Clearly, there are deep-set problems and questions as to whether the gates, which are supposed both to speed up immigration control and improve border security, are fit for purpose. And there are also doubts over the robustness of another major technology which affects travellers: Britain’s air traffic control system. 

Last August bank holiday, more than 700,000 passengers were delayed or had their travelling plans disrupted when thousands of aircraft were grounded because the computerised flight-planning system relied on by National Air Traffic Services (Nats) shut itself down. It took the on-call engineer 90 minutes to get to HQ, restart the system and clear the glitch.

Is this just a British disease? Another infrastructure project which is unfit for purpose? There have been some recent problems with immigration gates at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport. But I checked with Telegraph Travel experts around Europe and there seem to have been no other reports of major problems with local e-gates.

And a huge test is looming. For the most part, since Brexit, British passports are still checked and stamped manually at continental airports and borders. Soon, however, the EU will introduce a new automated system for all visitors to the Schengen zone (the common travel area which now comprises most European countries). 

Known as the EES (entry/exit system), it will rely on e-gates to read our passports in a similar way to our own system. They will check the validity of the document and the identity of the bearer and also record our entry and exit dates to ensure we do not outstay our welcome (tourists with UK passports are allowed to visit the EU for up to three months in any six). 

The EES was supposed to be introduced in 2022. Not surprisingly, given the complexities and the potential chaos which would ensue if things went wrong, implementation has been repeatedly delayed and is now slated for late 2024, to be followed by the EU’s new visa waiver scheme, known as Etias, in 2025. 

There have been huge challenges. While the EES software must be compatible across the whole of the Schengen area, different EU countries are using different hardware. I can’t see any potential problems there…

Unfortunately, the biggest issues are likely to be for non-EU travellers, such as Britons – especially during the first weeks of operation when virtually all visitors will be using the new gates for the first time and the system will have to log our data from scratch. That is bound to cause hold-ups. 

Added to that is the additional time needed at particular pinch points. Eurotunnel is on record as estimating that the average time of processing a car at Folkestone will rise from less than a minute to up to seven. This is partly because passports can’t be checked through an open window – passengers will have to get out and use the gates. (The scenario for disembarking coach passengers will be even more tedious.) 

Also in Kent, Ashford borough council has warned of potential 14-hour delays at Dover port. Meanwhile, Eurostar, which is currently overhauling its St Pancras terminal to prepare for the new gates, recently warned that it may have to limit passenger numbers travelling from London in the early stages of the EES implementation.