Reality catches up with Germany’s reputation for having the Best Roads in the World.
Also, a look at the glamorous island of Sylt, the German St Tropez. Condor Ferries chief exec in shock resignation. Drive-in ‘sex boxes’ spread to Vienna. Serbia to repair flood damaged roads by next month. The A66 Frankfurt-Fulda is opened fully this weekend.
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GERMAN ECONOMY THREATENED BY CREAKING ROAD NETWORK
Germany’s road woes make it into the mainstream. But is there light at the end of the tunnels?
The German diseases: decaying bridges and contraflow. Photo @DriveEurope.
It’s official: ‘Germany’s growth is threatened by a creaking transport network’ says the Financial Times today.
Finally, there’s no getting away from something that’s been evident for some time. The A7 Hannover-Hamburg, A8 Karlsruhe-Pforzheim, A3 Frankfurt, Wurzburg, Nuremberg and Regensburg, A6 Heilbronn – the list goes on – are among the most regularly congested roads in Europe.
That’s just on a normal day; don’t even think about driving in Germany during peak holiday periods.
Readers could be forgiven for thinking our traffic service @DriveEurope, reporting delays of more than 45mins, seven days a week, across Western Europe, was actually just devoted to Germany.
One of the problems is bridges. Half of them are in need of renovation according to public service broadcaster Deutsche Welle last year (plus twenty percent of autobahns and forty percent of federal roads).
Car drivers find it difficult enough to pick their way through the complex road system around the major cities in the West. Try it in a truck when every other way is barred due to load restrictions.
The other big issue is how to pay for all the work that needs doing. The IMF says Germany needs to spend another 0.5% of GDP on road maintenance over the next four years, according to the FT, around €14bn in total.
But with the country already struggling to balance the books that is just not going to happen. The only bright idea so far is to charge foreign drivers but, at best, that will only scratch the surface.
Another assault on the German reputation for prudence and efficiency is how long road repairs take, and how much they cost. The A3 at Frankfurt Offenbach might have been repaired overnight after a WW2 bomb exploded last month but fixes that fast are a rare exception.
The EU’s Audit Committee found last year that road works in Germany were more likely to suffer delays and cost overruns than even those in Poland, Spain and Greece.
While it’s been clear for some time that Germany’s decades-long boast about having the best roads in the world was a myth, there are signs – as that realisation passes into the mainstream – that the worst may be passed.
The massive project on-going since 2009 to widen the country’s major arteries is starting to bear fruit. The works at Berkhof, A7 Hannover-Hamburg, should finish at the end of the month. Fingers crossed, the partially realigned A8 Karlsruhe-Pforzheim opens at the end of the year.
Last Saturday, the end of widening works on the A9 at Triptis mean the road between Berlin and Munich is now six lanes all the way (even if drivers will be tortured by works on the stretch from Ingolstadt for some time yet).
Best of all, from our point of view, the notorious Emstunnel on the A31 at Leer is finally entering the last stages of a difficult renovation while the gap in the A66 between Frankfurt and the A7 at Fulda is finally closed this weekend when the new Neuhoftunnel opens.
German roads have their passionate defenders, and rightly so. With nearly 8,000 miles of motorway stretching to almost every corner of the country, it is still one of the word’s most comprehensive.
To paraphrase Hilaire Belloc, when they work they are very, very good. But when they (most often, currently) don’t, they are horrid.
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Popularised by playboy Opel heir – and former husband of Brigitte Bardot – Gunter Sachs in the 1960s, the hammerhead island of Sylt, one kilometre south of Danish border on the North Sea coast, remains one of Germany’s most glamorous resorts. Hence presumably why Mercedes think it the ideal place to showcase the new S-Class coupe. Only accessible by car-train – €90 return for the 35 minute journey – there are currently three Michelin starred restaurants to serve the permanent population of 21,000. In the west there is 40km of continuous beach, in the east meadows and heathlands. 606 miles from Calais. See sylt.de. Photo @MercedesBenz.
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roundup:CONDOR FERRIES. The very hands-on, customer–focused Condor Ferries chief exec James Fulford has resigned after just eighteen months in post. A challenging first half of the year for the Channel Islands operator – including a run of bad weather, a strike and accident damage its freight ferry – was rounded off recently with a new operating contract and state-of-the-art new ship to be delivered next spring. The firm is yet to comment beyond saying he was ‘moving on to new challenges’ says the BBC. AUSTRIA. The success of drive-in brothels – ‘sex boxes’ – in Zurich is inspiring the Vienna authorities to try something similar. SERBIA. All roads damaged in the recent floods will be back in operation by 1 October the transport ministry announced today. GERMANY. From Saturday, the 90km A66 autobahn heading north east from Frankfurt to Fulda will be complete following the completion of the 6km tunnel at Neuhof. Until now, drivers heading southbound to Frankfurt on the A7 would take the faster A5 from Bad Hersfeld but it might make sense now to stay on until Fulda.
TODAY: an emerging trend in Europe to rebuild old motorway bridges for housing. The Mille Miglia feature film is go, go, go. Gibraltar could join the Schengen Zone. A tourist dies in Turkey after intruders break into motorhome. Susten Pass closed after horror smash. Newhaven-Dieppe ferry line lives for one year longer.
Seatbelt Week:8-14 September, police forces across Europe concentrating on seatbelt enforcement checks, coordinated by TISPOL, the pan-European Police federation. Recovering after flash floods over the weekend in southern Italy, and Bulgaria. Overnight road works on the A20 in Dover and Gotthard Tunnel. Continuing threat from volcano eruption in Iceland.
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For the latest on the Calais Migrant Crisissee here: Schengen Zone under fire.
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FLATS IN THE FAST LANE
Projects in Italy and Germany aim to re-use aging bridges as housing developments.
Solar Park South: an international design competition to reimagine the A3 motorway bridge in southern Italy.
Shocking, perhaps, at first sight, but defunct bridges reimagined as housing developments are definitely now a thing.
It’s not a new idea of course. Florence’s Ponte Vecchio built in 1345 is crowded with buildings. With guaranteed stunning views the attraction for modern home owners is obvious.
Pictured above is an entry in the Solar Park South international design competition, to re-use a 10km viaduct on the soon-to-be-decommissioned A3 Autostrada del Sole between Scilla and Bagnara in Reggio Calabria, on the very tip toe of Italy.
It’s not clear if it will actually be built – entrants were only asked to submit two pictures and a short essay – but the Italians are keen to keep the bridges which were designed by well-known architects and tower hundreds of meters above the landscape. Apartments would have a view of the sea on one side and mountains on the other.
Meanwhile, over in Germany, a similar scheme has been submitted to local planners, and it definitely is serious.
‘Bridge of the Future’ will reconstruct the fifty year old Lahntalbrucke on the A3 at Limburg, between Cologne and Frankfurt.
Each of the four towers will have seven thousand square meters of flats, offices, hotels and restaurants.
The authorities are said to be looking sympathetically at the project as it would save demolition costs. A parallel replacement bridge is currently under construction and scheduled to open in 2016.
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Brescia: Martina Stella and Fabio Troiano take a break from filming ‘Rosso Mille Miglia’, a feature length drama documentary based on the eighty year history of ‘the most beautiful race in the world’. Set for worldwide release in Autumn 2015, the film ‘weaves together the life, the memories, the mysteries and the enthusiasm of the players, united by love for four wheels and divided by ancient secrets, fascinated by the presence and history of a fabulous OM 665 Superba – a car built in Brescia, who won the first edition in 1927 – lying for decades dismantled and forgotten.’
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roundup:GIBRALTAR. The UK says it would be theoretically possible for Gibraltar to join the Schengen borderless zone – as a way of escaping chronically long border queues – but negotiations would be lengthy and complex and require Spain’s agreement reports GBC News. Meanwhile, diversions are in place from today as work starts on the Spanish side to improve border flow, in line with EU recommendations. Delays are expected to worsen. The work is scheduled to end next March. NEWHAVEN-DIEPPE. LDLines’ contract to run the ferry service has been extended for another year. There had been concerns the route would close as French authorities looked to reduce their subsidy. TURKEY. An Italian man was stabbed to death and his wife wounded early Saturday morning after an intruder entered their motorhome apparently through the roof ventilation window. The couple were parked in the Derepazari district in Rice province on the north east coast. Five people were detained. SWITZERLAND. The Sustenpass was closed for several hours on Saturday afternoon after a car and minibus were involved in a head-on collision says thelocal.ch. Sixteen people were injured including one seriously. The minibus was apparently attempting to overtake a tractor at the time.
Flash floods yesterday in southern Italy, similar on-going in Bulgaria. Potential delays at border controls Calais, passengers advised to arrive in good time. Overnight road works on the A20 in Dover. Continuing threat from volcano eruption in Iceland.
Semi-shut down on @DriveEurope for September, but still keeping an eye on the news, traffic, travel and weather.
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CALAIS MIGRANT CRISIS: the security fencing from last week’s NATO conference in Wales will be given to the port authorities in Calais says the BBC, which also reports more stowaway incidents: one man hidden in a motorhome yesterday and two more in another vehicle. The RHA, see below, says 300 people have been discovered on 69 trucks so far this week. After Thursday’s stowaway incident, Eurotunnel warns passengers to be vigilant. ‘We’ve been warning truck drivers for a while now to be on the lookout for people sneaking into their trailers in car parks, now we’re just extending this advice to motorists,’ said a spokesman. The FCO Foreign Office says similar for all cross-Channel passengers, ‘There are large numbers of illegal migrants in and around Calais, who may seek an opportunity to enter the UK illegally. Although local police patrols have been reinforced, you should keep car doors locked in slow moving traffic and secure your vehicle when it is left unattended.’
Meanwhile, the Road Haulage Association warns drivers and haulage companies not to arrive at Calais ‘with hours to spare’, or take rest breaks within sixty miles of the port. One driver warns other truckers to check their vehicles after the crossing. @BoatShiftSimon tweeted today, ‘Illegals known to be swapping trailers mid crossing, some being found hiding on axles when they were not there boarding.’
MAJOR TRAFFIC DELAYS: Inbound roads in Paris region busy but no major delays.
E40 eastbound to Brussels, earlier accident at Bruges, delay 30mins.
A73 southbound to Bamberg, accident, lanes closed at Ebensfeld delay 50mins.
A1 eastbound through Zurich, accident at Seebach, lane closed, 60min delay from Dietikon.
A14 westbound Rimini-Bologna, heavy traffic, total delay 60mins.
Earlier: now no delay A9 southbound to Ingolstadt. A9 northbound Beziers-Montpellier, accident at Sete, delay down to 10mins. A1 both ways through Hamburg, bridge works, now no northbound delay; southbound down to 10mins. A44 westbound into Dortmund, lane closed at Werl, delay down to 15mins.
TODAY:flash floods today in southern Italy, yesterday in Bulgaria (with more rain today). Potential delays at border controls Calais – clear so far today – passengers advised to arrive in good time. Overnight road works on the A20 in Dover. Continuing threat from volcano eruption in Iceland.
WEEKEND TRAFFIC: roads now more or less quiet, A4, A62 and A7 in Germany and Gotthard Tunnel northbound.
Semi-shut down on @DriveEurope for September, but still keeping an eye on the news, traffic, travel and weather.
See below for the latest on the Calais Migrant Crisis, and traffic/travel and weather.
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Driving ‘transit passes’ from the Swiss Alps to the Dolomites: Aprica, Tonale, Mendola + Costalunga. More later.
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CALAIS MIGRANT CRISIS: the BBC reports more stowaway incidents: one man hidden in a motorhome yesterday and two more in another vehicle. The RHA, see below, says 300 people have been discovered on 69 trucks so far this week. After Thursday’s stowaway incident, Eurotunnel warns passengers to be vigilant. ‘We’ve been warning truck drivers for a while now to be on the lookout for people sneaking into their trailers in car parks, now we’re just extending this advice to motorists,’ said a spokesman. The FCO Foreign Office says similar for all cross-Channel passengers, ‘There are large numbers of illegal migrants in and around Calais, who may seek an opportunity to enter the UK illegally. Although local police patrols have been reinforced, you should keep car doors locked in slow moving traffic and secure your vehicle when it is left unattended.’
Meanwhile, the Road Haulage Association warns drivers and haulage companies not to arrive at Calais ‘with hours to spare’, or take rest breaks within sixty miles of the port. One driver has today warned truckers to check their vehicles after the crossing. @BoatShiftSimon tweeted today, ‘Illegals known to be swapping trailers mid crossing, some being found hiding on axles when they were not there boarding.’
CHANNEL DELAYS: Eurotunnel car shuttle, train stopped in tunnel ‘temporarily’, delay 2hrs UK, 60mins France. Freight transit time 2h30 to UK, 2hrs to France.
MAJOR TRAFFIC DELAYS: A7 westbound to Kassel, vehicle fire Hann.Munden delay 1h10. A62 southbound to Saarbrucken, bridge work at Weselberg, delay 55mins.
Earlier: N346 northbound Lyon bypass, earlier accident, delay down to 20mins + A7 northbound into Lyon delay down to 10mins, earlier accident. A4 westbound from Erfurt, accident at Gotha, delay down to 30mins.
Regional authorities in Germany could be successful in their battle to restrict the upcoming ‘foreigner toll’ to national roads and motorways. Meanwhile, the threat from an unfriendly new Transport Commissioner looks to be negated, for now.
Also, there is now a clear, wide motorway between Berlin and Munich. Mercedes’ smart new Marco Polo motor home will be available in RHD. Looking ahead to next year’s Mille Miglia with a look back at this year’s. New DFDS freight sailings. New rules for carrying kids in Romania, and it’s been a bumper summer for many cross-Channel operators.
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POTENTIAL COMPROMISE ON GERMAN ‘FOREIGNER TOLL’
Regional leaders press concerns over cross-border trade. New Transport Commissioner from friendly Czech Republic.
Relations between the Czech Republic and Germany might not always be tip top but the country has yet to join those complaining about the ‘foreigner toll’. Photo: Prague during Euro2012, @DriveEurope.
The foreigner toll might not apply to all roads in Germany as originally planned.
The Ausburger Allgemeine reported on Wednesday (via thelocal.de) that continuing objections to the toll plan – from border regions especially, fearing a drop off in cross-border business – might see the charge apply just to national roads and motorways.
When challenged, transport minister Alexander Dobrindt merely said the government would seek to implement its original proposal.
However, comments yesterday, from Dobrindt’s boss, Bavarian CSU party leader Horst Seehofer, suggest there might be a compromise after all.
Meanwhile, the composition of the upcoming European Commission has been leaked to Euractiv.
It comes with a health warning – previous leaks have proved wildly inaccurate – but Věra Jourová from the Czech Republic is apparently earmarked as the new Transport Commissioner, despite having no previous experience in the field.
Czech newspaper columnist Martin Zverina writes today, ‘One can see how easily and swiftly candidates for posts in the European Commission can become experts… Jourova was about to be in charge of the European funds, but she was reportedly pushed aside by the Croatian candidate who was the commissioner for consumer policy… In a few days’ time, Jourova is to become an expert in transport.’
Jourova is however currently a Regional Development minister and there is certainly work to do developing the regional transport infrastructure in Eastern Europe. Currently there is no immediate prospect of a direct east-west link, for instance.
Her appointment could be a pointer to the new Commission’s transport priorities, especially following last week’s West Balkans Summit in Berlin at which the Ionian-Adriatic motorway loomed large on the agenda.
At the same time, a Czech transport commissioner might not represent such a threat to the German ‘auslander maut’ as one from Poland, Austria, Denmark or the Netherlands.
The Czech Republic borders Germany to the east but has so far not figured among those countries vociferously complaining about the toll which they consider to be discriminatory.
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Good to know: the new Mercedes-Benz Marco Polo will be produced in right hand drive.
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roundup:FREIGHT FERRY. DFDS Seaways will increase freight capacity between Rotterdam and Immingham with two extra departures a week (to six in total) using Anglia Seaways reports @FerrymanThe. ROMANIA. Drivers failing to secure children with a seatbelt or child seat risk a fine of up to €110 from the end of the month. GERMANY. Today’s opening of the stretch between Triptis and Schleiz (south of the A4 near Gera) means the A9 between Berlin and Munich is now six lanes all the way. CROSSING THE CHANNEL. A number of operators are reporting record passenger numbers this summer. Eurotunnel broke its one-day record three times in August peaking at 16,416 vehicles. The 85,400 vehicles it carried 11-17 August was also its best ever weekly figure. They also broke through the 1,000-cats-a-month barrier. Numbers overall were up 4%. A few miles down the road in Dover, 2.3 million passengers passed through the port, up 2.5% on the same time last year. Meanwhile, Brittany Ferries also carried a record number of passengers, almost three quarters of a million between Portsmouth and France and Spain between June to August. Finally, extra sailings between Helsinki and Tallinn in the east Baltic helped Viking Lines register a 9% overall rise in passenger numbers compared to the same period in 2013, nearly 30% up on that one route. Read here about our trip on this ferry in May.
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The official video of this year’s Brescia-Rome-Brescia Mille Miglia is published as it is announced that next year’s event will be held 14-17 May 2015:
Keeping up to date with the major developments in the Calais Migrant Crisis.
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Advice:
The UK FCO Foreign Office says, ‘There are large numbers of illegal migrants in and around Calais, who may seek an opportunity to enter the UK illegally. Although local police patrols have been reinforced, you should keep car doors locked in slow moving traffic and secure your vehicle when it is left unattended.’
The Road Haulage Association warns drivers and haulage companies not to arrive at Calais ‘with hours to spare’, or take rest breaks within sixty miles of the port. Migrants are also said to be swapping between vehicles during Channel crossings, see below.
Freedom of Information figures obtained by the BBC show that up until August this year 203 migrants had been arrested at Dover Port, compared with 148 in 2013, 105 in 2012, 119 in 2010 and 139 in 2009.
Thursday 16 October:
Greece warns of a humanitarian crisis as 22,089 migrants arrive so far this year, 65% from Syria, compared to 6,834 in the whole of 2013 says Ekithermerini.
Wednesday 15 October:
‘Parcelforce workers in Coventry were shocked to find three asylum seekers hiding behind sacks of letters when they opened up their lorry last Friday,’ reports The Daily Mirror.
Tuesday 14 October:
A group of migrants has been trying to access trailers opposite the Esso garage at Ouistreham (the port of Caen in north west France) this morning reports @Justice4Trucker.
‘We’re not wanted in France, we’re not welcome here,’ migrants from the Calais camps tell thelocal.fr. They say it takes months to get an appointment with the authorities and in the meantime they have to survive as best they can. The country can cater for 22,000 asylum seekers but had 65,000 applications last year.
Monday 13 October:
French police gather in Calais to protest over migrant situation this morning. Photo @lgougelot
French police are expected to press ahead with a demonstration on the entry/exit road to Calais port this morning (see Daily Mail report). A leaflet from the ‘Unite SGP Police Force Ouvriere’ union tells protestors to gather at the G1 roundabout on the junction of the city centre road and the N216/A216 Rocade Est eastern bypass at 10:00. From there a peaceful ‘go-slow’ road blockade is expected into the centre of town. Local police have advised drivers to avoid exit 47 of the A16 (also junction with the A26).
Update 15:00BST: ‘Rather annoying when the French demonstrators decide to call off their protest 3 minutes before our live report – because they want lunch!’ reports @SimonJonesNews, adding, ‘Deputy Mayor of Calais says the threat to blockade the port over the migrant situation is still on the table,’ and, ‘Mayor of Calais has been invited to Westminster later this month to discuss the migrant issue.’
Update 11:00BST: the police demonstration is now on the A16 motorway moving in the direction of Boulogne (westbound). Exit time from the port appears to be reduced to 15mins.
Update 10:00BST: better attended than thought, bolstered by hauliers and farmers. Delay at Calais exit currently 30minutes. See #Calais for the latest.
Update 09:45BST: local police says the procession is moving up the port road – A216 – towards the A16 motorway. It doesn’t seem massively attended but drivers are advised to avoid the area.
Meanwhile, a two week campaign by 20,000 police in 25 EU countries to ‘detect, detain and deport’ illegal immigrants – called Operation Mas Maiorum, starting today – has been branded inhumane by human rights groups. Up to 450,000 such people are believed to be living in the EU though no official figures exist.
Friday 10 October:
Initial reports says around 12 migrants were found in the back of a refrigerated truck as it arrived in Eastbourne this afternoon. The driver phoned police and all the clandestines were taken into custody.
Wednesday 8 October:
Twelve suspected illegal immigrants were discovered in the back of a refrigerated truck on the M6 near Cannock this morning after the driver heard shouts and banging says the Birmingham Mail. The motorway was closed in both directions briefly for a medical helicopter to attend but all the men were discharged by staff at the scene and have now been handed over to border police.
The Road Haulage Association reveals: ‘Plans for UK Border Force to strengthen physical security by investing in thermo-detection security cameras and enhanced secure perimeter fencing are underway both at the Port of Calais and the Channel Tunnel at Coquelles. This comes on top of £3 million invested to upgrade vehicle scanning equipment featuring the latest technology which helps detect people hiding in lorries and tankers.’
Tuesday 7 October:
Two migrants managed to sneak on board an unmarked RAF truck at Calais, according to the Daily Mirror, and weren’t discovered until the vehicle arrived at top security RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire…
Food prepared by volunteers at the migrant camp in Calais was rejected for not being spicy enough reports thelocal.fr. One aid workers says the refugees are ‘a bit too pampered by now’.
Monday 6 October:
Police union ‘Unite SGP Police Force Ouvriere’ is organising a ‘Day of Action’ next Monday, 13 October, from 10:00, a go-slow on the Calais ring-road. Perhaps FNTR, see Weds 1 October, might see this as their opportunity?
Support the Calais to Dover Truckers says volunteers will attend Dover next Saturday to help drivers by looking underneath vehicles for clandestines.
Six stowaways spent 30 hours in a refrigerated truck from Greece before attempting an escape after the Hungarian vehicle crossed the Austrian border from Italy on Saturday says thelocal.at. All six were suffering from hypothermia. Separately yesterday, 38 migrants were arrested on a train heading from Italy to Germany.
Friday 3 October:
German police patrolling around the Austrian border near Rosenheim routinely pull in 30 refugees each day says Deutsche Welle. Around 5,000 have been discovered so far this year compared to 4,000 in the whole of last year.
Meanwhile, special task force refugee patrol groups are being set up on the Austrian side of the border says thelocal.at. Interior minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner says there are no plans to re-introduce formal border controls in ‘the coming weeks’ but that the government is ready to do so if necessary.
A Dover woman returned from a shopping trip to find an alleged illegal immigrant from Eritrea sat on her doorstep says the BBC. Meanwhile, a would-be illegal immigrant made it as far as Gloucester on-board a school coach yesterday despite the vehicle being searched – and another migrant found – in Calais.
Tuesday 30 September:
Turkish truck drivers queueing at the Bulgarian border are also complaining about refugees secreting themselves aboard vehicles says Novinite. Reconstruction at the main Kapitan Andreevo checkpoint has led to lengthy queues. Drivers found with clandestines are arrested.
Monday 29 September:
Fines for each ‘clandestine passenger’ could rise by almost half to nearly £3,000 according to a new consultation on the ‘civil penalties scheme’ reports Commercial Motor. See below.
The death toll of migrants crossing the Mediterranean has now formally passed the 3,000 mark according to the International Organisation for Migration, more than double the previous record set in 2011.
Saturday 27 September:
The ‘Dover Blockade’ managed to briefly block the approach road to Eastern Docks in Dover this afternoon but essentially passed off without major incident. See more here.
The media may have written off the Dover demonstration as a far-right event but the BBC did at least pick up on the central issue: that truck drivers face a £2,000 fine for each ‘clandestine passenger’ that manages to secrete themselves on a vehicle, whether or not the driver is aware. Read more here: ‘Desperate migrants’ waiting to pounce on Calais truckers.
Friday 26 September:
The ‘Dover Blockade’ this weekend, see below, will be bolstered by protestors from Calais. A post from the organisers on the ‘Support the Calais to Dover Truckers’ facebook page from earlier today says, ‘The French group can’t blockade Calais because the French police have brought in water cannons and are out in force isn’t it a pity they couldn’t do this for the past 12 months.so they are coming over to Dover to join us.’ The protest is set to run from 13:00 Saturday until 17:00 Sunday. The organisers have also called for a ‘lawful protest with no abusive language and no drunken yobs.’ An article in Wednesday’s Dover Express said protestors were being encouraged to bring smoke bombs.
‘I am confident in the steps we are taking,’ PM David Cameron tells the Daily Express today. ‘First of all the declaration with regards to Calais between the French and British I think is very helpful. The fact that there are more fences going to be installed and more measures are going to be taken I am very confident that we will get the situation under control.’
The UK Home Office stonewalls Commercial Motor’s attempts to find out how many/if any trucks at Calais are being scanned before boarding ferries saying the information is operationally sensitive.
Thursday 25 September:
An edition of ITV’s Tonight programme called Back Door Britain – screened 24.9 at 19:30 – filmed clandestines attempting to sneak aboard campervans parked near Calais. Photo: ITV/Tonight.
A cruise ship rescued 345 people including 52 children believed to be Syrian refugees fifty miles off the coast of Cyprus in bad weather early this morning. After initially refusing to leave the ship the group was eventually taken to a camp near Nicosia.
Wednesday 24 September:
More than 300 people have signed up so far to take part in the ‘Dover blockade’ this Saturday, organised by “Support the Calais to Dover Truckers” (see below). The protest is due to start at 13:00 with more details released on Friday. Meanwhile, a French group called ‘Sauvons Calais’ (Let’s Save Calais) is apparently organising a rally at the same time. A previous demonstration earlier this month in the town centre resulted in a violent stand-off with left wing groups.
Kent Police tell Commercial Motor they are ‘actively engaging with the protestors via social media… to ensure the facilitation of both the right to peacefully protest and people’s right to go about their daily business unimpeded.’ CM also says Tommy Harrison from the ‘UK & European Lorry Drivers Safety At Or Near French Ferry Ports’ facebook group, see petition above, has written to members asking them not to attend Saturday’s protest.
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Screen grab from BBC Breakfast.
British and foreign truck drivers were fined £1m last year for carrying ‘clandestine passengers’ as the numbers discovered climbed from 11,731 two years ago to 19,003 now. BBC Breakfast filmed Craig Burkinshaw from Brian Yeardley International in Wakefield as he drove through Calais this week. See more here.
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Tuesday 23 September:
With some truckers reportedly taking out personal loans to pay fines for – inadvertently – carrying would-be illegal immigrants into the UK, a Facebook group called Support the Calais to Dover Truckers is organising a blockade of Port of Dover on Saturday 27 September. Kent police told the BBC ‘wilful obstruction of the highway’ was illegal, the port said it was monitoring the situation while the Freight Transport Association refused to back the protest but expressed sympathy with drivers facing huge fines. Judging by the rest of the content on their site, this group is as concerned with immigration itself – legal and illegal – as they are with the plight of unlucky truck drivers.
Horrific details emerged about the sinking of a migrant boat off Malta earlier this month when 300 people drowned in a BBC interview with Malta PM Joseph Muscat. Traffickers allegedly rammed the boat and hacked off the hands of people clinging to the wreckage.
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Monday 22 September:
Thirteen suspected illegal immigrants were arrested on the M25 near Chertsey in Surrey this morning after climbing from the back of a truck in the middle of rush hour reports Sky News.
Saturday 20 September
The layout of Calais Port will be changed, fences erected along the road in and out, security beefed up around parking areas and new detection equipment installed, all paid for by a new joint fund from the British and French governments it was announced this afternoon. The UK will contribute £4m each year for the next three years.
Friday 19 September:
‘Twenty-four Eritrean migrants have been found in the back of a refrigerated yoghurt lorry in Kent after they were heard knocking and pleading for oxygen,’ reports the BBC adding that one man has been arrested for ‘facilitation offences’. An ambulance attended but was quickly stood down.
Commercial Motor reports that truck scanning equipment in Calais is not being used because border guards think it is against stowaways’ human rights to x-ray vehicles without warning or permission.
Thursday 18 September:
Three alleged illegal immigrants apparently tried to make their escape from underneath a truck on the M6 near Walsall yesterday. Witnesses saw them making for the central reservation. All three are now in custody.
Wednesday 17 September:
Police in Calais used teargas this afternoon to repel a group of around 250 migrants trying to enter the port. One migrant had injured himself attempting to board a truck. The others surrounded the ambulance, tried to prevent it leaving and attempted to break into the lorry park according to reports. ‘As expected, because it’s Wednesday, Calais is flooded with immigrants once again, stay safe ladies & gents,’ says @Justice4Trucker a few minutes before @MyFerryLink reports at 15:15, ‘Info- traffic is currently running without delay into Calais port but please allow extra time to check-in as this could change very quickly.’
One would-be illegal immigrant was spotted on top of a grain lorry at Dover this morning with four more inside reports Kent Online.
The mayor of Calais has repeated her threat to blockade the port saying the town’s economy is being strangled by the migrant issue reports @SimonJonesNews.
Tuesday 16 September:
Another suspected illegal migrant has been discovered, secreted underneath a motorhome in Ashford, Kent. The driver says he heeded advice not to stop close the Channel and think the man must have hidden while they waited at the Channel Tunnel.
Monday 15 September:
Horrific reports from the Mediterranean where 500 migrants from North Africa drowned at the weekend after their boat was allegedly, deliberately rammed by traffickers. The boat set off from Damietta in Egypt on Saturday 6 September. Another 250 migrants are feared dead off the coast of Libya. The death toll is approaching 3,000 so far this year, four times that last year, while 108,000 migrants have landed in Italy since January, more than twice that in the same period 2013. With around 1,500 migrants widely reported to have congregated in Calais, these latest figures put paid to the theory that the UK is somehow specifically targeted.
Sunday 14 November:
Close but no cigar.Dover Lifeboat called out to a suspected illegal immigrant on a windsurf board off Sandgate near Folkestone reports @SimonJonesNews. Handed over to Immigration.
Thursday 11 November:
An eye-opening long read from Germany’s Der Spiegel on the work of the EU’s border agency, Frontex, concentrating on the borders between Spain and Morocco, Greece and Turkey, and Hungary and Serbia. Far from being a soft touch, the accusation is that the organisation directly or indirectly presides over a tough and brutal regime as it builds Fortress Europe.
Seven suspected illegal immigrants found yesterday in the back of a lorry in Paddock Wood near Tonbridge, Kent, reports @SimonJonesNews. Handed over to Immigration.
Wednesday 10 September:
A group of around twenty migrants managed to scale security fences around the port in Calais again this afternoon reports @SimonJonesNews. They were apparently quickly rounded up by police. Meanwhile, @RTM_ChrisDruce from Road Transport Media says he is looking in to claims French authorities are not using scanners at Calais.
Also, reports from local newspapers (via @Justice4Truckers) in Birmingham and Kent that hauliers are avoiding the Dover-Calais route due to the migrant situation, and potential fines faced by drivers who, inadvertently or not, carry illegal migrants.
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Tuesday 9 September:
It’s not complete carnage for every driver at Calais. Last night trucker @LukeVernon tweeted, ‘As someone who uses Calais regularly I’ve never had any problems. Certainly not to the scale of these daft scare stories.’ This afternoon @MarcusShreeve tweeted, ‘No problems at Calais today. Straight in. Time to come back to the UK.’
Austria is also now considering reinstating border controls. A day after authorities in Bavaria threatened to reinstate borders, see below, the Austrian Vice Chancellor says the number of illegal migrants travelling through the country to get to Germany is a ‘substantial problem’ reports thelocal.at; 600 arrived at Munich rail station in June and July alone. Where there is a ‘serious threat to public policy or internal security’ – such as a sudden influx of migrants – a country can temporarily suspend the border-free Schengen Agreement.
Another stowaway reported hiding underneath a motorhome last Tuesday, spotted after he escaped when the vehicle was stuck in a traffic jam on the M25 according to the BBC. The couple, from the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales, were returning from France via the Eurotunnel. Again it begs the question of why truckers are fined up to £2,000 per stowaway when car drivers are not.
The Mayor of Calais Natacha Bouchart jokes that the NATO Wales ‘ring of steel’, see below, could be used to blockade the port says @SimonJonesNews. He also tweeted later, ‘Home Office unable to tell us how many suspected illegal immigrants have been found on Kent’s motorway network recently.’
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Monday 8 September:
Dover MP Charlie Elphicke blames the Schengen Agreement. Writing in the Conservative Home website today, the MP says, ‘The cause of the problems at Calais is the EU’s determination to have free movement and open borders at any cost. The EU’s open borders Schengen Agreement means that it is possible to travel from the Italian Island of Lampedusa to Calais without any border checks. Britain does not have these open borders. This is why today Calais has a big problem, while we are doing better at keeping our borders more secure.’
Meanwhile, the state of Bavaria in southern Germany is considering reintroducing border controls to stem the flow of migrants from Italy via Switzerland and Austria according to the ANSA news agency. Bavarian Governor Horst Seehofer says, ‘Unless the situation changes, Germany will have to seriously weigh the possibility of stopping infractions via border controls.’ Last month, the Bavarian Interior Minister accused Italy of ‘deliberately ignoring standard refugee procedures’.
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Sunday 7 September:
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As right and left wing groups clash in Calais over the migrant crisis, in today’s Sunday Telegraph Immigration Minster James Brokenshire says the security fencing from last week’s NATO conference in Wales – nine feet high and twelve miles long – could be given to the port authorities. He would also like to see secure parking areas.
He also says the port was offered £3m three months ago to improve security and that staffing levels have been increased, security patrols extended and ‘up-to-the-minute heartbeat scanners and wave sensor technology to detect bodies in lorries, alongside the good old fashioned sniffer dogs.’
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Saturday 6 September:
A driver warns other truckers to check their vehicles after crossing the Channel. @BoatShiftSimon says, ‘Illegals known to be swapping trailers mid crossing, some being found hiding on axles when they were not there boarding.’
There is growing frustration among truck drivers that, despite the acknowledged chaos in Calais, they are still liable for fines of up to £2,000 per person should any illegal migrants sneak onboard their vehicles. One driver from Wisbech has enlisted the help of his local MP after being fined £8,000 for unwittingly bringing 16 migrants back to the UK after an overnight stop in Boulogne. Ray Taylor’s employer KGB was fined a further £9,000. North East Cambridgeshire MP Steve Barclay told the Wisbech Standard, ‘I’m very concerned to hear this driver and business has been hit so severely. I’m going to be asking if this route was subject to body scanning machines. I accept lorry drivers have restrictions but border controls have responsibilities too.’
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Friday 5 September:
Around 200 migrants marched through Calais today to protest about alleged heavy handed treatment at the hands of local police. Photo @Inglesi
The BBC reports also more stowaway incidents: one man hidden in a motorhome yesterday and two more in another vehicle. The RHA says 300 people have been discovered on 69 trucks so far this week.
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Thursday 4 September:
Car drivers, caravaners, motor-homers and other ports affected now too.
Truck drivers have been running a gauntlet of migrant gangs in Calais for months. Now it seems the trouble is spilling over to car drivers, caravaners, motor-homers and other ports too.
One ferry operator told @DriveEurope this week that a customer driving a convertible car had items stolen from the back seat after being surrounded by migrants in the queue for passport control in Calais at the weekend.
The Times reported on Monday that caravaners and motor-homers had been targeted by migrants attempting to stowaway.
Today the BBC reports on the arrest of another stowaway, found hiding in the back of a passenger car after crossing from France yesterday. The driver said the only time the car was left unlocked and unattended during the journey from Spain was when she checked pets in at the Eurotunnel terminal.
Eurotunnel is telling passengers to be vigilant. ‘We’ve been warning truck drivers for a while now to be on the lookout for people sneaking into their trailers in car parks, now we’re just extending this advice to motorists,’ said a spokesman.
Events at Calais seem to be spinning out of control. Last night reportedly hundreds of migrants tried to storm on-board P&O and MyFerryLink ferries, see video above (via Mark Salt).
As British and French officials argue over who should take responsibility, the deputy mayor of Calais told the BBC World at One programme today that the next step may be a temporary blockade of the port.
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While the problem in Calais seems intractable as ever, at the other end of the Continent there are some signs the authorities are at least trying to get a grip. A new division of the EU Frontex border service – Frontex Plus – starts operating in November to relieve the Italian Navy of responsibility for picking up North African migrants in the Mediterranean. The deal is, the southern European countries currently bearing the brunt will get help and money as long as all refugees are registered and prevented from travelling to other EU member states. Meanwhile, ‘dozens’ of Italian taxi drivers were arrested in Germany on Tuesday, charged with aiding and abetting illegal immigration, for transporting Syrian refugees to Munich. Photo Frontex.europa.eu
The exciting debut of Tuthill Porsche’s rally 911 recalls the apparently stalled 911 Safari project.
Also, German and Danish police are to start joint border patrols. Volvo drives a truck up the Gotthard Pass. Belarus’ new roads will be made of concrete, though the national speed limit is to be raised.
The FIA has released this video to commemorate the impressive performance of a British entry in this month’s Rallye Deutschland.
The GT3 entered by Tuthill Porsche is the third 911 entered in a Word Rally Championship round this year – under the recently introduced ‘RGT’ rules – but the first to finish a WRC event in 28 years.
Tuthill Porsche, based in Oxfordshire, is a renowned 911 specialist which also runs the ‘Below Zero’ice driving courses in Sweden.
It’s not clear if the Porsche factory has shown any interest in the project or leant any support; we did ask*.
Meanwhile, little has been heard of the 911 Safari following a scoop in Auto Bild’s Motor Revue quarterly at the start of this year. It was expected to debut at April’s Beijing Motor Show.
With raised ride height, toughened suspension, four wheel drive and an engine which automatically adapts to poor fuel quality, the Safari is apparently intended for undeveloped parts of the world. Clearly it would also provide a great basis for an official Porsche rally car…
It might still be on the cards. Mention was also made of the Safari being powered by downsized version of Porsche’s classic flat 6 engine, also to feature in the second generation 991. That isn’t due until next year.
Update 7 September: a retweet from @Tuthill_Porsche this morning casts doubt on any Porsche factory involvement in the project. @stuartsmellie writes, ‘I hope @Porsche & @OfficialWRC have seen what @Tuthill_Porsche have done & taken note. R-GT Championship is needed.’
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Truck descends north section of the Gotthard Pass, Switzerland. Photo via @VolvoTrucksUK, @BrianWeatherle3
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roundup:LAW ENFORCEMENT. Danish and German police will carry out joint patrols – up to 25km from the border in the north and 30km in the south – for the next year. It follows a ‘hot pursuit’ deal signed between Austrian and Italian police earlier in the summer. BELARUS. Concrete is now the official road surface of choice. It’s cheaper and longer lasting than asphalt, and doesn’t need bitumen derived from (imported) oil though it’s louder and drainage is more difficult. President Lukashenko visited the on-going work on the Minsk outer ring road this week, currently engaged on bridging the 46km gap between the M6 Grodno and M3 Vitebsk. The entire road has to be ready by 1 January 2017 he said. The speed limit will be 120kmh, as it will be on other major roads around the country eventually, up from 100kmh now.
The UK Border Force denies responsibility for two hour queues at Calais over the weekend as car drivers are put among migrant gangs for the first time.
Another family claim to have been gassed at a roadside rest area in France. Truckers vow to fight ‘Ecotaxe Light’. The Land Rover Grand Alpine Tour comes to an end. Why the SLR Club deserves to be called one of the best touring clubs in the world. SpongeBob gets revenge on a Russian road rage driver. Russian highways are to be used as military landing strips for the first time as passports and driving licences are combined in a new ‘Multipass’.
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BORDER FORCE SHIFTS BLAME FOR CALAIS QUEUES
Car drivers now also running gamut of illegal migrants.
File picture, Harwich @DriveEurope
Returning passengers suffered delays of more than two hours at Calais passport controls on Saturday evening.
Queues of up to ninety minutes were also reported at the Eurotunnel terminal in Coquelles, and long delays for incoming passengers in Portsmouth.
While delays at border controls are to be expected at peak holiday times, not only were the queues much longer than usual – stretching out to the A16 motorway – but they lasted well past the weekend rush.
(update Wednesday 3 September: this morning, passengers at Calais waited up to 90 minutes with MyFerryLink advising customers to arrive two hours before departure.)
However, a Border Force spokeswoman tells @DriveEurope today it was ‘business as usual’ for the agency over the weekend and that all passport booths were open and fully manned (as confirmed to us by a ferry operator). She suggested we speak to the port authorities about the queues.
Meanwhile, she pointedly refused to confirm that UK Border Force has stepped up its inspection regime due to the on-going migrant crisis in Calais.
For the first time, the border queues put car drivers in among the groups of illegal migrants congregating at the port entrance. One operator told us a driver in a convertible car with the roof down was surrounded and had items stolen from the back seat.
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Some say it is the best touring club in the world. Members of the Mercedes-Benz SLR. CLUB certainly get around. Founded in 2006 for owners of all Mercedes SLR McLarens – coupe, roadster, 722, 722 S and Stirling Moss (above) – events so far include numerous tours of the Alps, plus Norway. This summer saw them hit the Adriatic coast, island hopping in southern Croatia between Hvar and Korcula, then the coast road down to Dubrovnik. See facebook.com/SLRMercedesBenz
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roundup: FRANCE. A family from Bristol claims to have been gassed and had items stolen from their campervan while parked at the Aire de la Bouble on the A71 between Bourges and Clermont Ferrand. It’s one of a number of cases reported this year. The Camping and Caravanning Club advises avoiding staying overnight at autoroute Aires but admits to being ‘a little sceptical of the issue as a whole’. A Royal College of Anaesthetists report says ‘tankerloads’ of gas would be needed. Meanwhile, truckers’ unions in Alsace have vowed to fight the new ‘Ecotaxe Light’ toll system. RUSSIA. Highways that double as military runways are common in former Eastern Bloc countries – Bulgaria has ten, Ukraine has a few too – but not in Russia itself. This week, as part of an exercise, an aircraft will land on a federal highway for the first time ever says RIA Novosti, in the Primorsky district, around Vladivostok in the far east. Also, plans are afoot to replace the passport, driving licence, medial insurance, pension and registration certificate with a new ‘Multipass’ from the start of next year. MALTA. Free wifi is now available on all three Gozo Channel ferries and at the terminals.
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Chelyabinsk in south west Russia – a road rage driver gets more than he bargained for courtesy of SpongeBob SquarePants and friends. Dashcam vids from Chelyabinsk previously best known for the meteor strike last February.
The end approaches for the long running renovation of a notorious north German bottleneck but not without a final sting in the tail. A Formula 1 upstart comes unstuck in Rotterdam. It seems another DFDS ferry route is under threat.An expert explains why the 112 emergency phone number works almost wherever you are.
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LAST GASP FOR EMSTUNNEL
Notorious Frisian Island bottleneck on final phase of works.
The Emstunnel on the A31 at Leer in north west Germany is closed southbound until Wednesday 10 September for resurfacing.
As and when the work is finished, see below, the northbound tube will close for a further twelve days, exact dates to be announced.
The suggested diversion (in green above) is the B72/B401 via Saterland though the B70/B436 via Leer looks much quicker.
The four lane, twin tube 945m tunnel under the River Ems, just downstream of the Dollart bay of the Wadden (North) Sea, has been undergoing a large scale renovation since last July.
Holidaymakers heading to and from the East Frisian Islands via the ferries at Emden have been subject to long delays in both directions during peak travel days.
This is the final phase of the renovation. The work so far has been dogged by misfortune. Last December, workmen drilled too deep causing a 500 litres/minute leak in the south tunnel, swiftly followed by another major flood elsewhere.
Specialists from Braunschweig University were eventually called to plug gaps using experimental adhesives. The problems have not recurred.
Further downstream from Emsunnel is the Meyer Werft shipyard at Papenburg which has just floated Quantum of the Seas, the world’s fourth largest cruise ship, which will carry more than four thousand passengers.
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Max Verstappen in a 2011 Red Bull F1 car on Rotterdam’s landmark Erasmus Bridge on Saturday. A less than auspicious public debut for the 16 year old racing driver, just signed to race for Toro Rosso next year. He needed help from the marshalls after boxing himself in while performing donuts, then damaged the front wing against the barriers.
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roundup: It seems DFDS could drop another ferry route. A few months after cutting the Harwich-Esbjerg boat, weeks after announcing the end of LD Lines’ UK-Ireland-Spain routes – and a couple of days after revealing healthy financial results – it seems the Danish operator’s freight-only Rosyth-Zeebrugge route might face the chop too. According to the BBC, the Rosyth Port chief exec has written to the Scottish govt to say the the EU’s new low-sulphur fuel rules – which require expensive anti-emissions technology to be installed, or the use of more expensive diesel – will ‘severely impact the financial viability of the service’…
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A video from ‘expert navigator’ and author Lyle Brotherton explains the ins and outs of the pan-Europe emergency phone number 112, and why it will likely work even if there’s no signal:
DriveEuropeNews 