Without additional funding from government there is a real risk to the survival of Eurostar

[class ep-09]

I think that was the case during some of the earlier stages of the pandemic, but it's no longer the case.

That said, on Dover-Calais, P&O Ferries are only permitting foot passengers on crossings operated by their modern ships, the Spirit of France and Spirit of Britain, meaning there's a rather limited choice of times. They also only allow foot passengers between 08:25-19:15 from Dover and between 06:45-21:45 from Calais.

I'm not sure whether either of the above are new restrictions but they certainly make foot crossings an even less attractive prospect.

That’s interesting.
I spoke to P&O call centre and couple of days ago and they said, that they do not take foot passengers .
Perhaps I was miss-informed.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I think that was the case during some of the earlier stages of the pandemic, but it's no longer the case.

That said, on Dover-Calais, P&O Ferries are only permitting foot passengers on crossings operated by their modern ships, the Spirit of France and Spirit of Britain, meaning there's a rather limited choice of times. They also only allow foot passengers between 08:25-19:15 from Dover and between 06:45-21:45 from Calais.

I'm not sure whether either of the above are new restrictions but they certainly make foot crossings an even less attractive prospect.

It's extremely unattractive anyway, they leave you until last so there is a lot of waiting around, definitely an inconvenience to them. The time limitations will be to do with having bus drivers available.

There is no direct public transport from almost every country in England to France. Everyone else manages to go to St Pancras.

Or more likely their local airport.

 

[johncrossley]

I have just scanned through and it seems that none of the ferries from Dover are offering Foot Passenger fares (Irish Ferries gives the option, but no availability). However, you can book Newhaven - Dieppe on DFDS as a foot passenger. Looks a bit pricey, though.

A workaround is to take your bike. It used to be cheaper to take your bike on the ferry anyway. Having a bike also means it is easy to get to and from the ports without needing a bus or taxi or a long walk. Dunkerque is more use to me as I usually want to go to Belgium and that didn't take foot passengers anyway. From Dunkerque there is a regular, free, bus to De Panne station across the border in Belgium. Parking your bike at the Dunkerque or Calais ports is presumably also an option if you are only using the bike so that you can get on the ferry.

 

[Bletchleyite]

A workaround is to take your bike. It used to be cheaper to take your bike on the ferry anyway.

There's logic to this - if you have a bike you ride it to the ship and board with the cars, whereas if you're a pedestrian the shuttle bus is needed as the walk would be quite long otherwise. So providing for bikes isn't a hassle, but providing for pedestrians is.

That said some of the pedestrian provision, e.g. the walk through passport control and customs, is still needed for coach passengers, so the saving is literally only in providing and staffing the shuttle bus.

 

[alex397]

To be fair, I'd be surprised if Eurostar made any real profit from the stations even pre-Covid. I presume they'll only reintroduce stops once they're not likely to be losing money on them.

As Eurostar have had (in effect) a bailout package, introducing something that is likely to be loss making (at least in the short term) won't go down well...

I agree it is probably not that profitable, but it still attracted a good amount of passengers. Even if it isn’t profitable, public transport shouldn’t always be about profit, as there are also benefits for the local economy - in the cases of Ebbsfleet or Ashford they could have government subsidy to keep trains stopping at them. Although that wouldn’t be popular with our anti-EU government. It could be a condition for any HS1 train operator that a certain percentage of trains have to stop at them, even if it’s only a small amount, and as long as people are actually using the trains from there.

There is no direct public transport from almost every country in England to France. Everyone else manages to go to St Pancras.

Of course there isn’t, as most counties are not 26 miles from the continent. Before Eurostar there seemed to be more opportunities in Kent for foot passengers to cross the channel without having to go to London.

I live in Kent and will probably get the Eurostar from London when I can. But it can add a significant cost to the journey, especially if travelling on a peak journey. There is also more time added to the journey too.
All in all, it just seems like a another backwards step, especially when there is no longer any alternative public transport route that doesn’t entail a trip to London.

 

[johncrossley]

For some people, the ferry was a good option if you had to travel at short notice and there were no cheap flights. Eurostar is almost always very expensive at short notice. However, cross Channel coach services were often cheaper than paying for separate train and ferry tickets.

 

[Watershed]

A workaround is to take your bike.

Only one slight problem : that requires you to make your way to the port by bike, and to store it on the other side whilst you're on your trip. Unless you happen to live within cycling distance of Dover and are doing a day trip to somewhere in cycling distance of Calais - or are on a long distance cycle tour - it's not really a very practical prospect!

 

[MattRat]

Are you sure there are no foot passengers taken on any of the cross-Channel ferries now? When did that change...? If so, then that's rather outrageous.

With travel restrictions easing, I was thinking just the other day that it was time for a cheap-day-return from London to Calais again.

You can pay for a taxi through the Chunnel as a pet owner. I'm sure if you rang them up though and explained your situation, they'd be happy to take your money. Then you just need to catch a Javelin to Folkestone.

 

[johncrossley]

Only one slight problem : that requires you to make your way to the port by bike, and to store it on the other side whilst you're on your trip. Unless you happen to live within cycling distance of Dover and are doing a day trip to somewhere in cycling distance of Calais - or are on a long distance cycle tour - it's not really a very practical prospect!

Unless I'm missing something obvious, you can take bikes on trains. For the people most disenfranchised by Eurostar ruining the cross-Channel ferries, i.e. people in Kent, taking bikes on trains is relatively easy as trains in Kent don't need bike reservations. If you have a lot of luggage then it isn't so practical. I remember Barry S Doe taking his bike as it was the only way to travel on Eurotunnel without a car.

 

[Bletchleyite]

You can pay for a taxi through the Chunnel as a pet owner. I'm sure if you rang them up though and explained your situation, they'd be happy to take your money. Then you just need to catch a Javelin to Folkestone.

I'm sure you can pay for a taxi through the Chunnel even if you aren't a pet owner. Just requires finding a taxi company that will do it.

 

[paul1609]

Folkestone Taxis do it, pre-covid it was £150 plus the return leshuttle fare when you wanted it. https://www.folkestonetaxi.com

 

[RT4038]

I agree it is probably not that profitable, but it still attracted a good amount of passengers. Even if it isn’t profitable, public transport shouldn’t always be about profit, as there are also benefits for the local economy - in the cases of Ebbsfleet or Ashford they could have government subsidy to keep trains stopping at them. Although that wouldn’t be popular with our anti-EU government. It could be a condition for any HS1 train operator that a certain percentage of trains have to stop at them, even if it’s only a small amount, and as long as people are actually using the trains from there.

Of course there isn’t, as most counties are not 26 miles from the continent. Before Eurostar there seemed to be more opportunities in Kent for foot passengers to cross the channel without having to go to London.

I live in Kent and will probably get the Eurostar from London when I can. But it can add a significant cost to the journey, especially if travelling on a peak journey. There is also more time added to the journey too.
All in all, it just seems like a another backwards step, especially when there is no longer any alternative public transport route that doesn’t entail a trip to London.

You are right - Kent has lost out for the greater good (or neutral position) of all the other counties. Unfortunate, but it happens sometimes. Hampshire and Liverpool had direct services to all over the world at one time; now they have to travel in the opposite direction into other counties first.

 

[AlbertBeale]

Unless I'm missing something obvious, you can take bikes on trains. For the people most disenfranchised by Eurostar ruining the cross-Channel ferries, i.e. people in Kent, taking bikes on trains is relatively easy as trains in Kent don't need bike reservations. If you have a lot of luggage then it isn't so practical. I remember Barry S Doe taking his bike as it was the only way to travel on Eurotunnel without a car.

Some of my day-trips to Calais over the years have included taking my bike on the train from London with me. Especially useful when passenger transport between station and boat at each end was getting worse. And - as has been stated - it speeded up getting on the boat too, since you use the same route the cars do.

In fact, at one stage some years ago, bikes fell through a gap in the system, so to speak, not going through the foot passenger system or through the normal vehicle system; I once ended up getting between Dover town and Calais town, on my bike, without any checks of passports, boarding cards, tickets or anything at any stage on either side. The same on the return that night, apart from when trying to exit the dock area back in Dover, when someone spotted me and redirected me to a checkpoint. (You can get away with a lot on a bike, sometimes.)