Christmas travel disruption as motorways close and rail travellers …
Christmas getaway disruption is continuing with long queues for cross-Channel journeys, motorway closures and train cancellations.
The Port of Dover in Kent said it is taking about 90 minutes to process cars.
It attributed the delay to a surge in demand for ferries after the Channel Tunnel rail link was closed on Thursday due to unscheduled industrial action by French workers, which ruined the travel plans of tens of thousands of people.
Eurostar, which operates passenger services to and from London St Pancras, is operating two extra services per day between London and Paris up to and including Christmas Eve to help people whose trains were cancelled on Thursday.
Vehicle-carrying train service Eurotunnel is running its usual timetable but is only accepting customers who have pre-booked.
The M20 motorway in Kent remains closed in the coastbound direction between junctions 8 and 9 due to Operation Brock, which involves organising a queue for freight traffic during disruption to cross-Channel services.
National Highways said this was causing 45-minute delays, with tourist traffic diverted on to local roads.
The Government-owned company said a moveable concrete barrier – installed at a cost of tens of millions of pounds – has not been used to create a contraflow system to keep the motorway open in both directions because putting it in position involves closing the road overnight, and Operation Brock is expected to be lifted on Saturday morning at the latest.
Passengers queue at St Pancras International station in London as Christmas getaway disruption is expected to continue (Lucy North/PA)
Some Eurostar passengers at London St Pancras on Friday were due to travel on Thursday but had their journeys cancelled.
Valentin Walch and Pauline Cerceau, both 26, stayed at a friend’s home overnight after rebooking.
Mr Walch, a handball trainer from Chartres, France, said they were “stressed and a little bit angry” when they were told they could not travel on Thursday.
He said: “We know some people who slept in the train station, we’re lucky we stayed at a friend’s.”
The M62 motorway was closed from around 11pm on Thursday until shortly before 9am on Friday between junctions 21 (near Rochdale, Greater Manchester) and 22 (near Sowerby Bridge, West Yorkshire) because of a police investigation following a crash in which a 19-year-old, male car passenger was killed.
This caused long delays to journeys.
Greater Manchester Police said it arrested the 19-year-old driver of the car – which crossed from the westbound carriage on to the eastbound section – on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving.
On the domestic railway, disruption from strong winds remained following chaos caused by Storm Pia on Thursday.
No LNER trains served Inverness on Friday morning.
Cars with pre-booked tickets were taking about 90 minutes to be processed at Dover (Andrew Matthews/PA)
ScotRail services were suspended between Inverness and Wick, Tain, Ardgay and Lairg.
Meanwhile, Southeastern said it was forced to cancel a number of trains due to “a shortage of available train crew”.
Services on the Sheerness line were suspended at 10am for the rest of the day, and there are cancellations on the high-speed line to and from London St Pancras throughout the day.
The RAC estimated 13.5 million leisure journeys by car would take place across the UK between Friday and Sunday, up 20% on the three days before Christmas Day last year.
Road congestion was likely to peak on Friday as drivers embarking on leisure trips competed for road space with commuters and business traffic.
Motorists were advised to travel before 11am or after 6pm if possible to reduce the chance of being stuck in long queues.
Location technology company TomTom said road congestion in cities across Britain was above normal levels at 3pm.
The time taken to cover 10km (6.2 miles) in London was 20 minutes and 15 seconds, some one minute and 51 seconds longer than usual at that time.
Other cities that saw an increase in journey times over the same distance include Birmingham (two minutes and 11 seconds), Manchester (two minutes and 33 seconds), Glasgow (two minutes and 24 seconds) and Cardiff (four minutes and eight seconds).
Likely traffic hotspots on the M25 identified by transport analysis company Inrix include: clockwise between junction 7 (for the M23/Gatwick Airport) and junction 16 (for the M40/Birmingham); and anti-clockwise between junction 17 (Rickmansworth) and junction 12 (for the M3).
Other motorway stretches expected to see long queues included the M1 north from Woburn, Bedfordshire, to Daventry, Northamptonshire, and the M6 south from Wigan, Greater Manchester, to Stafford, Staffordshire.