Guest 699- Registered: 3 Jun 2010
- Posts: 292
20 December 2010
18:4785691#1
dover foot passengers up by 10 times normal amount , due to eurostar cancellions
remember the ash cloud problems ?
some ferries said no foot passengers but you can go if you get a bike
so in dover could be the christmas present of the year !!!
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
20 December 2010
19:3785700#2
just seen the item on bbc news south east, the travel centre will be home for many travellers tonight.
a recent item on the front page showed that the d.h.b. people have planned for this and stored up essentials for the desperate traveller.
eurostar are not considering taking bookings until at least christmas eve.
i hope that things are better than last year when we saw what looked like a refugee trail moving between the station and the port.
Alec Sheldon
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 18 Aug 2008
- Posts: 1,037
20 December 2010
23:4785752#3
That was this year Howard when we had the volcanic ash problem.
Guest 640- Registered: 21 Apr 2007
- Posts: 7,819
21 December 2010
07:2485757#4
We will have seen the news last night with the Eurostar passengers queing round the block in London, it took 15 minutes for the BBC reporter to walk the length of it. People in the queue had been queing for 5 hours in the street in freezing conditions. I wouldnt be able to manage to do that myself. Terrible. As they used to say in the old days...its a terrible way to run a railroad!
Crowds got very fractious waiting at the Paris end and the Gendarmerie had to be called. Its not a comfortable place to wait at the Paris end...you are just left standing there for ever trying to get into the Eurostar section itself, and thats when its all working right. Ive been on the train many times...fortunately without a hitch.
The only place thats able to stay open is Dover and the Ferries. Although is the message getting out? as one passenger on the news last night interviewed by the reporter while standing in the aforementioned queue, said he had tried the ferries and hovercraft and they were full. He may have been telling little porkie pies...as there hasnt been a hovercraft for years!
But maybe the ferry companies ought to flag up their operation a bit more at times like these so that people see them as an option.
Although during the ash crises they did handle over a quarter of a million extra passengers...the equivalent of 600 Boeing 747's.
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
21 December 2010
09:3685790#5
it is indeed an opportunity for the ferry companies, especially as the forecast is for a long and hard winter.
Jan Higgins
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 5 Jul 2010
- Posts: 13,931
21 December 2010
09:4185791#6
I doubt they need to promote themselves at the moment, I would think they are fully booked with those who can't get on a plane to Europe.
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I try to be neutral and polite but it is hard and getting even more difficult at times.
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howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
21 December 2010
09:5885799#7
jan
only p & o take foot passenegers as far as i know.
Guest 699- Registered: 3 Jun 2010
- Posts: 292
21 December 2010
16:0985891#8
Seafrance will if have wheels , as in the ash problems
that is why they suggest you buy a bike !!
today there was a spaniard who done this , paid 125 euros at carrefour and i bought it on the gateway lawns for £80 , he got to the uk as foot passenger , i got brand new bike at discount and my 95 year old gran is sorted for christmas !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Guest 640- Registered: 21 Apr 2007
- Posts: 7,819
21 December 2010
16:1585895#9
Well done there Ron, you had an eye for a bargain. You will have to send us a picture of your 95 year old gran powering around Dover on it !!lol
Amazing how these big companies have these oddball rules. Much better just to take the foot passengers and have done with it.
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
21 December 2010
16:2085897#10
i suppose it saves them bringing out the walkway equipment and having buses ferrying the travellers from the travel centre to the ship.
Jan Higgins- Location: Dover
- Registered: 5 Jul 2010
- Posts: 13,931
21 December 2010
16:2585898#11
Bet this oddball rule has something to do with the ship's insurance or maybe to do with ratio of crew to passengers.
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I try to be neutral and polite but it is hard and getting even more difficult at times.
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Guest 651- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 5,673
21 December 2010
18:3785943#12
It is health and safety for getting around inside the docks - I don't think they have the stream of buses that they used to have to carry people around...
Been nice knowing you :)
Guest 698- Registered: 28 May 2010
- Posts: 8,664
22 December 2010
01:1286002#13
There must be a business opportunity here. Bus service Dover Priory to Calais-Ville , hourly bus service perhaps?
I'm an optimist. But I'm an optimist who takes my raincoat - Harold Wilson