When you get off in France, ride on the right.
(It's not a joke - many forget, especially when pulling out of a filling station).
(It's not a joke - many forget, especially when pulling out of a filling station).
First time on Le shuttle, any tips?
- Thread starter PIGGLET
- Start date
Stow your gloves at the first opportunity in the queue for the ticket booth
Thats the thing, if you know you know, you play by the rules...I always turn up early
I pretty much always get put on the next train leaving, hardly ever waited for the one I booked
I believe I read somewhere that this has been stopped...
No harm in trying though.
I’m afraid that what you think you read was bollocks.
I’m afraid that what you think you read was bollocks.
Strangely I thought I read it on this fine forum 
Then you can (very safely) double the nonsense.
Yes, there was an hysterical thread, cut (from memory) from a newspaper, where some bod had turned up late for their train and been charged twice, his first crossing having been missed. This morphed into all sorts of other nonsense from Adventure (with a capital A) bikermates saying how outraged they were as:
A. They seemingly never know when they might arrive at the Chunnel.
B. Would no longer be offered earlier crossings, should they arrive early.
This myth was exploded, not least by me * , when I purposely arrived early. The machine offered me a choice of an earlier crossing or to stay with my existing one. Similarly, due to a problem, I rearranged a fixed price crossing, when I knew I was going to miss my booked time.
In short, if you arrive early (say within two hours of your booked time) there is a better than even chance that you’ll be offered an earlier train. But…. That depends on there being space and / or there isn’t some mechanical problem with the service, which has lead to a backlog.
Likewise, you can get about an hour leeway (on being late) for fixed price (ie the cheapest) crossings. However, it’s best to ring ahead. Even if they charge you, it’ll be a lot less than a second ‘short notice’ crossing.
* More than once, since the hysterics started.
PS The Chunnel now spell out exactly how early you can turn up and /or the latest you can arrive at the check in. It’s not in the small print.
Last edited:
Bike in gear not work?
Practice for a week before departure.
I had a standard shuttle ticket a couple of weeks ago. Turned up 40 minutes before my earliest check in time at Coquelles and was still permitted to choose earlier crossings for free.
Very quiet at the terminal (Friday noon) and very quick getting through French and UK checks. Ended up getting lunch and still caught a train 90 minutes before my allotted train.
Maybe I picked a good day.
Very quiet at the terminal (Friday noon) and very quick getting through French and UK checks. Ended up getting lunch and still caught a train 90 minutes before my allotted train.
Maybe I picked a good day.
Its my butter in the fridge moment - in gear AND brake lock.
Not if it’s a DCT model
Don’t forget your bike! 
Globetrotter
Registered user
Without echoing sage advise - never leave your really expensive items in the backbox/panniers when leaving your bike unattended, even for five minutes.
Thanks for all the info folks. Thanks for the clarification on timings Richard. I was pretty sure when booking it said you had an hour either side of your chosen time but I intend to arrive early anyway.
Turn your alarm off if you go wandering.
Welcome.
Your email confirmation will show (most importantly) what time the check-in closes prior to departure. This information is also shown on the Chunnel’s app.
This of course assumes you have a short stay saver or some similar type of fixed or low cost ticket. Other ticket types vary in their flexibility, right up to fully flexible tickets, which (understandably) are not cheap. The information these ticket types will show, might well vary.
Either way, you’ll be fine. The Chunnel (I first used it in its first week of operation, nearly 30 years ago) is not full of monsters. It is though not uncommon to come across travellers for whom it’s their first crossing, whether by car or motorcycle, so you’ll not be alone.
Enjoy your trip.
PS A lot of the past problems occurred when bods on fixed or low cost tickets arrived very early or very late, and expected the Chunnel to accommodate them at the drop of a hat. This was compounded when the same bods turned up very early or late at times of peak demand, especially on bank holidays or at the beginning or end of the school holidays. Coupled to the sometimes slow checking of passports, this sometimes created huge queues which stretched back onto the motorway; dangerous, in other words. To reduce the problem (passport checks are beyond the Chunnel’s control) they did two things:
A. Check-in times were more rigidly enforced; again, depending on ticket types. But it’s of very much reduced value having a fully flexible ticket, if the queue to check-in is a mile long, full of chancers.
B. A slalom course, rather than the straight lines. A model which, I guess, they stole from Disneyland.
Last edited:
I never knew there was so much to it. Whenever I used the tunnel it’s been very straightforward. Price is the issue these days leading me to slumming it on the DFDS Newhaven - Dieppe
Similar threads
