Operation Stack (Brexit, trucking) and Operation Broc (Brexit, trucking)

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Overview[]

In 2019 Operation Stack (first run in 1988) is due to be superseded by Operation Brock. Work began in May 2018 on this scheme managed by Highways England, designed as a temporary solution to manage lorry queueing and traffic flow at the Port of Dover after Brexit.

In September 2018, Highways England revealed in a freedom of information request that "Operation Brock, the code name for the management of freight in a no-deal scenario, would not be automatic and would require steel barriers to make a planned contraflow system on the M20 safe for ordinary vehicles" and that "£30m has been allocated to cover the design, build and initial operation of the scheme for up to six months.".

Operation Stack[]

Operation Stack is a procedure used by Kent Police and the Port of Dover in England to park (or "stack") lorries on the M20 motorway in Kent when services across the English Channel, such as those through the Channel Tunnel or from the Port of Dover, are disrupted, for example by bad weather, industrial action, fire or derailments in the tunnel.

Operation Stack is operated by Kent Police using powers under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 and coordinated by a multi-agency group known as Operation Fennel.

According to Damian Green MP, by 2007 the system had been implemented 74 times in the 20 years after it was first introduced.It is due to be superseded by Operation Brock in 2019.

The point of it[]

It is done to test South East London and Kentish readiness for handling lorry and tanker lorry tailbacks if the port of Dover and\or the French ports it connects with are out of action or disrupted by strikes and alike.

Operation Brock[]

Operation Brock [lorry park: A256 trial] is the planned traffic management system in the event of a No-deal Brexit scenario. It supersedes Operation Stack, the previous plan that has been used in the past for temporary cross-Channel traffic problems.

Work began in May 2018 on this scheme managed by Highways England, designed as a temporary solution to manage lorry queueing and traffic flow at the Port of Dover after Brexit.

In September 2018, Highways England revealed in a freedom of information request that "Operation Brock, the code name for the management of freight in a no-deal scenario, would not be automatic and would require steel barriers to make a planned contraflow system on the M20 safe for ordinary vehicles" and that "£30m has been allocated to cover the design, build and initial operation of the scheme for up to six months."

A convoy of 89 trucks went 2 test runs from the now virtually disused Manston Airport (there is a small local heliport and a radio communications center for passing helicopters), near the town Ramsgate in Kent to the Port of Dover via a 20 mile route. 150 had been invited, but only 89 actually turned up for the event.

The British Department for Transport said the test was a success and worked as planned.

2019 Operation Brock Rehearsal[]

In January 2019, a rehearsal for part of Operation Brock was carried out, using the former Manston Airport as a lorry park. It was criticised for being unrepresentative of the actual situation that would occur in reality. On the first day of the test, only 89 of the planned 150 lorries turned up for the rehearsal.

The Road Haulage Association's chief executive Richard Burnett said the trial "cannot possibly duplicate the reality of 4,000 trucks that would be held at Manston Airport in the event of a no-deal Brexit".

Manston Airport[]

Manston Airport, formerly IATA: MSE, ICAO: EGMH, is a closed British airport. It was branded as Manston, Kent International Airport and is located in the parish of Minster-in-Thanet and partly adjacent to the village of Manston in the Thanet district of Kent, England, 11 NM (20 km; 13 mi) north-east of Canterbury. Formerly the site of RAF Manston, it was briefly known as London Manston Airport.^[2] The single runway is located about 1 mile (1.6 km) from the coastline at 178 ft (54 m) above sea level.

At 2,748 m (9,016 ft) long, it has the eleventh-longest civilian runway in the United Kingdom (after Heathrow (2), Gatwick, Birmingham, Manchester, Stansted, East Midlands, Doncaster, Prestwick and Belfast International).

Also see[]

Brexit
Meaningful vote
No-deal Brexit scenario
Hard Irish border
Irish border question
Operation Yellowhammer
Just in time supply planning
Eurosceptics and "Little Englanders"
The European Research Group (The ERG)
The October 17th, 2019, Brexit Treaty
Jeremy Corbyn's January 16, 2019 vote of no confidence