Brits suffer through travel chaos with train strikes causing extreme delays while cars queue in heavy traffic in Dover
HOLIDAYMAKERS are suffering through travel chaos with train strikes causing extreme delays.
Drivers are also facing extremely heavy traffic in Dover as thousands of Brits try to escape for a summer holiday.
The RMT are striking today with around 20,000 workers walking out.
Hoards of travellers have been seen trying to pile onto the few running trains at Waterloo Station in London.
In some areas only about half of train services will run, while others will have none at all.
The repeated strikes by rail staff have been mirrored across the public and private sectors in Britain, as workers demand pay rises in response to decades-high inflation and the worst cost-of-living crisis in a generation.
Meanwhile, travellers are facing waits of up to two hours at the Port of Dover during one of the most popular mornings of the summer, officials have said.
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.
Port of Dover officials said overnight that over 35,000 people had passed through on their way to France on Friday and had told travellers on Saturday not to arrive more than three hours before 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.”
Google Maps showed dark red lines, the slowest category, reaching into the town, with slow traffic all along the A20 almost to Folkestone.
Some drivers have been venting their frustration by honking their horns and an ambulance flashing blue lights was temporarily stuck in traffic but has now got through.
By 9.30am, officials said the wait time had come down to 90-120 minutes, and that travellers must pass through border checks by Police Aux Frontieres before boarding their ferry.
They have told travellers to use the main routes only to avoid further traffic delays, adding: “This morning is one of our most popular times of travel throughout the summer.
“The current processing time reaching border controls is 90-120 minutes.”