ferries also run a service from Dover to Calais.
We didn’t holiday in France after that trip !!
My faith in politicians to resolve matters is at an all time low as all they ever seem to do (both parties) is play the blame game and shoot themselves in the foot.
How the hell can we ever hope to work together to combat climate change when we can't resolve, in global terms, some relatively minor local difficulties.
When you have to take time with every car though, you need more booths for when things are busy. In the same way as congestion on a motorawy has a knock on effect down the miles. You need a lot more booths as it was definitely a measure to let a lot of cars just pass through in busy periods before and you need to compensate for no longer having that opyion. But these will only be needed in busy periods and that is a logistical issue to solve. Why does the port and indeed Eurotunnel have the same facilities as before? Surely somebody could have looked at it and said how do we solve this and it would be easy to solve and in the way of things, probably not that expensive and if the French didn't want to pay for it, we could with an undertaking they provided the number of customs staff.
Throwing insults and blame at the French will not help this of course. And some people on here that think this is the answer have no wish to travel to France so they don't care. Not their problem. So their views or solutions shouldn't matter. But i'm sure a lot of reasonable people can see that this is more a logistical cock up that could have been solved even after Brexit.
https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/the-white-cliffs-of-dover
In the nineties I was with my wife in Marseilles at traffic lights looking at an atlas that had a tiny detail of the centre of the city, because the start/end of the Autoroute de Soleil was closed due to an accident and we had no idea how to get to the first junction from where we were. A guy saw our UK plates and pulled alongside us on his moped and asked, in English if we were lost. We explained the situation and he said "follow me", and proceded to lead us to the junction we needed.
The moral of this story chums, is that people are either c***ts or nice, nationality is not relevant. And clearly neither is which football team you support...
Having had a new knee cap three weeks ago, I am still recovering from mobility issues, I hope to be driven up to Bexley tommorow, and probably face the A20 on the way home.
This needs to be sorted out ASAP, to me there is not one thing that can be done, but a number of things that need to be implemented, and that will take years to come on stream in my opinion.
In the meantime the village roads of Kent are screwed!, and hard luck the residents.
All this after 6 years of poor management, and a lack of vision.
Blaming the French is a pointless exercise, we need our so called 'leaders' to come out with proposals which stops the M20 being lorry park, the one intention it claimed not to want to do!.
Why any poor HGV driver would want to come to the UK and face this nonsense is both unfair and not fit for purpose, no toilets, showering, and a complete lack of parking, let alone a decent hot meal is scandalous.
Hopefully, there is a solution/s to this mess, but frankly it escapes me and any resident down here!
While agreeing more could be done to get EU workers here,the laws had to be tightened the amount of "dodgy" workers here prior to brexit was astronomical,perhaps now they will have to be on "the book" the prospect of coming here is less attractive,I still get the Mail but only for the excellent puzzle pages,just reading one or two pages and I am at the wrist slashing stage.
I'll never be going near Dover, Folkestone or similar.
If I'm going abroad it'll be by plane.