Channel Tunnel: Difference between revisions
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The [[Channel Tunnel Rail Link]] when completed will provide the missing high-speed rail link from London to the tunnel. |
The [[Channel Tunnel Rail Link]] when completed will provide the missing high-speed rail link from London to the tunnel. |
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===A little history=== |
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: ''Some history on earlier projects would be good'' |
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A link between Britain and France has been proposed on many occasions, but it was not until the 19th century that people came to belief that the necessary engineering ability was present. Various French and British engineers put forward proposals and digging for a tunnel was actually started for a brief while in 1880. However the British government was firmly opposed to a link, particularly on military grounds, and it was not until after [[WW II]] that the concept began receiving serious attention. |
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In 1957 the Channel Tunnel Study Group was formed. It reported in 1960 and recommended a railway tunnel of two main tunnels and a smaller service tunnel. The project was launched in 1973 before collapsing due to financial problems in 1975. |
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In 1984 the idea was relaunched with a Anglo-French government request for proposals to build a privately funded link. Of the four submissions recieved the one most closely resembling the 1973 plan was chosen and announced on January 20, 1986. The [[Fixed Link Treaty]] was signed by the two governments in Canterbury on February 12, 1986 and ratified in 1987. |
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==External links== |
==External links== |
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Revision as of 11:05, 8 September 2003
The Channel Tunnel, or Chunnel, or le tunnel sous la Manche is a long-standing project that saw several false starts before finally being completed in 1994.
The United Kingdom and France announced plans to construct the Channel Tunnel on January 20, 1986 and it took 15,000 workers over seven years to complete. The Chunnel was officially opened by Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and French President Francois Mitterrand during a ceremony on May 6, 1994. This was the first time since the end of the Great Ice Age that is was possible to travel between Great Britain and Europe on a land route.
The Channel Tunnel comprises two railway tunnels and a service tunnel, interconnected, underneath the English Channel, connecting Cheriton in Kent, England and Sangatte in northern France. It is 50 km long, out of which 39 km are undersea. The average depth is 40 m underneath the seabed. It opened for travel in 1994 and its rail service carries vehicles as well as passengers. Nearly 7 million passengers take the 35 minute journey travel through the tunnel every year.
The tunnel is operated by Eurotunnel. Three types of train services operate:
- Eurostar passenger service, running from London to Paris and Brussels with stops at Ashford, Calais-Frethun and Lille.
- Le Shuttle, which carries cars and lorries across the channel similarly to the ferries: these run from Sangatte (Calais/Coquelles) to Folkestone
- Freight trains
Asylum seekers sometimes try to sneak aboard trains heading to England, believing their chances of receiving asylum are better there than in France.
It has been declared one of the modern Seven Wonders of the World by the American Society of Civil Engineers.
The Channel Tunnel Rail Link when completed will provide the missing high-speed rail link from London to the tunnel.
A little history
A link between Britain and France has been proposed on many occasions, but it was not until the 19th century that people came to belief that the necessary engineering ability was present. Various French and British engineers put forward proposals and digging for a tunnel was actually started for a brief while in 1880. However the British government was firmly opposed to a link, particularly on military grounds, and it was not until after WW II that the concept began receiving serious attention.
In 1957 the Channel Tunnel Study Group was formed. It reported in 1960 and recommended a railway tunnel of two main tunnels and a smaller service tunnel. The project was launched in 1973 before collapsing due to financial problems in 1975.
In 1984 the idea was relaunched with a Anglo-French government request for proposals to build a privately funded link. Of the four submissions recieved the one most closely resembling the 1973 plan was chosen and announced on January 20, 1986. The Fixed Link Treaty was signed by the two governments in Canterbury on February 12, 1986 and ratified in 1987.