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| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Location | English Channel (Strait of Dover) |
| Coordinates | 51°00′45″N 1°30′15″E / 51.0125°N 1.5041°E |
| Status | Active |
| Start | Folkestone, Kent, England, (51°05′50″N 1°09′21″E / 51.0971°N 1.1558°E) |
| End | Coquelles, Pas-de-Calais, Hauts-de-France, France (50°55′22″N 1°46′49″E / 50.9228°N 1.7804°E) |
| Operation | |
| Opened |
|
| Owner | Getlink |
| Operator | |
| Character | Passenger trains, freight trains, vehicle shuttle trains |
| Technical | |
| Line length | 50.46 km (31.35 miles) |
| No. of tracks | 2 single track tunnels 1 service tunnel |
| Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge |
| Electrified | Overhead line, 25 kV 50 Hz AC, 5.87 m [1] |
| Operating speed | 160 km/h (99 mph) (safety restriction) 200 km/h (120 mph) (design)[2] |
| Route map | |
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Channel Tunnel | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Distances from Castle Hill Tunnel Portal
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The Channel Tunnel (French: Tunnel sous la Manche), sometimes referred to by the portmanteau Chunnel,[3][4] is a 50.46-kilometre (31.35-mile) undersea railway tunnel, opened in 1994, that connects Folkestone (Kent, England) with Coquelles (Pas-de-Calais, France) beneath the English Channel at the Strait of Dover. It is the only fixed link between the island of Great Britain and the European mainland.
At its lowest point, the tunnel is 75 metres (246 feet) below the sea bed and 115 metres (377 feet) below sea level.[5][6][7] At 37.9 kilometres (23.5 miles), it has the longest underwater section of any tunnel in the world and is the third-longest railway tunnel in the world. While designed to accommodate trains travelling at up to 200 kilometres per hour (120 miles per hour), for safety, trains are restricted to a top speed of 160 kilometres per hour (99 miles per hour) through the tunnel.[8] The tunnel is owned and operated by Getlink, formerly Groupe Eurotunnel.
The tunnel carries high-speed Eurostar passenger trains, LeShuttle services for road vehicles[9] and freight trains.[10] It connects end-to-end with high-speed railway lines: the LGV Nord in France and High Speed 1 in England. In 2017, Eurostar trains carried 10.3 million passengers, freight trains transported 1.2 million tonnes (2.6 billion pounds) of freight, and Shuttle trains moved 10.4 million passengers, 2.6 million cars, 51,000 coaches, and 1.6 million heavy goods vehicles carrying 21.3 million tonnes (47 billion pounds) of freight.[11] That compares with 11.7 million passengers, 2.2 million cars, and 2.6 million heavy goods vehicles transported by sea through the Port of Dover.[12]
Plans to build a cross-Channel tunnel were proposed as early as 1802,[13][14] but British political and media criticism motivated by fears of compromising national security had disrupted attempts to build one.[15] An early unsuccessful attempt was made in the late 19th century, on the English side, "in the hope of forcing the hand of the English Government".[16] The eventual successful project, organised by Eurotunnel, began construction in 1988 and opened in 1994. Estimated to cost £5.5 billion in 1985,[17] it was at the time the most expensive construction project ever proposed. The cost finally amounted to £4.65 billion (equivalent to £11.7 billion in 2023).[18] A cost-benefit analysis of the tunnel indicated that there were few effects on the wider economy and few developments associated with the project and that the British economy would have been better off if it had not been constructed.[19][20]
Since its opening, the tunnel has experienced occasional mechanical problems. Both fires and cold weather have temporarily disrupted its operation.[21][22] Since at least 1997, aggregations of migrants around Calais seeking entry to the United Kingdom, such as through the tunnel, have prompted deterrence and countermeasures.[23][24][25]
- ^ Institution of Civil Engineers (Great Britain) (1995). The Channel Tunnel: Transport systems, Volume 4. Vol. 108. Thomas Telford. p. 22. ISBN 9780727720245.
- ^ The Channel Tunnel: Terminals. Thomas Telford. 1993. ISBN 978-0-7277-1939-3.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
BBC openingceremonywas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Baraniuk, Chris (23 August 2017). "The Channel Tunnel that was never built". BBC. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
- ^ "Folkestone Eurotunnel Trains". Transworld Leisure Limited. Retrieved 11 February 2017.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
ICE p. 95was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Wise, Jeff (1 October 2009). "Turkey Building the World's Deepest Immersed Tube Tunnel". Popular Mechanics. Archived from the original on 17 May 2014.
- ^ Dumitrache, Alina (24 March 2010). "The Channel Tunnel – Traveling Under the Sea". AutoEvolution. Retrieved 2 August 2014.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Anderson Story p xvi-xviiwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
Chisholmwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Traffic figures". GetLink Group. Retrieved 11 July 2018.
- ^ "About/Performance". Port of Dover. Archived from the original on 12 April 2022. Retrieved 11 July 2018.
- ^ Whiteside 1962, p. 17.
- ^ "The Channel Tunnel". library.thinkquest.org. Archived from the original on 12 December 2007. Retrieved 19 July 2009.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Wilson pp. 14–21was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Paddy at Home ("Chez Paddy") (2nd ed.). Chapman & Hall Covent Garden, London. 1887.
- ^ Veditz, Leslie Allen. "The Channel Tunnel – A Case Study" (PDF). Fort McNair, Washington, D.C., U.S.: The Industrial College of the Armed Forces, National Defense University. p. 8. Archived (PDF) from the original on 21 December 2016. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Flyvbjerg p. 12was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
Anguera 2006was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
Flyvbjergwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Channel tunnel fire worst in service's history". The Guardian. 12 September 2008. Retrieved 21 February 2014.
- ^ "Thousands freed from Channel Tunnel after trains fail". BBC News. 19 December 2009. Retrieved 21 February 2014.
- ^ "Four men caught in Channel Tunnel". BBC News. 4 January 2008. Retrieved 19 July 2009.
- ^ "Sangatte refugee camp". The Guardian. UK. 23 May 2002. Retrieved 19 July 2009.
- ^ "French Channel Tunnel train drivers 'haunted' by migrant deaths". The Daily Telegraph. 1 October 2015. Archived from the original on 11 January 2022. Retrieved 18 January 2017.