Travellers are facing a weekend of disruption which could go on into next week with lengthy traffic jams and rail strikes causing chaos.
Holidaymakers who took to the roads early as the rail network shut down faced two-hour long queues at Dover with a nine-lane-wide queue stretched alongside the white cliffs throughout Saturday morning on the approach to the border where French guards were checking passports.
It was only at 6pm the Port announced traffic was “free-flowing” with around 29,000 passengers setting sail by early evening.
The current processing time at border controls is zero minutes with all traffic moving free-flowing in the Port.
— Port of Dover Travel (@PoD_travelnews) July 29, 2023
Travellers also faced continuing chaos on the railways with Saturday’s strike by RMT members also affecting early services on Sunday while strike action by the driver’s union ASLEF will start on Monday.
Avanti West Coast, which runs services from Euston, warned “early services the next day will also be affected.
“We recommend you check your entire journey before you travel, especially the first and last trains on strike days.”
Gatwick Express did not run its “usual non-stop” service from Victoria on Saturday and said it would not run between Monday and Friday next week after ASLEF called an overtime ban.
The strike brought disruption on other major lines in and out of London, including London Northwestern Railway, Northern, Southeastern, Southern, South Western Railway, and Thameslink.
Other affected services include c2c, Caledonian Sleeper, Chiltern Railways, CrossCountry, East Midlands Railway, Great Northern, Great Western Railway, Greater Anglia, Heathrow Express, LNER, TransPennine Express and West Midlands Railway.
There are also delays or part closures on the Bakerloo, District, Hammersmith and City, Piccadilly, DLR, and Overground.
A Rail Delivery Group spokesperson said the strikes were disrupting the plans of families during the summer holidays.
They said: “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.”
