Travel chaos LATEST: Dover queues causing ‘holiday hell’ on Eurotunnel plus cancelled flights update and train strikes

More than 50,000 railway staff will walkout in the biggest dispute on the network in 33 years.

A map shows the lines which will continue operating in and out of London during the affected dates.

Just one in five trains will run during strike days

Just one in five trains will run on strike days — with last services leaving by 6.30pm and disruption expected all week.

A Network Rail map reveals only half of the ­network will be operating, with no services to Chester, Bournemouth, Blackpool, and most of Wales.

Militant unions told rail users they should work from home for a week to avoid the impending travel chaos, which is set to cost the fragile economy £150million.

Some 50,000 drivers and staff will take to picket lines, claiming their pay rises and conditions fall short.

Vulnerable summer ahead says Kent County Council official

On what the rest of the summer could bring, Mr Howe told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “Basically it’s a very vulnerable situation, it takes very little to cause further issues.

“So, for example, last Friday night we had the Port of Dover telling us there was a lack of resource at the port but we then had a serious crash on the motorway as well so those two things together then really compounded the situation, so you only need another crash on the road or maybe a train breaks down or there’s a power failure somewhere for it then to become a big problem.”

On what is needed to avoid this happening, Mr Howe said: “We shouldn’t really be having to use our roads as lorry and car parks.

“We shouldn’t really have to have queues of traffic due to all of this, so we need more infrastructure in place.

“We’re really in a difficult position in England that Port of Dover and Eurotunnel have very limited space. Over in France, they have a lot more space so they are able to expand and to allow more space with facilities but we don’t have that luxury in Kent.

“So the Kent Resilience Forum and Kent County Council are working very closely with Government to actually look at what can be done in the future, but as you say that can’t be done overnight.”

M20 remains closed to non-freight traffic between junctions 8 & 9

National Highways reopened the coastbound M20 between junctions 9 and 11 in Kent shortly after 1am on Monday.

But the motorway remains closed to non-freight traffic between junctions 8 and 9 as part of Operation Brock, which is in place due to the difficulties at Dover.

There were also long queues on the roads approaching Eurotunnel’s Folkestone terminal over the weekend.

In pictures: Mammoth queues at Dover over weekend

Holidaymakers reported delays of seven hours at Dover this weekend, while the BBC said one man had been waiting to make the crossing for “30 hours”.

Another family told the broadcaster they moved just 75m in six hours.

The disgruntled passengers eventually decided to abandon their place in the queue to risk a quicker route.

Strike date round-up

The National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) and Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association – July 27

Arriva Rail London, Chiltern Railways, Greater Anglia, Great Western, Hull Trains, LNER, Southeastern and West Midlands Trains – July 30

RMT – August 18 and 20

TfL disruption expected to some lines during strike action

Transport for London (TfL) said while the industrial action does not involve its staff, disruption is expected on the District and Bakerloo Tube lines, London Overground, and the Elizabeth line, which are used to travel to airports including London Heathrow and London Gatwick.

TUI issues holiday warning for Brits heading abroad

TUI has issued new travel advice for Brits heading abroad this week.

Planned rail strikes are taking place across the UK – which is likely to lead to problems for holidaymakers heading to the airport.

The strikes are taking place on July 27 this week with more than 40,000 workers at Network Rail walking out.

TUI has since advised travellers to find alternative ways to get to the airport to avoid missing their flights.

They said on their website: “We’d like to remind customers of a planned national train strike on Wednesday 27^th July which is likely to affect services into airports across the country throughout the day and into Thursday 28th.

“If you are heading on holiday on either of these days please plan ahead and make alternative plans to get to your departure airport if necessary. We’d also recommend allowing extra time for your journey.”

Dover MP blames French police chief for travel chaos

A FRENCH police chief who is critical of Brexit was blamed for the Dover traffic chaos which continued to cause misery for thousands of holidaymakers yesterday.

It came as French border staff working inside Dover port carried out full passport checks for the first time since 2019.

Fernand Gontier, 62, director general of France’s PAF Border Police, has been moaning about Britain leaving the EU since the referendum in 2016 ? calling it a “regression”.

He was accused of being responsible for there not being enough French officers in Dover port to process checks on Friday.

Families faced 30-hour queues while as few as four of 12 French border passport booths were opened at one time. And there were still queues of up to six hours yesterday as the Kent cross- Channel ferry port officials struggled to cope with the huge backlog built up from Friday.

Dover MP Natalie Elphicke let rip at Mr Gontier after some of his border staff did not turn up to work on Friday.

She said: “First, the French don’t turn up to work, then they refuse to apologise for ruining Brits’ well-deserved holidays.

“No wonder people are asking whether this is yet more anti-British behaviour from the French to punish us for leaving the EU.

“I’m really disappointed by Mr Gontier. How was this allowed to happen? He’s responsible as the chief. He has questions to answer.”

RMT statement on Wednesday’s crippling rail walk-out

RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said: “Strike action will take place next Wednesday as planned and our members are more determined than ever to secure a decent pay rise, job security and good working conditions.

“Network Rail have not made any improvement on their previous pay offer and the train companies have not offered us anything new.

“In fact Network Rail have upped the ante, threatening to impose compulsory redundancies and unsafe 50% cuts to maintenance work if we did not withdraw our planned strike action.

“The train operating companies have put driver-only operations on the table along with ransacking our members’ terms and conditions.

“RMT will continue to negotiate in good faith but we will not be bullied or cajoled by anyone.

“The Government need to stop their interference in this dispute so the rail employers can come to a negotiated settlement with us.”

AA warns travel chaos to jam Britain’s roads during warm months

Head of roads policy at the AA Jack Cousens shared his worries that delays will last throughout the warm months.

He explained: “We are concerned that we could be in for a repeat of this congestion across the summer.

“Drivers due to use both Dover and Folkestone to head into Europe on Fridays, Saturdays and Sunday mornings between now and the reopening of schools may see a repetition of these delays.”

Transport for London reviewing long-term funding settlement

Transport for London (TfL) says it is reviewing a draft proposal from the Government for a long-term funding settlement.

TfL has been operating on a series of emergency short-term funding deals since falling into financial trouble during the pandemic.

Andy Byford, London’s Transport Commissioner, said the long-term funding – if agreed – would provide much-needed certainty for those in the nation’s capital.

He said: “Since keeping London moving through the darkest periods of the pandemic we have been making the case to Government that there can be no UK recovery without a London recovery and that there can be no London recovery without a properly funded transport network.

“We are grateful for the support we have received so far, and maintain we have met every condition that has been set by Government as we have worked towards agreeing a multi-year funding settlement that would give certainty to London and to the tens of thousands of jobs across the country that are directly linked to TfL.”

Passengers in Folkestone ‘treated worse than cattle’

Passengers at Folkestone said they were “treated worse than cattle” while stuck in their cars for up to 21 hours this weekend.

The gridlock was blamed on the decision to shut a 24-mile stretch of the M20 due to Operation Brock.

Kent Police effectively turned the roads into a car park for thousands of lorries in an attempt to ease congestion – which seems to have backfired.

The AA branded the entrance to the Eurotunnel in Folkestone the “hotspot of holiday hell”, warning drivers to “be prepared”.

Port of Dover hanging on ‘knife edge’

Holidaymakers have been warned the Kent port is on a “knife edge” as the country’s travel mayhem entered its third torturous day.

A “critical incident” was declared at Dover on Friday, with holidaymakers told to arrive six hours early for ferry queues lasting up to five hours.

A ramp up of post-Brexit border checks and French authorities’ understaffing checkpoints have been blamed for the hold-ups.

Local authorities have now urged ministers to handle the issue as a “national problem” instead of the “sticking plaster” approach.

Holidaymakers warned ‘long way to go’ before Dover backlog cleared

Holidaymakers and residents have been warned there is a “way to go” to clear the backlog at Dover with a “very busy” day expected but port authorities expressed relief at improved levels of French border staff.

Some 10,000 cars were expected at the port on Saturday, with more than 13,000 passengers said to be “on their way” before 10am.

Scenes of gridlocked roads and bumper-to-bumper cars seen on Friday were repeated as travellers, some of whom got out of their vehicles to stretch their legs while traffic was at a standstill, endured more lengthy waits.

Port of Dover chief executive Doug Bannister indicated that five to six-hour delays could still be the case on Saturday, which was already expected to be a busier day than Friday.

This is one of the busiest periods for foreign travel from the UK as most schools in England and Wales have broken up for summer.

Chaotic scenes at the port have prompted Foreign Secretary and Tory leadership hopeful Liz Truss to blame France for “entirely avoidable” delays, calling on officials there to “build up capacity at the border to limit any further disruption for British tourists and to ensure this appalling situation is avoided in future”.