Eurotunnel, on the other hand, has invested around £70 million to upscale its passenger processing zones while hiring an additional 70 assistance staff on each side of the tunnel.
Port of Dover boss Doug Bannister told the BBC the port has turned the western docks into a separate area to process coaches, with new halls and kiosks.
According to Bannister, coach passengers will register their biometric details at the kiosks and then reboard their coach. Once everyone has returned onboard, the coach will be sealed and will proceed directly to check-in.
Cars and other vehicles will instead go into the usual lanes, where they will be met by officers ready to register travellers’ details.
These reports of investment, though, come after wide-ranging doubts have been raised over the UK’s readiness for entry-exit.
Last week, a House of Lords committee called on the UK government to work alongside its counterparts in Brussels to ensure the EES rollout doesn’t coincide with the rollout of the UK’s new Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA), an Esta-style visa waiver scheme.
“Planning for a gradual and well coordinated implementation of the new schemes is vital to ensure similar chaos at our borders is avoided,” said committee chair Lord Foster of Bath on 20 May.
Foster’s comments were picked up by Kent transport and tourism leaders, who have pleaded for a smooth implementation of the new rules, as well as by foreign secretary David Cameron, who told MPs he was “really worried” about long delays.
“I think we’ve made some progress, but I think there are some big choke points at Dover and St Pancras – and I’m really worried about there being long delays for people,” he told the European Scrutiny committee on 20 May.
