As the EU prepares to implement its new biometric passport checks via the Entry & Exit System there are plenty of fears about its implementation and one of the big trouble spots is the France-UK border.

A combination of factors – including high passenger numbers and the Le Touquet agreement that sees juxtaposed border checks – makes the Franco-British border a particular problem.

But between different transport operators are very different predictions for how the checks – currently due to come into effect on November 10th – will impact passengers.

While operators of the Le Shuttle seem confident that things will work smoothly, the Port of Dover is described as a “nightmare waiting to happen”.

So why the difference? And are these predictions really likely to come true?

Le Shuttle

With terminals at Coquelles (close to Calais) and Folkestone, Le Shuttle is the busiest UK-France travel link, in 2022, Le Shuttle carried 2.1 million passenger vehicles – including 100,000 over the summer months.

The Shuttle comprises a train through the Channel Tunnel, with vehicles – both cars and lorries – loaded onto trains for the 35-minute journey through the tunnel.

It is operated by the Paris-based company GetLink, which also maintains the tunnel itself and charges a fee to other companies that use it, such as Eurostar.

And GetLink seems pretty confident, CEO Yann Lerich has previously said checks will be “very smooth” at both Folkestone and Coquelles.

Meanwhile John Keefe, GetLink’s director of public affairs told the UK-based Kent Online: “Our peak throughput on a busy summer getaway is around 600-700 vehicles per hour, and the capacity of the new EES facility is over 750 vehicles per hour.

“So we can get stuff through the terminal just as quickly as we can get it through today, so the overall traffic flow keeps going at the same speed.

“Individual vehicles will take a little bit longer because they have to stop for a moment and go through this enrolment phase. We reckon a car will probably stop for about five minutes.”

The reason for this confidence is that GetLink has invested hugely in new infrastructure, spending €80 million on creating vast new processing areas in Folkestone and Coquelles. These were both completed in July and GetLink says it has been running real-time testing since.

Keefe added: “We’ve invested in spaces the size of two football pitches on each terminal, one in the UK and one in France, both the same size, both capable of treating over 100 people at a time and maintaining the traffic flow. So we don’t expect to see any downsides from EES being introduced.”.

You can find a detailed look at how the new checks will work for passengers on Le Shuttle HERE.

Port of Dover 

Over at the UK’s Port of Dover, however, and the picture is a little more gloomy.

The Dover-Calais line is not the only cross-Channel ferry route, but it is by far the busiest, taking 2.4 million passengers a year. Like Le Shuttle, it carries both passenger vehicles and freight. Unlike Le Shuttle it is possible to travel by ferry as a foot passenger at certain times, however the vast majority of passengers arrive in a vehicle.

The problem with the Port of Dover is that it is already in a very cramped space – constrained between the sea, those famous white cliffs and a motorway – leaving no room to expand.

The port does have a longer-term plan to infill some of the Western Dock area to create more processing space – but even with that it doesn’t have the option of building huge extra processing areas like at the Shuttle terminals.

The cramped space at Port of Dover has already led to problems with the extra stamping of passports required since Brexit, with long queues building up at peak times such as at the start of the school holidays.

It’s likely that EES will worsen these problems as passengers have to spend even longer completing EES pre-registration before they travel.

The Port has done its best to mitigate the effects – hiring around 60 new staff members who will deal with registering passengers’ details via the medium of tablet computers which will be passed around the passengers in each car.

Port chief Doug Bannister said: “That process should be sufficient to cater for volumes other than we’ll have on some busy days, busier than normal days, around Christmas and maybe February half term.”

However he added that: “We had a trial over a year ago now and the tablets didn’t work very well. We went over to the laboratory where they’re being built and there were still some fundamental challenges in them working properly.”

Over on the Calais side authorities seem less concerned as they have more space to expand the processing area.

You can find a detailed look at how the new processes will work for passengers on the ground HERE.

Predictions

So is it really true that Folkestone will be smooth and Dover will be a nightmare, or is this a case of corporate spin versus realistic predictions?

Toby Howe is the tactical lead for the Kent and Medway Resilience Forum, the multi-agency body which works to ensure a coordinated response to emergencies and other critical incidents in the county of Kent (which includes both Dover and Folkestone).

He told Kent Online: “We’re not worried about Eurotunnel, they’ve got a set up which is brilliant.

“Our real concern all the way through this is the Port of Dover, because they don’t have that space and facility.

“If you add any delays to the processing there is the high risk that those queues will last for longer and go on further, and you’ve then got the added problem that they’re not sure of the technology yet, the reliability of the technology in the port, so the Eastern Docks is just a nightmare waiting to happen.”