Massive processing and waiting areas are being built for the new EU travel rule

Tens of millions of pounds are being spent on new IT equipment needed to implement an EU travel rule due to come into effect in October – amid fears it will cause long delays at crossing points. Under the Entry Exit System (EES), non-EU nationals, including people from the UK, will need to register information such as fingerprints and a photograph the first time they cross the border.

New equipment and new processing areas are being created at locations including Dover Ferry Port, Eurostar’s London St Pancras terminus and Eurotunnel’s Folkestone site. Dover plans to process coaches separately from cars and will build a whole new area at sea to house the facility, and Eurostar is expanding its St Pancras base to make more room for the huge queues.

People flying will have to provide the information when they land in EU countries, including Spain, Greece, Italy, France and Portugal. Anyone taking a ferry or train will need to provide the information before departure.

Fingerprints and a photo will be taken, and travelers will need to answer questions about their trip. Foreign Secretary David Cameron recently told MPs he was “very concerned” about the “long delays”, reports the BBC.

When the rules come into effect, coaches will be diverted from the main check-in at Dover to a new processing area with a hall full of kiosks. All passengers will disembark from the coaches, be processed and then return to board to proceed to check-in.

For cars, people will fill in their details on a tablet in check-in queues. The recording is expected to increase from 45 seconds to up to two minutes. By next summer, a new processing area for cars reclaimed from the sea will be built in Dover. Another new holding area to accommodate the long queues will be built by September 2027.

In St Pancras, the number of border control points in the existing departure area will be doubled, leaving no space for the new EES terminals. 49 of them will be installed at other points around the station. A cafe is to be removed and two other areas will be converted into waiting areas.

Eurotunnel is to hire 70 new passenger support staff on each side of the channel.

The company’s boss, Yann Leriche, recently told the BBC that going through border controls would take five to seven minutes longer.

A Government spokesman said it was “working closely with the EU and member states to minimize any impact on our shared borders with Europe”.

They added: “We are also working closely with Kent Resilience Forum as well as port authorities, ferry operators and industry to develop robust contingency plans to ensure they are prepared to minimize the risk of delays.”