Operation Stack

[Compostella]

What is the "Operation Stack down in Kent that I keep hearing about on the travel reports?

[scubadiver]

If there is a strike or delay on the cross channel ferries, the HGVs waiting to board are parked up on the (I think) M20 which is then closed to cars for the section being used as a lorry park

[andy hughes]

That's it excatly. It means that lorries can board on a fair 'first come first served' basis, and they are safely and legally parked while they wait. it does mean shutting a section of motorway, and diverting non-HGV traffice, which causes delays, but the lorries have to go somewhere, and this system seems to make the bet of a bad situation. Local drivers who use the relavent section of motorway know to re-route if 'Operation Stack' is mentioned on their radios.

[hugnie21]

It causes chaos on the A20, which is the diversion the cars have to use. But they are now going to try a new idea, the london bound carriageway will be split so that the coastbound cars can travel down half of that side of the motorway, instead of using the A20.

So not only will there be chaos when you want to go to Dover, there will be chaos when you want to leave. Wonderful, I

[sddsddean]

As Andy says, it supposed to work on a 'first come, first served' basis, but no one seems to have told Eurotunnel, who still give priority to cars (for those of you who don't know, trucks and cars go on different trains) which makes us truck drivers in the queue really happy...NOT!! The longest queue I have personally been in was coming the other way. The whole of Calais was strike bound, so P&O put all their ferries on the Zeebrugge run. I joined the queue 7 miles outside Zeebrugge at 10.40am, and managed to get a ferry at 3.30am the next morning. (This was while the tunnel was still out of action due to the fire).