LONDON – Trucks began boarding ferries in Dover on Thursday to cross the English Channel for the first time in four days, a step to end a congestion that had built up at the border after France banned Britain’s crossings. Britain to limit the spread of a coronavirus variant.
Sea, rail and air routes were reopened more than 24 hours earlier, after London agreed to conduct virus tests for drivers, but the accumulation only began to decline on Thursday after British authorities set up the screening and began to release healthy people to travel.
British army members were sent to help test the thousands of drivers, who must present proof of a negative coronavirus test before being allowed to board ferries to France.
The magnitude of the task caused movement to remain slow on Thursday morning. It could take days to completely clear the stalemate, officials said, meaning that many drivers are unlikely to be able to get home on Christmas Day.
While the massive cargo buildup was rooted in fears about the coronavirus, some commentators saw in the gigantic lines an omen of what might be lurking after Britain completed its withdrawal from the European Union. But those concerns appeared to have subsided on Thursday, when London and Brussels announced they had reached a broad agreement on a post-Brexit trade deal.
After days of confusion, anger and chaos in and around Dover, however, this will be of little comfort to the hordes of drivers who were trapped after the border was closed abruptly, leaving them with nowhere to go and little. access to food or public facilities.
Many were forced to sleep on their platforms for several nights, and even with the route open, exasperation was on display on Thursday, with some truckers spelling the word “HELP” with traffic cones, according to a photo from The Guardian.
“It’s like a horror movie,” said Ravinder Singh, chief executive of Khalsa Aid, which distributes meals to drivers stuck on the road. “For them it is a prison: they cannot go anywhere,” he added.
Amid concerns that the vacation would cause further delays, Grant Shapps, the British transport secretary, said on Thursday that he had agreed with the French authorities to keep border controls open in Dover, southeastern England, and in Calais, via the English Channel in France, over Christmas.
Some 6,000 trucks remained stuck in Dover and approaching the port on Thursday, with 4,000 of them parked at a disabled airport that has been turned into a waiting area, the BBC reported. According to Mr. Shapps, as of noon, 2,367 tests had been accomplished in stranded drivers, with three positive results so far.
The tests were fully mobilized at the port and at the disabled airport, said a spokeswoman for the Port of Dover. She said that about 100 cargo vehicles entered the port on Wednesday night, and that many were due to enter Thursday, as authorities try to place as many trucks on the ferries as possible.
The accumulation of vehicles will take time to clear, prompting the government of Kent, the county that includes Dover, to work with aid organizations to provide food and water to drivers. Supermarkets and local businesses in southeastern England also made donations, council officials said, adding that more portable toilets were also installed along the highway.
Roger Gough, the Kent council leader, said in a statement that he expects the situation to improve steadily.
“However, I have a deep sympathy for those for whom it will arrive too late to spend Christmas with their families,” he added.
Mr. Singh, from Khalsa Aid, described the last days as unreal. He said that, when time allowed, drivers from a number of European countries would sit outside their platforms on a normally busy highway or walk up and down the traffic queues.
Tensions rose at the airport, Singh said, where images showed drivers furiously protesting with police on Wednesday.
Attempts to control the coronavirus variant continued in Britain on Wednesday, with the government imposing stricter rules in much of England. Britain reported 39,237 new infections on Wednesday – the highest number since the outbreak began – and 744 deaths.
On Thursday, China said it would suspend flights to and from Britain, joining more than 50 other governments that have imposed some kind of travel restriction since Saturday.
Eshe Nelson contributed reporting.