Author Archives: driveeuropenews

EU Backs Gibraltar over Frontier Dispute – RRS SVR

Gibraltar seems to be winning the argument with Spain over longstanding border queues after an EU report calls the delays ‘disproportionate’.

Meanwhile, Range Rover launches the Holy Grail, a car as good on road as it is off. Also, a roundup of the weekend’s Crossing the Channel news: injuries and damage during Sunday’s storm; route closures UK – France and Spain; new immigration rules may mean drawn out check-in procedures, while EVO drives an F40 through the Swiss Alps.

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EU BACKS GIBRALTAR OVER FRONTIER DISPUTE

Says border delays are ‘disproportionate’

Screen grab from @GibraltarBorder which keeps drivers up to date with incoming and outgoing queues at the Spanish frontier

Screen grab from @GibraltarBorder which keeps drivers up to date with incoming and outgoing queues at the Spanish frontier

The European Commission appears to be siding with the Gibraltar government over the border delays plaguing the British Overseas Territory for the past two years.

Inspectors from the Commission visited the frontier last month to follow up progress since their first inspection in September 2013. The subsequent report said there were ‘serious concerns’ about the lack of progress on the Spanish side, and that the long delays were ‘disproportionate’.

A statement, quoted by the local GBC News, said the Commission had, ‘serious concerns as to the lack of progress on the Spanish side during the second visit, and the complaints that continue to reach the Commission pointing out persistent long waiting times on both entry and exit to/from Spain. The Commission considers that checks giving rise to waiting several hours to cross this border are disproportionate.’

However, the Commission declined to comment on the recently announced plan – to give Spanish citizens priority passes across the frontier – until it had more information.

Meanwhile, evidence is mounting that the delays really are politically motivated, as the British government has always maintained.

After a period of relatively few delays, locals waited up to five hours to cross the border in the days following a meeting about the queues between the British and Spanish prime ministers at a Brussels summit in July.

At the same time, frontier data for July, supplied by the Gibraltar authorities, said there were outgoing queues every day in the month, except for the two days during the Commission inspectors’ visit.

A second EU investigation, by the Environment directorate-general, said there was no evidence of any laws being broken over ships refuelling, land reclamation or the artificial reef. All three had been the subject of complaints by the Spanish government.

Finally however, a report from the EU anti-fraud office OLAF says there is evidence of wholesale tobacco smuggling from Gibraltar into Spain according to today’s Daily Mail. It is said that, based on the number of cigarettes officially imported into Gibraltar, each and every citizen smokes nine packets a day.

UPDATE 12 August – the estimated outbound crossing time built up to more than three hours last night after delays of around one hour for most of the day. See below.

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An SUV that's as useful on road as it is off? Yes we could do with that. The first official photos of the Range Rover Sport SVR are released today: 542bhp, £93,450, 8m14 around the Nurburgring.

Range Rover Sport SVR: 542bhp, £93,450, 8m14 around the Nurburgring. @HarryM_Evo, who works for Jaguar Land Rover Special Vehicle Operations, says, ‘It’s pretty good off-road too.’

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roundup: CROSSING THE CHANNEL: three crew members were (lightly) injured and fourteen cars damaged on a Condor Ferries crossing from Weymouth to the Channel Islands during yesterday’s poor weather reports the Dorset Echo. Condor says the wave heights were within safe limits but for a ‘highly localised’ patch near the Casquets Lighthouse. The incident is bound to refuel the perennial argument over when and whether it is safe for ferries to set sail during rough weather. New identity checks mean cross-Channel passengers will wait up to six times longer to board ferries and trains said the Daily Mail on Saturday. Coincidentally, or not, all the short-crossing operators warned of delays of up to one hour at border controls in France over the weekend. The contract to run the Newhaven-Dieppe ferry runs out at the end of the year and no new operator has been signed to continue the service. The council in Dieppe has been saying for some time that subsidy bill is too high. The BBC says 1,000 jobs are at risk. Newhaven is the closest ferry port to London. Locals say many businesses in the town are dependent on the route. Finally, the Bournemouth Daily Echo says LD Lines will pull out of the Poole-Santander/Gijon routes less than a year after they opened. No bookings are being accepted after the end of August. LDLines admits the routes are under review. The company competes with Brittany Ferries’ cruiseferry and economie sailings UK-Spain. The latter particularly has been very successful this summer.

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EVO Magazine drives a Ferrari F40 on Susten, Grimsel and Furka passes in the Swiss Alps:

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GIBRALTAR FRONTIER WATCH: up to 60mins outbound at 14:00, built up to more than three hours by 19:30.

CALAIS TRUCKS MIGRANT’S PETITION: 3,164 signatures since 15.7. See @Justice4Trucker.

CONDOR FERRIES rescheduled services, Commodore Clipper on course to return 26 August.

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Black Saturday 2: the Post Mortem – Rolls Around Sardinia

TODAY: as expected, the second Black Saturday was certainly less busy than the first but traffic both confounded and confirmed predictions.

Also, who knew Sardinia was home to one of Europe’s most exclusive resorts? Or that it’s served by a comprehensive network of ferries around the west Mediterranean?

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BLACK SATURDAY 2: THE POST MORTEM

Holiday traffic both confirms and confounds predictions.

Beware plugs (jams) on the road! Photo via @Delirius_Fake

Beware plugs/corks/jams on the road! Photo via @Delirius_Fake

Cumulative traffic jams peaked at 720km in France today (Saturday 9 August). As expected that was considerably less than the 994km registered on the same day last week.

In other respects the traffic defied predictions. Returning holidaymakers did not play much of a role. Whereas jams had already begun to form on the A7 Lyon-Avignon by 04:00 last Saturday morning – in line with our working observation that French drivers set off much earlier that elsewhere – in general the traffic took much longer to get going this week.

There was a sixty minute delay on the A7 by 07:30 but an hour later it was still noticeably quiet on the A10 Paris-Bordeaux. By mid-morning however total delays on the A10 were more than three hours.

For the second week running, a major accident on the A71/A75 via Clermont-Ferrand triggered the worst individual delays. This road is rapidly losing its reputation as a quieter alternative to the A7 south.

Meanwhile, the A9 to the Spanish border was busy but not gridlocked; the A61 to the A9 from Toulouse did not see any major delays and the A7/A8 Avignon-Nice was free flowing all day, again.

For now, the leave-as-late-as-possible advice still holds for driving through France on busy days, and queues did begin to obviously subside early afternoon. But there were still significant – and widespread – delays in the early evening.

Meanwhile, true to form, the Germans started late. With the exception of the roads south through Munich, the first jams did not register until late morning. Traffic in north Germany – especially the A31 Emstunnel at Leer and A7 Hannover-Hamburg-Denmark – was particularly heavy.

Delays reached, and stayed at, around two hours northbound to the Gotthard Tunnel though, again, it was 09:30 before the big queues started. Austria was also generally very busy though traffic on the B179 Fernpass peaked quite low and died away quite quickly.

The Italians did not disappoint on their busiest driving day of the year. Jams on the A1/A14 Milan-Bologna-Rimini were fearsome right from first thing but had more or less disappeared by early afternoon as the A22 Brennero in the south, Verona-Rovereto, picked up the slack.

Undoubtedly worst overall was the A4 Padova-Venice-Trieste. Like last week, multi-hour, multi-point delays stated early on and lasted all day.

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Rolls Royce takes up a summer residence on Sardinia. More later.

Sardinia: Costa Smeralda might sound like somewhere near Benidorm but in fact it’s home to one of Europe’s most exclusive resorts, Porto Cervo. As such it’s the ideal place for Rolls Royce to take up a summer residence. Super-rich customers, floating in on their mega-yachts, can check out the full range in a ‘relaxed, informal club-like atmosphere’ at the temporary Studio on the Promenade du Port, then take the cars for a spin on the island’s mountain and coast roads. Sigh. Mere mortals should note that Sardinia is very well served by ferry lines – from Livorno, Genoa and Rome (Civitavecchia), but also Marseilles and Toulon in France and, interestingly, Barcelona too. See aferry.co.uk or directferries.co.uk

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GIBRALTAR FRONTIER WATCH: quiet day then delays up to 45mins this evening.

CALAIS TRUCKS MIGRANT’S PETITION: 3,146 signatures since 15.7. See @Justice4Trucker.

CONDOR FERRIES rescheduled services. Commodore Clipper on course to rejoin 26 August.

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Taminabrucke – the dizzylingly high gateway to the Glarus Alps

Introducing the dizzyingly high Tamina Bridge, a burgeoning tourist attraction in its own right, just off the A13 motorway, which opens up an interesting area of east Switzerland, and a pay-as-you-go 4×4-only mountain pass.

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A new bridge under construction in eastern Switzerland will have the longest single span in the country. Its most notable feature however will be its dizzying height.

A new bridge under construction in eastern Switzerland will have the longest single span in the country. Its most notable feature however will be its dizzying height.

A spectacular new bridge will open up an interesting corner of east Switzerland. More later.

When finished in 2017, Taminabrucke will tower 656ft above the Tamina river between Pfaffers and Valens near Bad Ragaz. That will put it just inside the top 50 highest brides in the world but, whereas most of the others are dual carriageways on major routes, Taminabrucke will be single lane each way. There will be no escaping the view.

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Both villages already have their own roads from Bad Ragaz but the Valens one suffers frequent rock falls. Rather than shoring up the entire mountainside the local council elected to build a showcase bridge instead. It spurs off the Pfaffers road just north of the village to avoid through traffic. The old Valens road will be dug up and returned to nature.

Exactly as they have done for thousands of years - the world’s oldest bridge, Arkadiko in the Peloponnese, Greece, dating from 1300BC, was built basically in the same way - engineers sink the abutments first, the supporting structures on each side.

Exactly as they have done for thousands of years – the world’s oldest bridge, Arkadiko in the Peloponnese, Greece, dating from 1300BC, was built basically in the same way – engineers sink the abutments first, the supporting structures on each side.

Exactly as they have done for thousands of years - the world’s oldest bridge, Arkadiko in the Peloponnese, Greece, dating from 1300BC, was built basically in the same way - engineers sink the abutments first, the supporting structures on each side. The arch is then built simultaneously from each end to meet at a keystone in the middle. Currently there is 20m of arch from the Valens end and 35m from the Pfaffers end.

The arch is then built simultaneously from each end to meet at a keystone in the middle. Currently there is 20m of arch from the Valens end and 35m from the Pfaffers end.

The structure is attracting tourists already, on top of those who already come to visit the hot springs further down the Tamina Gorge, so narrow at this point there’s barely room for a path. The springs put this region on the map in the first place, hence ‘Bad’ Ragaz. Photo Wikipedia.

The structure is attracting tourists already, on top of those who already come to visit the hot springs further down the Tamina Gorge, so narrow at this point there’s barely room for a path. The springs put this region on the map in the first place, hence ‘Bad’ Ragaz. Photo Wikipedia.

klinikum valens

In particular, Taminabrucke will improve access to Kliniken Valens, a rehabilitation hospital with a worldwide reputation, specialising in rheumatology and neurology. Currently, around 600 staff and numerous ambulances trek up and down the road to Bad Ragaz each day.

kunkelspass

Taminabrucke is just a couple of miles from the Rhine Valley and A13 motorway in the east. To the west are the wilds of the Glarus Alps. Currently a minor road runs south west from Pfaffers to the alpine village of Vattis past the long narrow Mapraggsee.

The road south between Vattins and Tamins (also on the A13 motorway) is Kunkelspass. It might only top out at 1357m (4452ft) but the gradients reach 20%. As the southern section passes across scree slopes only off-road vehicles are allowed to use it, and even then not without paying a €15 management fee to the local council for permission. Sounds interesting.

The road south between Vattins and Tamins (also on the A13 motorway) is Kunkelspass. It might only top out at 1357m (4452ft) but the gradients reach 20%. As the southern section passes across scree slopes only off-road vehicles are allowed, and even then must pay a €15 management fee to the local council for permission. Sounds interesting. Enquire at Tamins town hall, or email gde@tamins.ch. Photo nobelhobel.ch

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For more information see www.taminabruecke.ch. The Glarus Alps are bordered in the north by Klausenpass, in the south by Oberalppass and in the west by the A2 motorway and Gotthard Pass.

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Another Black Saturday on the Roads – Trick Bothnia Ferry

TODAY: looking ahead to another busy Saturday on Europe’s roads, Italy particularly, as returnees get into their stride.

A smart new ecoferry will cut across the Gulf of Bothnia between Umea and Vaasa. Spot tests nab 18,000 DUI drivers and a lot of dangerous trucks. A drunk biker hits 160mph. Trucks are already being stopped at the Russian (Belarusian and Estonian) border due to Russian food sanctions.

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ANOTHER BLACK SATURDAY ON EUROPE’S ROADS

Overall less busy than last week, except Italy. Returnees the issue.

France:

France, Friday. Left: traffic heading for the red areas will be heavy from Friday afternoon (black would be the busiest). Right: less busy as drivers head home from the orange regions. The heaviest traffic will be on Saturday. Picture @TRAFnational

Saturday will be another ‘black day’ on Europe’s roads though – apart from Italy – slightly less busy, we think, than last week. However, returnees are really starting to get into their stride. Expect delays in both directions this weekend.

As usual the rush will start Friday afternoon, be at its worst from early on Saturday (in France particularly) before settling down late afternoon and into Sunday.

In France, Bison Fute has black flagged the roads in the south on Saturday. Busiest will be the A7 Lyon-Avignon, A10 Paris-Orleans-Bordeaux and A9 Orange-Montpellier-Spain.

The A71/A75 via Clermont Ferrand was very crowded last week due to an accident. Hopefully, like the other central route, A20 Limoges-Toulouse, it will be quieter – if only relatively – this Saturday.

See more about surviving Black Saturdays in France here. To sum up, leave as late as possible.

Returnees will be more pronounced in Germany as regions across the north prepare to go back to school. Road works will help clog the A7 Hannover-Hamburg-Denmark. The hot roads in the south will be the A3/A9 Frankfurt-Munich and A8 Munich-Salzburg.

OAMTC says this weekend will be the climax of the summer’s holiday traffic meaning transit routes especially. So the A13 Brenner to Italy, A10 Salzburg-Villach, A12 Innsbruck-Munich and, inevitably, B179 Fernpass from Germany.

The school holidays are already over for many kids in Switzerland. Delays have already been noticeably heavy this week northbound at the Gotthard Tunnel. Expect more of the same.

Finally, Saturday will be the busiest day of the year on Italian roads. Even last weekend, the combined delays on the A1/A14 Milan-Bologna-Rimini were around four hours, mostly at Bologna. Also, the A4 Venice-Trieste saw long delays. The A22 Brennero was quiet to start with but got into its stride later on. Expect delays all day this weekend.

Coming back on Sunday, the roads around the Ligurian coast in the north west – A10 and A12 to Savona and Genoa – generally see longest jams.

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A trick new ecoferry will soon be sailing across the Gulf of Bothnia between Finland and Sweden.

This slick new ecoferry will sail across the Gulf of Bothnia, between Vaasa in Finland and Umea in Sweden. The likely gas-powered vessel, for low emissions, is currently a design study. Eventually it will be a fundamental part of an EU-supported project to upgrade the existing route into a fully-fledged ‘multi-modal logistics corridor’ but regular passengers will be able to use it too. The ports, road and rail links are also in the process of being spruced up. The (currently) four hour Vaasa-Umea crossing – less the one hour time difference – is exactly half way up the Gulf. It’s handy because it allows touring drivers to something of each country on the way between Stockholm and Helsinki without having to drive over the top of the Gulf, a – rewarding – trip which takes around a day and a half between the two capital cities.

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roundup: POLICE. The pan-European drink and drug driving campaign, co-ordinated across 30 countries in early June, saw police conduct 1,168,631 road side breath tests – 18,391 of which were positive, a strike rate of 1.6%. Nearly 3,000 drug drivers were also caught. Meanwhile, in LUXEMBOURG spot checks on trucks found twelve needing immediate repairs on-site, mainly due to faulty brakes and tyres (and several bodged repairs by the drivers). FRANCE. A local biker clocked at 257kph on the RD14 near Saint-Gervais was found to be more than twice over the limit. FINLAND. Finnish trucks carrying dairy produce to Russia have already been halted at the border. Earlier today, the Russian prime minister announced a ban on many foodstuffs from the EU in retaliation for sanctions over the situation in east Ukraine. Update 8 August: reports that Lithuanian trucks have been stopped at the Belarusian and – oddly – the Estonian borders due to Russian sanctions.

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GIBRALTAR FRONTIER WATCH: significant queues at midnight, up to 30mins early evening.

CALAIS TRUCKS MIGRANT’S PETITION: 3,120 signatures since 15.7. See @Justice4Trucker.

CONDOR FERRIES: Commodore Clipper out of action until 26 August, see @Clipperupdate.

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Bosnia Floods – Sochi On Track – Know Before You Go

TODAY: random picture round up – major floods hit Bosnia, again. Know before you go FCO campaign. Little-known Russian land speed record attempt. Sochi Raceway is on course to host the Russian Grand Prix in October.

Also, MyFerryLink gets a date for its Competition appeal hearing. Reindeer finally vacate a motorway tunnel in northern Norway. A new guide to Transfagarasan. Boris Johnson has a pop at Drivers’ Hours regulations, and the RHA pops right back.

Also, a major forest fire still rages in Sweden, 120km from Stockholm. More floods/landslides Bosnia, M17 blocked at Zenica, see more + FCO advice.

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A second lot of devastating floods in as many months hit Bosnia last night, this time mainly affected the north and east of the country.

A second episode of major flooding in as many months hit Bosnia last night (Tuesday), this time mainly affecting the north and east. Like in June it will take some time to repair the damage. Keep up with latest via our Daily Briefs, or see the FCO travel advice, see links above.

A similar thing in Russia though for entirely different reasons. Photo via @IlyaVarlamov.

A similar thing in Russia though for entirely different reasons. Photo via @IlyaVarlamov.

Public service announcement from @FCOtravel: don't throw fags out of the window in Spain because you will be fined (Switzerland too). Part of the FCO's current campaign to get holidaymakers to read up on local customs before heading abroad. Apart from the FCO's advice, always worth a read, and the AA and RAC driving abroad guides, the European police federation TISPOL.org also publishes driving rules, written by local police. Best of all is probably the EU's own Driving Abroad app which lists all the important rules like speed limits, for cars and trucks. It's free to download to your phone or tablet but you don't have to be online to use it.

Public service announcement from @FCOtravel: don’t throw fags out of the window in Spain because you will be fined (in parts of Switzerland too). The FCO’s current campaign is to get holidaymakers to read up on local customs before heading abroad. The FCO’s travel advice is always worth a read as are the AA and RAC driving abroad pages. Also, the European policing federation TISPOL.org publishes easy-to-read driving guides written by local coppers. Really handy is the EU’s new Driving Abroad app, for cars and trucks. It’s free to download and you don’t have to be online to use it.

1972 Russian land speed record car, CHADI-9 with 5000ft of thrust. If you know anything more about it get in touch with @Oli_Morgan

1972 Russian land speed record car, CHADI-9 with 5000ft of thrust. If you know anything more about it get in touch with @Oli_Morgan

Work continues at Sochi ahead of the track hosting its first Formula One race in October. Photo Dmitry Christoprudov. See more at EnglishRussia.com

Work continues at Sochi Olympic Park ahead of the first Russian Grand Prix for 100 years. The action kicks off at 07:00 on Friday 10 October. Photo Dmitry Christoprudov. See more at EnglishRussia.com

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roundup: EUROTUNNEL/MYFERRYLINK CASE. MyFerryLink’s appeal against it being barring from Dover will be held on 24 November says the Competition Appeal Tribunal. NORWAY. The RV94 motorway has reopened this morning after reindeer finally abandoned the Stallogargo tunnel near Hammerfest. The herd took shelter after temperatures rose above 22 degrees on Monday. Authorities said they had no choice but to wait it out. Cattlegrids may now be installed. Drivers are being warned to take extra care in tunnels during warm weather. ROMANIA. Polemic from British expat Bucharest Life editor Craig Turp on why tourists should be charged to drive the Tranafagarasan mountain pass. The high altitude road is particularly popular with Polish people apparently. He also debunks the myth that Transfagarasan was built as a strategic road saying it was merely a status symbol for former dictator Ceausescu. Anyway, sister publication InYourPocket now has a comprehensive guide to Transfagarasan, including hotel listings. DRIVERS’ HOURS. The headlines were captured by Boris Johnson announcing his intention to stand for parliament in a speech at Bloomberg’s headquarters yesterday. Less scrutinised was his singling out of Drivers’ Hour’s regulations as an example of ‘over-prescriptive’ EU regulation. The Road Haulage Association meanwhile was said to be left ‘incredulous’ at the Mayor of London’s attack. 

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Despite the 2012 timecode, this video purports to show a driver in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine under fire earlier this week. Either way – and incredibly – the man escaped unharmed:

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GIBRALTAR FRONTIER WATCH: no delays overnight, max 20mins earlier, quiet since.

CALAIS TRUCKS MIGRANT’S PETITION: 3,093 signatures since 15.7. See @Justice4Trucker.

CONDOR FERRIES rescheduled services. Commodore Clipper out of action until 26 August.

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Belgium: drivers dislike GPS road tolls; truck tolls start 2016 – A Great Time To Drive Through Paris

TODAY: Belgian drivers reject pay-as-you-go road charging as national truck tolls get the go-ahead for 2016.

Also, there will never be a better time to drive through the City of Light than the height of summer. Riots in Calais as migrants try to control access to the lorry park. Book Brittany Ferries until November 2015.

A major forest fire rages in Sweden, 120km from Stockholm. Storms cause chaos in Norway.

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CAR DRIVERS REJECT GPS ROAD TOLLS

Similar truck system on course to start in 2016.

belgique

Europe’s first large-scale trial of GPS-based pay-as-you-go road tolls has now finished. Nearly two thirds of those taking part said they didn’t like the system.

From February this year, 1,200 motorists, mainly in and around Brussels, paid 9c per km to drive in towns and cities, 5c on motorways and 6.5c on all other roads. The charges were logged via an on-board GPS transponder.

According to Deredactie news, a survey of participants found that 63% rejected the system with only 25% in favour.

However, the trial reduced drivers’ mileage by 5.5% overall and by 8% in cities. Rush hour congestion fell by a significant 3.6%.

A petition against the tolls has so far collected nearly 175,000 signatures. The GPS charges are designed to replace road tax and would apply to foreign drivers.

What happens next depends on the outcome of coalition negotiations following elections on 25 May. Despite the popular opposition, some form of road toll has been in the offing for some time. Two years ago, plans for a vignette were shelved after opposition from the European Commission.

The tolls could be adopted nationally, or in any or some of the country’s three regions: Flanders, in the north, the Brussels Capital Region or Wallonia. A previous poll said 49.8% of Flemings were in favour compared to 42.3% against.

Meanwhile: a contract to build a nationwide electronic truck toll system was signed in Brussels on 28 July. A consortium majority owned by Germany’s Deutsche Telekom – Satellic – will install the infrastructure over the next eighteen months. The tolls will apply to all trucks 3.5t – replacing the current 12t+ Eurovignette system – initially on major routes with the option to expand. To start with the On-Board Units (OBU) will be picked up or dropped off when entering or leaving Belgium but will eventually be interoperable with those from other countries. The charges are still to be set. See more at www.viapass.be

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Despite summer road works on the A14 in the west and A86 ring in the south east, August is still the best time to drive through Paris. The locals might not decamp to the South of France for the entire month as much as they used to but this graph shows Tuesday’s normal usual traffic levels (yellow band) against actual traffic levels (black line). Average speed increases from its usual 38kmh to 52kmh on the Peripherique inner ring road while delays due to jams reduce to less than a quarter of what drivers can expect on a regular day.

Despite summer road works on the A14 in the west and A86 ring in the south east, August is still the best time to drive through Paris. The locals might not decamp to the South of France for the entire month as much as they used to but this graph shows Tuesday’s normal usual traffic levels (yellow band) against actual traffic levels (black line). Average speed increases from its usual 38kmh to 52kmh on the Peripherique inner ring road while delays due to jams reduce to less than a quarter of what drivers can expect on a regular day.

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roundup: CALAIS. Riots broke out overnight between groups of illegal migrants, apparently over access to the lorry park at the port. More than fifty people were injured. A deadline to clear the camps was extended yesterday. The numbers of migrants has grown by 50% in the past few months with many making increasingly desperate and/or violent attempts to board trucks to the UK. Calais port has announced new security measures, including overnight surveillance. Despite widespread media coverage the ‘Enough is Enough’ campaign organised by truckers has so far attracted only 3,000 signatures, see below. BRITTANY FERRIES’ routes are now available to book right up until November 2015. The Western Channel operator, to France and Spain, published its new timetables today.

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GIBRALTAR FRONTIER WATCH: quiet overnight. 60mins at 14:20CET, up to 1h30 early evening.

CALAIS TRUCKS MIGRANT’S PETITION: 3,071 signatures since 15.7. See @Justice4Trucker.

CONDOR FERRIES rescheduled services. Commodore Clipper out of action until 26 August.

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‘Record’ Jams Black Saturday

TODAY: Black Saturday traffic jams cause ‘record’ tailbacks in France. Are there lessons to learn ahead of two more busy Saturdays this month?

Also, large-scale WW1 commemorations in Belgium. Trouble anticipated in Calais as migrant’s camp removed. Queues of up to 45mins at border controls Calais. Deadly floods Bulgaria; mopping up Italy. Major forest fire Sweden.

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FRANCE: ‘RECORD’ TRAFFIC JAMS ON BLACK SATURDAY

Lessons learned ahead of two more Black Saturday this month.

Map: red roads, severe delays. Green: less busy. Blue: quiet

Record traffic jams of 994km were recorded at 12:30CET in France on Saturday (2 August), on so-called Black Saturday, the first major getaway of the summer.

The counting methodology changed a few years ago so direct historical comparisons are not valid. And the figures don’t give a completely rounded picture since they count up every single holdup, massive and tiny, across the entire network. Nevertheless, traffic smashed 2013’s total of 828km. There were clearly more cars on the road this year.

So what lessons can drivers draw as they contemplate making their way across France on the busiest days of the year, especially as there are another two Black Saturdays to come this month?

Firstly, the queues started really early. By 06:30CET there were already hours’ long delays on the major routes south. Traffic does tend to start earlier in France than elsewhere but this was exceptional.

As predicted, the A71/A75 via Clermont Ferrand and A20 Limoges-Toulouse were quieter than A7 Lyon-Avignon and A10 Paris-Orleans-Bordeaux though an accident on A71/A75 clogged it up pretty severely first thing.

The A20 is particularly recommended as a route to Spain. Total delays A9 Orange-Perpignan never dipped below two hours for most of the day and were still more than one hour at 18:30. A61 Toulouse-Narbonne is out too though because it was busy here until well past 16:00.

Surprisingly quiet was the A6 Paris-Lyon, even early on. Also, despite the bulk of delays on the A10 predictably centering on Niort and Saintes, there was no congestion on the N10 which neatly bypasses these hotspots, Poitiers-Angouleme-Bordeaux. N85 from Grenobles to the Cote d’Azur was quiet too.

Most importantly, as usual, delays peaked in the early afternoon and fell away steadily. Drivers hitting Lyon at 16:00 would, more or less, and increasingly, have had the road to themselves.

That’s good news for drivers leaving Calais from mid-morning onwards. Nice is another 4h45 driving time but it would have been all on near-clear roads: A7/A8 Avignon-Nice was almost completely free-flowing both ways all day.

Overall, despite the record jams, it could have been – might be – worse. While Saturdays 9 and 16 August are only expected to be ‘black’ days in the south, last year traffic peaked on 17 August. The good news is that by Saturday 23 August the rush is well and truly past.

To sum up: leave late, or delay your arrival south of Lyon (e.g. with a long, lazy lunch) until mid to late afternoon. Keep your eyes and ears on the various sources of traffic info. Be prepared to take the N10 from Poitiers if it’s bad at Niort/Saintes. Head for Spain via Toulouse. Consider N85 Grenoble-Cannes: it’s six hours to the Cote d’Azur but 4h45 plus jams A7/A8 from Lyon.

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Iron Duke: a Mark 2 tank makes its way through Arras in northern France in April 1917. Several events are being held in Belgium today to mark 100 years since the beginning of World war One. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge attend a reception at Liege town hall at noon - along with Angela Merkel and Francois Hollande - then another at Mons town hall at 15:30 along with Prince Harry (who will also be in Folkestone at 10:45). All three britsh Royals then attend a twilight ceremony at St Symphorien Cemetary in Mons from 18:30.

Iron Duke: a Mark 2 tank makes its way through Arras in northern France in April 1917. Photo Imperial War Museum, iwm.org.uk. Events are being held in Belgium today to mark 100 years since the beginning of World War One. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge attend a reception at Liege town hall at 13:00 – along with Angela Merkel and Francois Hollande – then another at Mons town hall at 16:30 along with Prince Harry (who will also be in Folkestone at 10:45). All three British Royals then attend a twilight ceremony at St Symphorien Cemetary in Mons from 19:30. War was officially declared at 23:00 UK time 4 August 1914.

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GIBRALTAR FRONTIER WATCH: nice quiet day so far.

CALAIS TRUCKS MIGRANT’S PETITION: 3,053 signatures since 15.7. See @Justice4Trucker.

CONDOR FERRIES rescheduled services. Commodore Clipper out of action until 26 August.

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Four Hours from Calais: gorgeous Luxembourg

Who knew northern Luxembourg was so gorgeous, literally? Esch-sur-Sure, on a steep-sided twist in the river, is particularly lovely: an unspoiled, charming village in the middle of quiet, rolling countryside. And only a gentle, three to four hour drive from Calais.

For maps see below. Calais – Esch-sur-Sure, 230 miles.

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N4 to Luxembourg: who knew it was so gorge. Literally.

However you get to Esch-sur-Sure – the motorways via either Brussels or Lille are much of a muchness (see map below), it’s probably less congested via Lille – you end up on N4 from Namur to Bastogne. We’re becoming huge fans of the Belgian N road network: mostly dual carriageway, through the centre of towns and villages along the way, and much quieter – in our admittedly limited experience – than the corresponding motorways. N4 shadows the A4 Brussels-Arlon-Luxembourg but veers away north to Bastogne. Rolling along through the Ardennes farmland and forest, N4 is a particularly fine example of the breed. It turns single lane at the Luxembourg border but there’s only another twenty minutes to go.

Ta da! Esch-sur-Sure, tucked into its own tight meander of the river. This photo by visitluxembourg.com. All others by @DriveEurope.

Ta da! Esch-sur-Sure, tucked into a tight meander of the river Sure. Not to be confused with Esch-sur-Alzette in south west Luxembourg. This photo by visitluxembourg.com. All others by @DriveEurope.

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Believe it or not, the square tower of Esch-sur-Sure Castle was built in 927. It’s an obvious place for a stronghold, naturally protected on three sides by the river with a steep, slate spur in the centre. It fell to ruin in 1685 on the orders of Louis XiV.

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Looking west. Despite being an obvious tourist destination, Esch-sur-Sure is hardly over-endowed with hotels. We tried to book into Hotel Beau Site, centre right, with a river terrace, but they were full. Double B&B €96-130, beau-site.lu. There’s also the Hotel de la Sure in the centre of town which looks lively – €29.50-92.50 per person, Hotel-de-la-Sure.lu – and a riverside campsite on the road into town, Camping “Im Aal”, camping-im-aal.lu.

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Looking north east. It’s the kind of place you wouldn’t be surprised to find Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’s the Child Catcher. Mountainous, central European, with a strong sense of peaceful, neat, orderly lives lived for centuries. Geologically, the Ardennes are the western extension of the Eifel Mountains in Germany (around the Nurburgring) – forests, rolling hills and ridges, mainly in Belgium but also Luxembourg, France and Germany. The Luxembourg Ardennes are known locally as Eisleck or Oesling.

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Looking east. The Sure River – or Sauer – rises in the Ardennes, eastern Belgium, and forms stretches of Luxembourg’s borders with both Belgium and Germany as it flows east to the Moselle near Trier. Just upstream is the vast Upper Sure Lake, a 10km long hydroelectric reservoir which also supplies Luxembourg’s drinking water. Swimming and sailing is allowed but motor boats are not.

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Really surprised Esch-sur-Sure (also Esch Sauer or Esch am Lach) is not overrun with chichi health and wealth tourists, shopping for art and antiques, eating fusion food, skittering around the hillsides and staying in boutique spa hotels. Physically it’s that kind of place. Actually, it’s a hybrid village/resort for normal people, resolutely unimproved, just naturally beautiful. And cheap.

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We eventually stayed at the Hotel-Restaurant Le Postillon just off the main road through town. A river view twin cost €84 B&B. Dinner on the terrace was €55 for a couple of OK steaks, beer and a carafe of house white. No-one spoke English but they were perfectly happy to muck in with sign language. The room was dated but clean. Just behind are steep steps up to the castle, carved out of the rock face.

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Where next? There are lots of tree-lined squiggly roads around northern Luxembourg. It’s a great place for relaxing, gentle drives through the countryside. Particularly interesting is RN27 west from Esch-sur-Sure along the southern bank of the river. Really though just take your pick. In the event we headed east on the deserted R27 to Ettelbruck then on to Bregenz in western Austria, arriving mid afternoon.

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Getting to Esch-sur-Sure:

Esch-sur-Sure:

 

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Across Europe in a Range Rover Evoque

The first 12,500 miles in a Range Rover Evoque: fantastic, right up until Route Napoleon.

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Coming up: the first 12,500 miles by Range Rover Evoque. Fantastic, right up until Route Napoleon.

Most people will not be surprised to learn the Range Rover Evoque is not at its best on a twisty mountain road. We were. Right up until the moment we took to the Route Napoleon, in the hills above Grasse in the South of France, it had been really enjoyable to drive. From fast and comfortable transcontinental blasts to manoeuvring around the supermarket car park, so far it had taken everything in its stride. Being as it feels so planted on the road, we didn’t see any reason why it wouldn’t cope with a few sharp corners.

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It wasn’t that it was slow, or reluctant to change direction at short notice. Unusually, we could easily escape the clutches of usefully driven local super minis. The problem was that ‘sport mode’ hung on to the gear ratios for so long all enjoyment was blotted out by the screeching engine. Four pot 2.2 litre turbo diesels do not sound great at the rev limiter. Putting it back in normal mode meant the power was never there when it was needed. All-in-all a bit unsatisfactory, and unnecessary.

It's about the economy stupid: thanks to the nine speed auto gearbox - despite having some reservations, it's

Otherwise the gearbox has worked fantastically well. Thanks to the new nine speed automatic we’ve averaged a shade under 37mpg over 12,500 miles. Kick down is instant and the changes really are imperceptible. Almost best of all, a trick new transmission three years after launch shows Land Rover is ready to invest in this car where previously it might have rested on its laurels. That bodes really well for the future, especially as the upcoming Range Rover Sport SVR has just lapped the Nurburgring in 8m14.

Apart from sport mode, and too many tappy plastics, on the exterior especially, there really aren’t many faults to report. Nothing has broken or fallen off. The engine stop-start doesn’t always work but apparently that’s only when there are too many smartphones charging up. The only unforgivable omission – and it’s a biggie, considering - is the lack of an altimeter.

Apart from sport mode, and too many tappy plastics, on the exterior especially, there really aren’t many faults to report. Nothing has broken or fallen off. The engine stop-start doesn’t always work but apparently that’s only when there are too many smartphones charging up. The only unforgivable omission – and it’s a biggie, considering – is the lack of an altimeter.

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‘Are you going to do much off-roading?’ It was the dealer who first asked that and a few other people have followed up with it since. Crushing, especially as the short answer is, we weren’t planning to. It took months to book the complimentary Land Rover off-road course. The point about the Evoque is that it’s a smart all-rounder with a high driving position for good visibility. That said, its rugged nature has already enabled us to push further. Via Baltica between Kaunas and Tallinn turned out to be in excellent condition but we never worried about the state of the roads anyway. After anxious progress through the Balkans in our previous road pony we can tell you that saves a lot of time and energy.

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At 4355mm the Evoque is 3mm shorter than a Ford Focus. It’s also 333mm shorter than the dreaded Porsche Macan, an indisputable fact we cling to daily as it’s parked on the crowded street outside. The Macan was launched within a few days of our ordering the Evoque at the end of last year and even cost a few quid less. No doubt it would blitz Route Napoleon. To be honest we both get a slightly sick feeling whenever we think about it. There’s only one solution. In order to fully justify this purchase we will have to deploy the Evoque to the very edge of its capabilities. But where?

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Shocking Holiday Death Toll On Turkey’s Roads – Wildfires Shut A9, Again

NEWS: the shocking road trip carnage in Turkey over the Eid holiday. After a second day of autoroute-shutting wildfires, fire crews in south west France will be relieved that the region is now under storm alert. Some British family members are tragically killed in a crash in Croatia. A UK road safety group comes out in support of the upcoming Cross-Border Enforcement directive. New Irish drivers are forced to display a large badge in their windscreens, a bottleneck bridge toll is lifted in Romania and, one way and another, speeding hits the headlines in Luxembourg.

TODAY: Busy at Dover. National day Switzerland. Floods Bulgaria, Serbia and Romania.

GIBRALTAR FRONTIER WATCH: quiet overnight and this morning, up to 40mins mid-afternoon, max 25mins since.

CALAIS TRUCKS MIGRANT’S PETITION: 3,008 signatures since 15.7. See @Justice4Trucker.

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THE SHOCKING HOLIDAY DEATH TOLL ON TURKEY’S ROADS

The number of accidents breaks even last year’s ‘record’.

Turkey: a relatively minor accident. Photo via @radyotrafik06

Turkey: a relatively minor accident. Photo via @radyotrafik06

The Eid holiday in Turkey always exacts a terrible death toll on Turkey’s road. This year it was worse than ever.

Last August, 88 people were killed and 4,711 injured, itself a record. In this past week, 109 people were killed and 4,002 injured, 852 of them seriously.

The three day Eid holiday, which finished on Wednesday – also known locally as Ramadan Bayrami – marks the end of the month-long Ramadan fast. Many families visit relatives around the country, often by car. This year Eid combined with the weekend for a five day break which may have contributed to the figures.

The long distances involved – Turkey is 1,200 miles across – mean fatigue plays a role, as does careless driving and drink driving according to a message from prime minister Tayyip Erdogan ahead of the holidays.

Overall there are around 130 road deaths per million of population in Turkey each year according to the World Health Organisation, over four times the UK level.

We know many people who have driven through Turkey – @Yomadic, @TasteOfTravel, @LeighTurnerFCO and, just a few days ago, @DoInIt on the Mongol Rally. None have had any problems, in fact, quite the opposite. But take extra care, or stay off the roads entirely, over the Eid period.

Another Eid festival, ten days this time, is due at the end of October. Last year a barely credible 131 people died and more than 6,000 were injured in 3,319 separate incidents.

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For the second day in a row, the A9 along the west Mediterranean coast in France closed yesterday afternoon after smoke from a nearby forest fire engulfed the carriageway. Fire fighters, including airborne crews, brought the flames quickly under control this time and normal service resumed within a couple of hours. With the region now under storm alert, this scenario is unlikely to play out for a third day. Meanwhile, a Geisterfahrer – wrong way driver – caused similar delays on the A2 into Hannover last night. Reports say the man, who unfortunately died, was driving a locally-registered Opel.

For the second day in a row, the A9 along the west Mediterranean coast in France closed yesterday afternoon after smoke from a nearby forest fire engulfed the carriageway. Fire fighters, including airborne crews, brought the flames quickly under control this time and normal service resumed within a couple of hours. With the region now under storm alert, this scenario is unlikely to play out for a third day. Meanwhile, a Geisterfahrer – wrong way driver – caused similar delays on the A2 into Hannover last night. Reports say the man, who unfortunately died, was driving a locally-registered Opel.

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roundup: CROATIA. A British man and two children were killed in a road accident near Dubrovnik yesterday according to Travel Weekly. A woman and two children are being treated in hospital. TRAFFIC FINES. There is overwhelming support for the new directive on Cross-Border Enforcement says road safety organisation GEM Motoring Assist after a survey of its members. By May 2015, all EU drivers will be liable for traffic fines incurred in other EU and EEA countries. The British government previously opted-out, along with Ireland and Denmark. LUXEMBOURG. A driver evaded a police speed trap last night by racing past at 181kmh on the N6 Route d’Arlon. Meanwhile, the upcoming influx of speed cameras is kicking up a stink over data protection laws: along with Austria, the Duchy does not allow dashcams over privacy fears. IRELAND. As of today, new drivers are required to display a red N in the top left of their windscreens for the first two years, in case you were wondering. ROMANIA. The toll on the Fetesti Bridge across the Danube, on the A2 between Bucharest and Constanta, is suspended for summer weekends, Friday-Monday, 13:00-12:00, in an attempt to dispel regular two hour queues.

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