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A bit of a rant, Channel Tunnel


Guest Joe90

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Guest Joe90
According to what I've read today, illegals are routinely accessing the Channel Tunnel, as much as I love France and the French people ( in general ) I mean what the hell is going on, is this not the makings of a major incident at some point, or will they learn lessons as they always do after the event ........rant over.
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Joe90 - 2015-07-07 3:24 PM

 

According to what I've read today, illegals are routinely accessing the Channel Tunnel, as much as I love France and the French people ( in general ) I mean what the hell is going on, is this not the makings of a major incident at some point, or will they learn lessons as they always do after the event ........rant over.

 

 

Not sure who your rant is about Joe - the French people - or the illegals.

 

 

;-)

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Guest JudgeMental
What's with this illegals as if they are some sort of sub species! Probably a young man, my sympathises go out to his family who will probably never know what happened to him.
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We've just booked a return crossing , going over mid-August. First timers, we have always used ferries from Hull or Newcastle but now tunnel because of (a) dog and (b) cost and using Tesco vouchers

OH is a bit nervous to say the least!

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JudgeMental - 2015-07-08 6:56 AM

 

What's with this illegals as if they are some sort of sub species! Probably a young man, my sympathises go out to his family who will probably never know what happened to him.

 

He had broken the law by jumping on the freight train and therefore I presume he didn't have a ticket so one would assume he would have entered the UK illegally so the description fits for me

We can take heart that the British tax payer will probably end up paying for his funeral and spending ££s to find and tell his family he left in his homeland to be persecuted in his absence of his death

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candapack - 2015-07-08 7:47 AM

 

We've just booked a return crossing , going over mid-August. First timers, we have always used ferries from Hull or Newcastle but now tunnel because of (a) dog and (b) cost and using Tesco vouchers

OH is a bit nervous to say the least!

 

It's the strike action by the MyFerry people that will cause you problems, otherwise the Tunnel is very low risk for problems outbound and as long as you don't try to sleep at Citi Europe or the Marina Aire the night before you cross (and instead sleep some distance away from Calais) your return crossing should be fairly low risk too. If there's a strike then it will be a different situation altogether. Much safer to return via Dunkirk (DFDS) if you can get a booking, in order to steer clear of Calais altogether.

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Guest Joe90
The point I'm making that seems to be lost, is the apparent total lack of security at the French end, a nightly occurrence apparently of people gaining access that shouldn't be there, given the state of things today I'd have thought that as far as is possible security would be a very high priority, non Monsieur
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Joe90 - 2015-07-08 9:14 AM

 

The point I'm making that seems to be lost, is the apparent total lack of security at the French end, a nightly occurrence apparently of people gaining access that shouldn't be there, given the state of things today I'd have thought that as far as is possible security would be a very high priority, non Monsieur

 

This has crossed my mind too. The potential for a massive incident there is huge. One death is too many, illegal or not.

 

I'm no scaremongerer, I've just used both Calais and Tunnel but at least let's bouef up security where it's most needed.

 

Martyn

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antony1969 - 2015-07-08 9:11 AM

 

JudgeMental - 2015-07-08 6:56 AM

 

What's with this illegals as if they are some sort of sub species! Probably a young man, my sympathises go out to his family who will probably never know what happened to him.

 

He had broken the law by jumping on the freight train and therefore I presume he didn't have a ticket so one would assume he would have entered the UK illegally so the description fits for me

We can take heart that the British tax payer will probably end up paying for his funeral and spending ££s to find and tell his family he left in his homeland to be persecuted in his absence of his death

 

I think the train was stopped before it entered the tunnel, so it will be a French problem if that's the case.

 

Dave

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nowtelse2do - 2015-07-08 11:02 AM

 

antony1969 - 2015-07-08 9:11 AM

 

JudgeMental - 2015-07-08 6:56 AM

 

What's with this illegals as if they are some sort of sub species! Probably a young man, my sympathises go out to his family who will probably never know what happened to him.

 

He had broken the law by jumping on the freight train and therefore I presume he didn't have a ticket so one would assume he would have entered the UK illegally so the description fits for me

We can take heart that the British tax payer will probably end up paying for his funeral and spending ££s to find and tell his family he left in his homeland to be persecuted in his absence of his death

 

I think the train was stopped before it entered the tunnel, so it will be a French problem if that's the case.

 

Dave

 

I know young un ... I was been mischievous ... Us Brits normally paying more than our fair share so you never know

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StuartO - 2015-07-08 9:12 AM

 

candapack - 2015-07-08 7:47 AM

 

We've just booked a return crossing , going over mid-August. First timers, we have always used ferries from Hull or Newcastle but now tunnel because of (a) dog and (b) cost and using Tesco vouchers

OH is a bit nervous to say the least!

 

It's the strike action by the MyFerry people that will cause you problems, otherwise the Tunnel is very low risk for problems outbound and as long as you don't try to sleep at Citi Europe or the Marina Aire the night before you cross (and instead sleep some distance away from Calais) your return crossing should be fairly low risk too. If there's a strike then it will be a different situation altogether. Much safer to return via Dunkirk (DFDS) if you can get a booking, in order to steer clear of Calais altogether.

 

Thanks for that. I'll keep an eye on the situation, if it's looking dodgy I suppose we'll just forego the chunnel booking (or rearrange the dates) and use a ferry from somewhere else.

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I stayed overnight at Cite Europe at the end of April, along with a few others and saw one alleged migrant although several postings gave dire warnings. I have also read subsequent postings suggesting my experience was not unique. Anybody been there recently and can say what their actual experience was?
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I came across by Eurotunnel last Friday, and yes, there were quite a few migrants sitting in groups on the barriers by the motorway and on the central reservation barriers.

 

More of a problem were the massive queues of parked HGVs both ways leading to the Calais ports and Eurotunnel, and then again on the entries to Dunkerque port, causing traffic to be suddenly slowed as it met the queue, and cars swerving around it... The queues went on for miles!

 

Incidentally the police had closed the M20 at junction 8 up to junction 10 going South-East. The diversion signs were appalling, and disappeared at major roundabouts near Ashford! Strangely some lorries were allowed on the M20, but cars not...

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Caught the train on the 12th of june to France via Canterbury park & ride for 1 night, no problems.

Was'nt offered an earlier train due to Le Mans race causing heavy traffic.

One migrant in the middle of the road in France, did'nt bother no one.

Returned from Burgundy & caught the train on Saturday the 6th of July, again no problems.

 

Have a nice time & quit worrying

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I returned to the UK in mid June on the Calais/Dover ferry. I arrived at City de Europe mid afternoon the day before departure. Lots of Police on the road into the complex and only saw one or two migrants in a field close by. There was about 15 'vans parked up. I walked around the shops for an hour or two then drove to the aire on the front next to the port and stayed the night along with 25 approx. other motorhomes. Was charged 7€. Into the port next morning at 06.30. I was asked where I stayed last night and Immigration did a quick search. No problems. At Dover I was pulled by customs, asked where I had been. Then a chap stuck his head out of an office window and waved me through. Just one piece of advice, don't park over by the marina. You are very exposed there at the moment and there was only a couple of French 'vans there that evening and had gone by the morning.
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In my sailing days, mostly back and forth across the English Channel, it was pretty well agreed, on both sides of the Channel, that whilst Britannia ruled the waves, it was France that waived the rules. Nothing I've seen since moving here has caused me to change my view.

AGD

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Joe90 - 2015-07-08 9:14 AM

The point I'm making that seems to be lost, is the apparent total lack of security at the French end, a nightly occurrence apparently of people gaining access that shouldn't be there, given the state of things today I'd have thought that as far as is possible security would be a very high priority, non Monsieur

Yes. I too have had similar thoughts. If it's easy for a person with no careful planning or back-up to enter the tunnel area then how easy would it be for a terrorist to plant a bomb there?

 

Mind it would be just as easy or even easier for a terrorist to drive a car bomb onto a ferry.

 

But let's not get paranoid.

 

Cattwg :-D

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We arrived back in the UK last Monday from Santander to Portsmouth. We then went over to Maidstone to visit our family before travelling north to our home. The motorway from J8 south was closed and was being used to stack traffic. It was absolute chaos. We was glad not to be starting our holiday with all the present problems. There is a lot to be said about going via Portsmouth as the Dover crossing situation is avoided.

Brittany Ferries every time, totally hassle free.

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rolandrat - 2015-07-11 7:31 PM

 

 

Brittany Ferries every time, totally hassle free.

 

 

 

 

Very dodgy, saying things like that.

 

We almost always use Brittany Ferries - without problems - then, a couple of years ago, we were on our way home when we got a text telling us that they were on strike - and we were diverted from Ouistreham to Calais.

 

 

;-)

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Brittany Ferries impressed us many years ago when Santander had been blockaded by fishermen. Their advice was to go to Plymouth as normal. When we were there they told us the blockade was still on but that they would set sail as scheduled and keep checking, with a fall-back of dropping us off at Roscoff. There were frequent updates and then we got to the decision point and they said:

 

the blockade was still on,was expected to be resolved but they couldn't be sure

 

they would stop at Roscoff arriving mid evening.

 

they would refund the fare

 

we could spend the night on the boat but we had to disembark vehicles in the evening to speed the turnaround

 

the fare would be refunded in cash

 

passengers should go to various points on the ship depending on surname, and when we did we found envelopes ready for each person.

 

We drove Roscoff to Santander in one day so in the end we got to our destination a few hours late but well in pocket because of the refund.

 

It was a perfect example of how to turn a potential nightmare into a brilliant marketing exercise.

 

 

 

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