Goods crossing English Channel return to pre-Brexit speed in Project Fear blow

Dover: Lorries queue at port amidst French travel ban

The managing director of Eurotunnel, Yann Leriche, has announced that goods are now crossing from the EU to the UK at the same speed they were before Brexit.

Mr Leriche put the return to normal down to an €11million (£9.5million) investment in new “border pass” technology, which allows lorry drivers to clear customs before even arriving at the port.

In 2021, Dover chaos saw lorry queues of up to 7km, which many of those originally opposed to Brexit put down to the UK leaving the bloc and putting up a border.

While Labour MPs like Ruth Cadbury told the Independent “There is no doubt the regulatory changes from Brexit are causing delays”, the port said Brexit had nothing to do with it.

Two years on, and it appears Remainers’ doom and gloom was misplaced.

READ MORE: Are the lorry queues in Dover due to Brexit?

The new tech, including an app, has “dramatically” reduced queues at terminals, with the vast majority of HGVs now crossing from French motorways to English motorways in just 90 minutes – including the 35-minute shuttle.

Mr Leriche has told The Times: “The new controls don’t have to be made extremely bureaucratic.

“Because of major technological advances, we are now processing freight vehicles in the same amount of time as we were before Brexit, which is obviously a huge bonus for hauliers.

“We had to look at the whole situation practically. Of course we built more lanes, to accommodate more HGVs, but the main thing was to digitise and use technology to speed up the new customs controls.”

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Previously drivers arriving in Dover with the wrong paperwork were unable to proceed and therefore quickly caused blockages and queues.

However the new pre-customs web app means hauliers can “effectively clear customs before arriving” at the terminal.

Number-plate recognition technology is also helping to smooth passages, and only those HGVs not using the high-tech system are required to have manual checks.

Executives from Eurotunnel, the Port of Dover and Eurostar will appear at a Commons select committee today to discuss post-Brexit border checks.

In 2022, the Unite union said post-Brexit checks mean lorry queues at Dover are “only going to get longer”.

A Government spokesperson at the time said: “It is untrue to suggest that short delays to freight movements at Dover have been caused by new customs processes”.

“The main causes were ship-refitting, which reduces capacity across the short straits, and higher than expected freight volumes.”

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