Vacationers trying to escape for the Easter weekend have been warned that they are likely to face a break, whether traveling by air, rail, road or sea.
Sickness and staff shortages have already wreaked havoc on air passengers, with carriers canceling dozens of flights in a short period of time as ferry operators struggle to meet demand as P&O Ferries’ services remain suspended.
Passengers are told that they face delays over the weekend and may even have difficulty reaching their destination, regardless of the way they travel, given the widespread closure of the railway network and forecasts of “huge jumps”. vehicles on highways.
Easter weekend is the first official holiday since the removal of almost all travel restrictions on Covid and traditionally marks the beginning of the busiest spring-summer season.
Transport Secretary Grant Shaps said in an interview with the BBC that it would be “extremely busy on our roads, potentially in our ports, especially in Dover”.
Network Rail, which owns and operates the British Railways, has advised passengers to travel on both sides of the long weekend because it is closing parts of the engineering system.
Trains running along the main west coast line that connects London with Scotland will depart and end in Milton Keynes between Friday, April 15 and Monday, April 18, while Euston Station in north London will also be closed.
Parts of the railway line between Birmingham and Coventry International Stations will also be closed, as will lines around Crew Station.
The closure of the railways will affect tens of thousands of Liverpool and Manchester City football fans who travel to London’s Wembley Stadium to watch their teams compete in the FA Cup semi-finals. A crowd of 90,000 is expected, but the FA has advised ticket holders not to take the train from the northwest.
The football association said it rents 100 buses from Anfield and the Etihad Stadium to transport up to 5,000 fans from each club. A spokesman said approximately 2,000 seats were still available on buses for Liverpool supporters.
Network Rail chairman Sir Peter Handy recently told MPs from the parliamentary transport selection committee that the FA had scheduled matches for men and women in the capital, despite a heavy warning to close the railways.
“Network Rail told the FA in 2019 that we are closing the main line of the West Coast, but it seems that they have arranged a football match between Manchester and Liverpool at Wembley on a day when we have practically given the world two years notice of closure.” said Handy.
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Airline passengers have faced long queues at security clearance terminals in recent weeks, while thousands of passengers flying from Manchester airport have missed their flights as a result. This came as passenger growth coincided with a high percentage of non-Covid staff and a wider shortage of workers after many were laid off during the pandemic.
Manchester Airport has warned passengers that they will have to wait up to 90 minutes to get through security, while some disruption is expected for those flying from Birmingham, Heathrow and Gatwick.
“I would be surprised if there are no additional difficulties,” said Wayne King, regional coordinating officer at Unite Union. “Every time there are school vacations, it will peak because there will simply be no staff.”
Shaps said he was concerned that airlines and airport and port operators must “ensure they return to power and quickly” following large-scale cuts during the Covid crisis. “We have been warning them for a long time that they will have to prepare again.”
Travelers may also find it difficult to reach the airport. The Piccadilly Line on the London Underground will not serve any of Heathrow’s terminals over the weekend, while there will be fewer trains stopping at Gatwick for station work.
Pressure on ferry operators across the English Channel in Dover and Eurotunnel’s services is unlikely to ease over the weekend, after it was revealed on Wednesday that another P&O Ferries ship had been detained after inspectors identified “several deficiencies”.
Two of the Dover-based P&O ships, which typically sail five times a day to Calais, are being investigated by the Maritime and Coast Guard Agency.
Millimeter queues of freight traffic and holidaymakers hoping to cross the English Channel have caused congestion for residents and businesses in Kent.
Drivers in other parts of the country may also face traffic jams over the weekend. Drivers are expected to take more than 21 million leisure trips by car this weekend, according to RAC estimates, which they say is the largest number for the Easter holidays since it began tracking plans in 2014. The automotive organization predicts that Crucifixion Friday will be the busiest day of the weekend.
“We expect to see huge jumps in traffic and delays around airports and highways. Last weekend, many drivers tried to overtake and we saw a 27% increase in miles on Waze compared to driving levels before Covid, “said Ru Roberts, the British manager of the Waze navigation app.
Roberts added that traffic could also be affected by drivers looking for fuel at competitive prices or front yards that are not affected by supply disruptions as a result of Just Stop Oil protesters who blocked oil terminals.
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