138-763: The Eurotunnel Folkestone Terminal is a railway terminal built for the transport of road-going vehicles on specially constructed trains through the Channel Tunnel . The station is located in Cheriton , a northern suburb of the town of Folkestone in the county of Kent . It is the terminal for the United Kingdom . On the French side is the Eurotunnel Calais Terminal located at Coquelles , near Calais . The passenger service building at
276-531: A land frontier between the two countries in the middle of the Channel tunnel—the first of its kind. Design and construction were done by the ten construction companies in the CTG/F-M group. The French terminal and boring from Sangatte were done by the five French construction companies in the joint venture group GIE Transmanche Construction . The English Terminal and boring from Shakespeare Cliff were done by
414-409: A 4.8 m (15 ft 9 in) diameter service tunnel in between. The three bores are connected by cross-passages and piston relief ducts. The service tunnel was used as a pilot tunnel, boring ahead of the main tunnels to determine the conditions. English access was provided at Shakespeare Cliff and French access from a shaft at Sangatte. The French side used five tunnel boring machines (TBMs), and
552-631: A 50.46 km (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, it is 75 m (246 ft) below the sea bed and 115 m (377 ft) below sea level. At 37.9 km (23.5 miles), it has
690-530: A 55 m (180 ft) diameter 75 m (246 ft) deep grout-curtained shaft at Sangatte was used for access. On the English side, a marshalling area was 140 m (459 ft) below the top of Shakespeare Cliff, the New Austrian Tunnelling method (NATM) was first applied in the chalk marl here. On the English side, the land tunnels were driven from Shakespeare Cliff—the same place as
828-488: A Frenchman, performed the first geological and hydrographical surveys on the Channel between Calais and Dover. He explored several schemes and, in 1856, presented a proposal to Napoleon III for a mined railway tunnel from Cap Gris-Nez to East Wear Point with a port/airshaft on the Varne sandbank at a cost of 170 million francs , or less than £7 million. In 1865, a deputation led by George Ward Hunt proposed
966-490: A UK domestic train service was the Hull Trains 07.30 King's Cross to Hull , which covered the 125.4 km (77.9 miles) from Stevenage to Grantham in 42 minutes at an average speed of 179.1 km/h (111.3 mph). This was operated by a Class 180 diesel unit running "under the wires" at the time, and is now operated by Class 802 Paragon bi-mode units, operating on electric power on this section. This
1104-437: A bored tunnel, and thus a wide area was investigated. At that time, marine geophysics surveying for engineering projects was in its infancy, with poor positioning and resolution from seismic profiling. The 1964–1965 surveys concentrated on a northerly route that left the English coast at Dover harbour; using 70 boreholes, an area of deeply weathered rock with high permeability was located just south of Dover harbour. Given
1242-665: A few days later. Site investigation undertaken in the 20 years before construction confirmed earlier speculations that a tunnel could be bored through a chalk marl stratum. The chalk marl is conducive to tunnelling, with impermeability, ease of excavation and strength. The chalk marl runs along the entire length of the English side of the tunnel, but on the French side a length of 5 km (3.1 miles) has variable and difficult geology. The tunnel consists of three bores: two 7.6 m (24 ft 11 in) diameter rail tunnels, 30 m (98 ft) apart, 50 km (31 miles) in length with
1380-460: A fixed link, with one of the largest ferry operators ( Sealink ) being state-owned. Flexilink continued rousing opposition throughout 1986 and 1987. Public opinion strongly favoured a drive-through tunnel, but concerns about ventilation, accident management and driver mesmerisation resulted in the only shortlisted rail submission, CTG/F-M, being awarded the project in January 1986. Reasons given for
1518-552: A high-speed link to London. Successful tunnelling required a sound understanding of topography and geology and the selection of the best rock strata through which to dig. The geology of this site generally consists of northeasterly dipping Cretaceous strata, part of the northern limb of the Wealden-Boulonnais dome. It has: On the English side, the stratum dip is less than 5°; on the French side, this increases to 20°. Jointing and faulting are present on both sides. On
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#17327729518771656-604: A new high-speed railway in the UK. This study began on the assumption the route would be a new purpose-built high-speed line connected to High-Speed 1 to the Channel tunnel and from London to the West Midlands , via Heathrow Airport , relieving traffic on the West Coast Main Line (WCML). Conventional high-speed rail technology would be used as opposed to Maglev . The rolling stock would be capable of travelling on
1794-665: A number of heritage (mainly steam) standard and narrow gauge railways, and a few industrial railways and tramways. Some lines which appear to be heritage operations sometimes claim to be part of the public transport network; the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway in Kent regularly transports schoolchildren. Most major cities have some form of commuter rail network . These include Belfast , Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff , Edinburgh, Exeter , Glasgow , Leeds , Liverpool, London and Manchester . There are four main goods operating companies in
1932-685: A number of other joint railways such as the Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway and the Cheshire Lines Committee as well as special joint railways such as the Forth Bridge Railway, Ryde Pier Railway and at one time the East London Railway ). The "Big Four" were joint-stock public companies and they continued to run the railway system until 31 December 1947. The growth in road transport during
2070-422: A record 22.7 billion net tonne kilometres (14 billion net ton miles) of freight movement were recorded in 2013–4, against 16.6 billion (10.1 billion) in 1986–7, an increase of 38%. Coal made up 36% of the total net tonne kilometre , though its share was declining. Rail freight had increased its market share since privatisation (by net tonne kilometres) from 7.4% in 1998 to 11.1% in 2013. Growth
2208-518: A renaissance in recent years, with passenger numbers approaching their highest ever level (see usage figures below). This has coincided with the privatisation of British Rail , but the cause of this increase is unclear . The growth is partly attributed to a shift away from private motoring due to growing road congestion and increasing petrol prices, but also to the overall increase in travel due to affluence. Passenger journeys in Britain grew by 88% over
2346-714: A scrap metal merchant. Another machine (T4 "Virginie") still survives on the French side, adjacent to Junction 41 on the A16 , in the middle of the D243E3/D243E4 roundabout. On it are the words "hommage aux bâtisseurs du tunnel", meaning "tribute to the builders of the tunnel". Rail transport in Great Britain The railway system in Great Britain is the oldest railway system in the world. The first locomotive-hauled public railway opened in 1825, which
2484-563: A similar machine to drill 1,669 m (5,476 ft) from Sangatte on the French side. However, the cross-Channel tunnel project was abandoned in 1883, despite this success, after fears raised by the British military that an underwater tunnel might be used as an invasion route. Nevertheless, in 1883, this TBM was used to bore a railway ventilation tunnel—7 ft (2.1 m) in diameter and 6,750 ft (2,060 m) long—between Birkenhead and Liverpool , England, through sandstone under
2622-419: A syndicated bank loan and letter of credit arranged £5 billion. Privately financed, the total investment costs at 1985 prices were £2.6 billion. At the 1994 completion actual costs were, in 1985 prices, £4.65 billion: an 80% cost overrun . The cost overrun was partly due to enhanced safety, security, and environmental demands. Financing costs were 140% higher than forecast. Working from both
2760-466: A working group to evaluate a privately funded project. In June 1982 the Franco-British study group favoured a twin tunnel to accommodate conventional trains and a vehicle shuttle service. In April 1985 promoters were invited to submit scheme proposals. Four submissions were shortlisted: The cross-Channel ferry industry protested using the name "Flexilink". In 1975 there was no campaign protesting
2898-596: Is one of the busiest railways in Europe , with 20% more train services than France , 60% more than Italy , and more than Spain , Switzerland , the Netherlands , Portugal and Norway combined, as well as representing more than 20% of all passenger journeys in Europe. The rail industry employs 115,000 people and supports another 250,000 through its supply chain. After the initial period of rapid expansion following
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#17327729518773036-452: Is a large programme of upgrades to the network, including Thameslink , Crossrail , electrification of lines , in-cab signalling , new inter-city trains and new high-speed lines . According to historians David Brandon and Alan Brooke, the railways brought into being our modern world: The railways started with the local isolated wooden wagonways in 1560s using horses. These wagonways then spread, particularly in mining areas. The system
3174-695: Is according to the Office of Rail and Road and includes open access operators such as Grand Central and Hull Trains . There are 2,579 passenger railway stations on the Network Rail network. This does not include the London Underground , nor other systems which are not part of the national network, such as heritage railways. Most date from the Victorian era and a number are in or on the edge of town and city centres. Major stations lie for
3312-518: Is an infilled valley system extending 80 m (262 ft) below the seabed, 500 m (1,640 ft) south of the tunnel route in mid-channel. A 1986 survey showed that a tributary crossed the path of the tunnel, and so the tunnel route was made as far north and deep as possible. The English terminal had to be located in the Castle Hill landslip, which consists of displaced and tipping blocks of lower chalk, glauconitic marl and gault debris. Thus
3450-415: Is bordered by both Cheriton and Newington . The hamlet of Danton Pinch was in the middle of where the terminal was to go, and so was demolished. Some ancient woodland and listed buildings were removed with care and transported elsewhere. Construction began at the same time as boring for the tunnel, which provided large amounts of soil to be used to stabilise and level the terminal site before construction of
3588-527: Is connected with that of continental Europe by the Channel Tunnel and High Speed 1 , opened in 1994 and 2007 respectively. In 2019, there were 1.738 billion journeys on the National Rail network, making the British network the fifth most used in the world (Great Britain ranks 23rd in world population). Unlike a number of other countries, rail travel in the United Kingdom has enjoyed
3726-525: Is intended to ensure equal wear on the flanges of the wheels. There was more room for a flyover on the French side to create an anticlockwise loop than at the Folkestone terminal. The terminal has a larger loading gauge than the rest of the British network owing to the oversized trailers used to carry the road-going vehicles. As a consequence, all maintenance of the rolling stock is undertaken within
3864-579: Is located within the Folkestone Terminal. All Channel Tunnel traffic is managed from here. There is a back-up centre at the Calais terminal, should it need to be used. [REDACTED] Media related to Eurotunnel Folkestone Terminal at Wikimedia Commons Channel Tunnel The Channel Tunnel ( French : Tunnel sous la Manche ), sometimes referred to informally as the Chunnel , is
4002-427: Is major water inflow due to the high hydrostatic pressure from the sea above, under weak ground conditions. The tunnel also had the challenge of timescale: being privately funded, an early financial return was paramount. The objective was to construct two 7.6 m-diameter (25 ft) rail tunnels, 30 m (98 ft) apart, 50 km (31 miles) in length; a 4.8-metre-diameter (16 ft) service tunnel between
4140-654: Is the third-longest rail tunnel in the world, behind the Gotthard Base Tunnel in Switzerland and the Seikan Tunnel in Japan, but with the longest under-sea section. The average depth is 45 m (148 ft) below the seabed. On the UK side, of the expected 5 × 10 ^ m (6.5 × 10 ^ cu yd ) of spoil approximately 1 × 10 ^ m (1.3 × 10 ^ cu yd)
4278-715: The American Society of Civil Engineers elected the tunnel as one of the seven modern Wonders of the World . In 1995, the American magazine Popular Mechanics published the results. The opening was phased for various services offered as the Channel Tunnel Safety Authority, the IGC, gave permission for various services to begin at several dates over the period 1994/1995 but start-up dates were
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4416-657: The Class 252 , reached a world speed record for diesel trains of 143.2 mph, while the main fleet entered service limited to a service speed of 125 mph, and were introduced progressively on main lines across the country, with a rebranding of their services as the InterCity 125 . With electrification of the East Coast Main Line , high-speed rail in Great Britain was augmented with the introduction of
4554-525: The Class 91 , intended for passenger service at up to 140 mph (225 km/h), and thus branded as the InterCity 225 . The Class 91 units were designed for a maximum service speed of 140 mph, and running at this speed was trialled with a 'flashing green' signal aspect under the British signalling system . The trains were eventually limited to the same speed as the HST, to 125 mph, with higher speeds deemed to require cab signalling , which as of 2010
4692-614: The Department for Transport (DfT), with the exception of Merseyrail , where the franchise is awarded by the Merseyside Passenger Transport Executive . In Scotland, contracts for ScotRail , is awarded by Transport Scotland , and in Wales , contracts for Transport for Wales Rail , is awarded by Transport for Wales , although the latter is currently publicly owned with no plans for franchising in
4830-409: The Department for Transport 's Transport Ten Year Plan called for an 80% increase in rail freight. Statistics on freight are specified in terms of the weight of freight lifted, and the net tonne kilometre , being freight weight multiplied by distance carried. 116.6 million tonnes of freight was lifted in the 2013–4 period, against 138 million tonnes in 1986–7, a decrease of 16%. However,
4968-485: The Department for Transport . Transport for Wales Rail is owned by Transport for Wales , a Welsh Government owned company, with no current plans to re-privatise the latter. On 1 April 2022, ScotRail was put under public ownership by the Scottish Government , under Transport Scotland as ScotRail operating on the same day. The COVID-19 pandemic caused a huge fall in the number of passengers using
5106-768: The Hatfield crash in October 2000. However, in June 2015 the PPM stood at 91.2% after a period of steady increases in the annual moving average since 2003 until around 2012 when the improvements levelled off. Train fares cost 2.7% more than under British Rail in real terms on average. For some years, Britain has been said to have the highest rail fares in Europe, with peak-time and season tickets considerably higher than other countries, partly because rail subsidies in Europe are higher. However, passengers are also able to obtain some of
5244-678: The LGV Nord in France and High Speed 1 in England. In 2017, rail services carried 10.3 million passengers and 1.22 million tonnes of freight, and the Shuttle carried 10.4 million passengers, 2.6 million cars, 51,000 coaches, and 1.6 million lorries (equivalent to 21.3 million tonnes of freight), compared with 11.7 million passengers, 2.6 million lorries and 2.2 million cars by sea through
5382-647: The Mersey River . These early works were encountered more than a century later during the project TransManche Link (TML). A 1907 film, Tunnelling the English Channel by pioneer filmmaker Georges Méliès , depicts King Edward VII and President Armand Fallières dreaming of building a tunnel under the English Channel . In 1919, during the Paris Peace Conference , British prime minister David Lloyd George repeatedly brought up
5520-646: The Port of Dover . Plans to build a cross-Channel tunnel were proposed as early as 1802, but British political and media criticism motivated by fears of compromising national security had disrupted attempts to build one. 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". The eventual successful project, organised by Eurotunnel , began construction in 1988 and opened in 1994. Estimated to cost £5.5 billion in 1985, it
5658-628: The Tyne and Wear Metro centred on Newcastle upon Tyne . Light rail systems in the form of trams are in Birmingham , Croydon , Manchester , Nottingham , Sheffield and Edinburgh . These systems use a combination of street running tramways and, where available, reserved right of way or former conventional rail lines in some suburbs. Blackpool has the one remaining traditional tram system. Monorails, heritage tramways, miniature railways and funiculars also exist in several places. In addition, there are
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5796-421: The 1920s and 1930s greatly reduced revenue for the rail companies. Rail companies accused the government of favouring road haulage through the subsidised construction of roads. The railways entered a slow decline owing to a lack of investment and changes in transport policy and lifestyles. During World War II , the companies' managements joined, effectively forming one company. A maintenance backlog developed during
5934-1002: The 2010s, many upgrades have been under way, such as Thameslink , Crossrail , the Northern Hub and electrification of the Great Western Main Line . Electrification plans for the Midland Main Line and the Transpennine line between Manchester and Leeds have been scaled back. Construction of High Speed 2 is underway, with a projected completion date of 2026 for Phase 1 (London to Birmingham) and 2033 for Phase 2. A poll of 1,500 adults in Britain in June 2018 showed that 64% support renationalising Britain's railways. Currently, six franchises are under public ownership, and thus effectively nationalised. Four, LNER , Northern Trains , Southeastern and TransPennine Express , are operators of last resort owned by
6072-638: The BBC, this represents the largest shake-up in the UK's railways since privatisation. On 18 November 2021, the government announced the biggest ever public investment in Britain's rail network costing £96 billion and promising quicker and more frequent rail connections in the North and Midlands: the Integrated Rail Plan includes substantially improved connections north–south as well as east–west and includes three new high speed lines. In July 2024,
6210-669: The Concession for the construction and operation of the Fixed Link by privately owned companies and outlined arbitration methods to be used in the event of disputes. It established the Intergovernmental Commission (IGC), responsible for monitoring all matters associated with the Tunnel's construction and operation on behalf of the British and French governments, and a Safety Authority to advise the IGC. It drew
6348-462: The English and French sides of the Channel, eleven tunnel boring machines (TBMs) cut through chalk marl to construct two rail tunnels and a service tunnel. The vehicle shuttle terminals are at Cheriton (part of Folkestone ) and Coquelles, and are connected to the English M20 and French A16 motorways respectively. Tunnelling commenced in 1988, and the tunnel began operating in 1994. At
6486-409: The English side six. The service tunnel uses Service Tunnel Transport System (STTS) and Light Service Tunnel Vehicles (LADOGS). Fire safety was a critical design issue. Between the portals at Beussingue and Castle Hill the tunnel is 50.5 km (31 miles) long, with 3.3 km (2 miles) under land on the French side and 9.3 km (6 miles) on the UK side, and 37.9 km (24 miles) under sea. It
6624-506: The English side, only minor faults of displacement less than 2 m (6 ft 7 in) exist; on the French side, displacements of up to 15 m (49 ft) are present owing to the Quenocs anticlinal fold . The faults are of limited width, filled with calcite, pyrite and remolded clay. The increased dip and faulting restricted the selection of routes on the French side. To avoid confusion, microfossil assemblages were used to classify
6762-466: The English side, the simpler geology allowed faster open-faced TBMs. Six machines were used; all commenced digging from Shakespeare Cliff, three marine-bound and three for the land tunnels. Towards the completion of the undersea drives, the UK TBMs were driven steeply downwards and buried clear of the tunnel. These buried TBMs were then used to provide an electrical earth . The French TBMs then completed
6900-559: The Eurotunnel Folkestone Terminal is called the Victor Hugo Terminal , named for the French author Victor Hugo . As part of the Channel Tunnel project, the plan for services included the use of dedicated shuttle trains that would carry both passenger and freight vehicles between Britain and France, which would compete with the cross-channel ferries . In order to accommodate these services, it
7038-403: The French side, neoprene and grout sealed bolted linings made of cast iron or high-strength reinforced concrete were used; on the English side, the main requirement was for speed, so bolting of cast-iron lining segments was only done in areas of poor geology. In the UK rail tunnels, eight lining segments plus a key segment were used; in the French side, five segments plus a key. On the French side,
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#17327729518777176-638: The Queen travelled on Le Shuttle to a similar ceremony in Folkestone . A full public service did not start for several months. The first freight train, however, ran on 1 June 1994 and carried Rover and Mini cars being exported to Italy. The Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL), now called High Speed 1 , runs 69 miles (111 km) from St Pancras railway station in London to the tunnel portal at Folkestone in Kent. It cost £5.8 billion. On 16 September 2003
7314-432: The Thames estuary, which used Scottish granite aggregate delivered by ship from the Foster Yeoman coastal super quarry at Glensanda in Loch Linnhe on the west coast of Scotland. On the French side, owing to the greater permeability to water, earth pressure balance TBMs with open and closed modes were used. The TBMs were used in the closed mode for the first 5 km (3 miles), but then operated as open, boring through
7452-401: The UK Government permanently got rid of the rail franchising system. On 20 May 2021, the Government announced a white paper that would transform the operation of the railways. The rail network will be partly renationalised, with infrastructure and operations brought together under the state-owned public body Great British Railways . Operations will be managed on a concessions model. According to
7590-401: The UK, the largest of which is DB Cargo UK (formerly DB Schenker, formerly English Welsh & Scottish (EWS)). There are also several smaller independent operators including Mendip Rail . Types of freight carried include intermodal – in essence containerised freight – and coal, metals, oil, and construction materials. The Beeching Cuts, in contrast to passenger services, greatly modernised
7728-456: The area was stabilised by buttressing and inserting drainage adits . The service tunnel acted as a pilot preceding the main ones, so that the geology, areas of crushed rock, and zones of high water inflow could be predicted. Exploratory probing was done in the service tunnel, in the form of extensive forward probing, vertical downward probes and sideways probing. Marine soundings and samplings were made by Thomé de Gamond in 1833–67, establishing
7866-497: The average Advance ticket in 1995 cost £9.14 (in 2014 prices) compared to £5.17 in 2014. Rail subsidies have increased from £3.4bn in 1992–93 to £4.5bn in 2015–16 (in current prices), although subsidy per journey has fallen from £4.57 per journey to £2.61 per journey. However, this masks great regional variation, as in 2014–15 funding varied from "£1.41 per passenger journey in England to £6.51 per journey in Scotland and £8.34 per journey in Wales." The public image of rail travel
8004-544: The average age to around 15 years by March 2021. Although passengers rarely have cause to refer to either document, all travel is subject to the National Rail Conditions of Travel and all tickets are valid subject to the rules set out in a number of so-called technical manuals , which are centrally produced for the network. Below are the estimated total number of journeys using heavy rail transport in Britain for each financial year. (This table does not include Eurostar, Underground or light rail services) The following table
8142-624: The case of the InterCity West Coast and InterCity East Coast franchises, applicants submit bids to return the most money to the government from operating the service. This has led to franchisees collapsing when passenger growth targets are not met as promised payments to the government cannot be paid and the franchise is exited early. In 2023, Network Rail held over £59.1 billion in debt, and £1.176 billion interest payments. Many of these debts were incurred by Railtrack and transferred to Network Rail when it collapsed. British Rail operations were privatised during 1994–1997. Ownership of
8280-428: The chalk marl stratum. This minimised the impact to the ground, allowed high water pressures to be withstood and also alleviated the need to grout ahead of the tunnel. The French effort required five TBMs: two main marine machines, one mainland machine (the short land drives of 3 km (2 miles) allowed one TBM to complete the first drive then reverse direction and complete the other), and two service tunnel machines. On
8418-406: The chalk marl. On the French side, particularly near the coast, the chalk was harder, more brittle and more fractured than on the English side. This led to the adoption of different tunnelling techniques on the two sides. The Quaternary undersea valley Fosse Dangeard, and Castle Hill landslip at the English portal, caused concerns. Identified by the 1964–1965 geophysical survey, the Fosse Dangeard
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#17327729518778556-480: The cheapest fares in Europe if they book in advance or travel at off-peak times or purchase 'day-return' tickets which cost little more than a single ticket. UK rail operators point out rail fare increases have been at a substantially lower rate than petrol prices for private motoring. The difference in price has also been blamed on the fact Britain has the most restrictive loading gauge (maximum width and height of trains that can fit through tunnels, bridges etc.) in
8694-434: The concerns of both nations' military leaders by designing two sumps – one near the coast of each country – that could be flooded at will to block the tunnel, but this did not appease the military, or dispel concerns about hordes of tourists who would disrupt English life. A British film from Gaumont Studios , The Tunnel (also known as TransAtlantic Tunnel ), was released in 1935 as a science-fiction project concerning
8832-440: The coordination of transport in Great Britain. Rail revenue fell and in 1955 the network again ceased to be profitable. The mid-1950s saw the rapid introduction of diesel and electric rolling stock, but the expected transfer back from road to rail did not occur and losses began to mount. The desire for profitability led to a major reduction in the network during the mid-1960s, with ICI manager Dr. Richard Beeching commissioned by
8970-651: The creation of a transatlantic tunnel. It referred briefly to its protagonist, a Mr. McAllan, as having completed a British Channel tunnel successfully in 1940, five years into the future of the film's release. Military fears continued during World War II . After the surrender of France , as Britain prepared for an expected German invasion , a Royal Navy officer in the Directorate of Miscellaneous Weapons Development calculated that Hitler could use slave labour to build two Channel tunnels in 18 months. The estimate caused rumours that Germany had already begun digging. By 1955, defence arguments had become less relevant due to
9108-440: The dismay of their French partners, the then-governing Labour Party in Britain cancelled the project due to uncertainty about the UK's membership of the European Economic Community , doubling cost estimates amid the general economic crisis at the time. By this time the British tunnel boring machine was ready and the Ministry of Transport had performed a 300 m (980 ft) experimental drive. (This short tunnel, named Adit A1,
9246-436: The domestic fleet of InterCity 125 and 225 trains on the existing national network was announced. In 2009 it was announced that the preferred rolling stock option for this project was the Hitachi Super Express family of multiple units, and they entered service in 2017 on the Great Western Main Line and in 2019 on the East Coast Main Line. The trains will be capable of a maximum speed of 140 mph with "minor modifications", with
9384-437: The dominance of air power, and both the British and French governments supported technical and geological surveys. In 1958 the 1881 workings were cleared in preparation for a £100,000 geological survey by the Channel Tunnel Study Group. 30% of the funding came from Channel Tunnel Co Ltd, the largest shareholder of which was the British Transport Commission , as successor to the South Eastern Railway . A detailed geological survey
9522-404: The end of September 2003, the first part of High Speed 1 , a high-speed link to the Channel Tunnel and onward to France and Belgium, was completed, significantly adding to the rail infrastructure of the country. The rest of the link, from north Kent to London St Pancras opened in 2007. A major programme of remedial work on the West Coast Main Line started in 1997 and finished in 2008. Since
9660-545: The existing Network Rail infrastructure if required, with the route intersecting with the existing WCML and the East Coast Main Line (ECML). A cancelled second phase of the project was planned to reach further north to Manchester, Sheffield and Leeds, as well as linking into the Midland Main Line . In June 2014, the chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne , proposed a high-speed rail link Northern Powerhouse Rail (also known as High Speed 3 or High Speed North) between Liverpool and Newcastle/Sheffield/Hull. The line would use
9798-399: The existing route between Liverpool and Newcastle/Hull and a new route from to Sheffield will follow the same route to Manchester Victoria and then a new line from Victoria to Sheffield, with additional tunnels and other infrastructure. As of August 2023 the following rolling stock on the British network is capable of 125 mph or more: In 2011, the fastest timetabled start-to-stop run by
9936-516: The facility was undertaken. At the same time, a pipeline was provided connecting Sandgate and Goodwin Sands for the transport of dredged sand to the site. A 6.5 kilometres (4.0 mi) pipeline was laid from Sandgate to the terminal. Dredging was by Westminster Dredging. The major elements to be built at Cheriton were the platforms and overbridges, which connected the terminal to the M20 motorway , which
10074-644: The financial effects of the COVID-19 pandemic . The UK government proposed a new state-owned public body, Great British Railways , which would operate a concession contract system on the network from 2023. As of November 2023 , legislation to establish the new body was said to be "unlikely" within the 2023–2024 parliamentary session. In the 2015–16 operating year, franchised services provided 1,718 million journeys totalling (64.7 billion billion passenger km) of travel, an increase over 1994–5 of 117% in journeys (from 761 million) and just over doubling
10212-532: The first of a new Class 395 train fleet for use partly on High Speed 1 and parts of the rest of the UK rail network, the first domestic high-speed running over 125 mph (to about 140 mph) began in December 2009, including a special Olympic Javelin shuttle for the 2012 Summer Olympics . These services are operated by the South Eastern franchise . The Intercity Express Programme for replacement of
10350-462: The first public railways in the early 19th century, from about 1900 onwards the network suffered from gradual attrition, and more severe rationalisation in the 1950s and 1960s. However, the network has again been growing since the 1980s. The UK was ranked eighth among national European rail systems in the 2017 European Railway Performance Index for intensity of use, quality of service and safety performance. To cope with increasing passenger numbers, there
10488-499: The five British construction companies in the Translink Joint Venture . The two partnerships were linked by a bi-national project organisation, TransManche Link (TML). The Maître d'Oeuvre was a supervisory engineering body employed by Eurotunnel under the terms of the concession that monitored the project and reported to the governments and banks. In France, with its long tradition of infrastructure investment,
10626-668: The five geographical Regions were replaced by a Sectored organisation, in which passenger services were organised into InterCity , Network SouthEast and Regional Railways sectors. The Railways Act 1993 divided the railways up, with Railtrack taking ownership of British Rail's property portfolio, tracks, signals, bridges and tunnels, Rolling Stock Operating Companies, and train operating companies. Passenger transport services were bundled together into franchises to facilitate cross-subsidy within franchises, with many regulations on ticket prices and types, regulated fare increases and "Parliamentary service" obligations. Companies submit bids to
10764-762: The franchising authority - often the Secretary of State for Transport, Passenger Transport Authority, or devolved government - competing for the lowest subsidy requirement and to invest in the railway over the lifespan of the franchise. There is also provision for subsidy between franchises, with profitable franchises demanding payments made to the government to cover a share of the losses from others. Examples of franchises include ScotRail , Great Western , and Southern Trains . Open Access Operators are entirely free to set their own services and fares unaffected by government regulations. Examples of such operators are Lumo and Grand Central , Hull Trains and Heathrow Express . In
10902-452: The goods sector, replacing inefficient wagons with containerised regional hubs. Freight services had been in steady decline since the 1930s, initially because of the reduction in manufacturing and then road haulage's cost advantage in combination with higher wages. Since 1995, however, the amount of freight carried on the railways has increased sharply due to increased reliability and competition, as well as international services. In 2000,
11040-680: The government resisted calls for the nationalisation of the network (first proposed by 19th century Prime Minister William Gladstone as early as the 1830s). Instead, from 1 January 1923, almost all the remaining companies were grouped into the "big four": the Great Western Railway , the London and North Eastern Railway , the London Midland and Scottish Railway and the Southern Railway companies (there were also
11178-469: The government under Ernest Marples with reorganising the railways. Many branch lines (and a number of main lines) were closed because they were deemed uneconomic ("the Beeching Axe " of 1963), removing much feeder traffic from main line passenger services. In the second Beeching report of 1965, only the "major trunk routes" were selected for large-scale investment, leading many to speculate the rest of
11316-598: The ground conditions. There was plenty of experience with excavating through chalk in the mining industry, while the undersea crossover caverns were a complex engineering problem. The French one was based on the Mount Baker Ridge freeway tunnel in Seattle ; the UK cavern was dug from the service tunnel ahead of the main ones, to avoid delay. Precast segmental linings in the main tunnel boring machine (TBM) drives were used, but two different solutions were used. On
11454-565: The idea of a Channel tunnel as a way of reassuring France about British willingness to defend against another German attack. The French did not take the idea seriously, and nothing came of the proposal. In the 1920s, Winston Churchill advocated for the Channel Tunnel, using that exact name in his essay "Should Strategists Veto The Tunnel?" It was published on 27 July 1924 in the Weekly Dispatch , and argued vehemently against
11592-735: The idea of a tunnel to the Chancellor of the Exchequer of the day, William Ewart Gladstone . In 1866, Henry Marc Brunel made a survey of the floor of the Strait of Dover. By his results, he proved that the floor was composed of chalk, like the adjoining cliffs, and thus a tunnel was feasible. For this survey, he invented the gravity corer , which is still used in geology. Around 1866, William Low and Sir John Hawkshaw promoted tunnel ideas, but apart from preliminary geological studies, none were implemented. An official Anglo-French protocol
11730-488: The idea that the tunnel could be used by a Continental enemy in an invasion of Britain. Churchill expressed his enthusiasm for the project again in an article for the Daily Mail on 12 February 1936, "Why Not A Channel Tunnel?" There was another proposal in 1929, but nothing came of this discussion and the idea was abandoned. Proponents estimated the construction cost at US$ 150 million. The engineers had addressed
11868-447: The longest underwater section of any tunnel in the world and is the third-longest railway tunnel in the world . The speed limit for trains through the tunnel is 160 km/h (99 mph). The tunnel is owned and operated by Getlink , formerly Groupe Eurotunnel. The tunnel carries high-speed Eurostar passenger trains, LeShuttle services for road vehicles and freight trains . It connects end-to-end with high-speed railway lines:
12006-450: The marine tunnels—not from Folkestone. The platform at the base of the cliff was not large enough for all of the drives and, despite environmental objections, tunnel spoil was placed behind a reinforced concrete seawall, on condition of placing the chalk in an enclosed lagoon, to avoid wide dispersal of chalk fines. Owing to limited space, the precast lining factory was on the Isle of Grain in
12144-630: The most part in large cities, with the largest conurbations (e.g. Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff , Edinburgh, Glasgow , Liverpool , and Manchester ) typically having more than one main station. London is a major hub of the network, with 12 main-line termini forming a "ring" around central London . Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester, Glasgow, Bristol and Reading are major interchanges for many cross-country journeys that do not involve London. However, some important railway junction stations lie in smaller cities and towns, for example York , Crewe and Ely . Some other places expanded into towns and cities because of
12282-482: The national network and the company's spiralling costs set in motion a series of events which resulted in the collapse of the company and its replacement with Network Rail , a state-owned, "not-for-profit" company, with risks underwritten by the taxpayer. According to the European Railway Agency , in 2013 Britain had the safest railways in Europe based on the number of train safety incidents. At
12420-411: The near future and ScotRail was brought into public ownership in 2022. Initially, there were 25 franchises, some franchises have since been combined, others nationalised. There are also a number of local or specialised rail services operated on an open access basis outside the franchise arrangements; examples include Heathrow Express and Hull Trains . Many franchises were effectively abolished due to
12558-734: The necessary signalling modifications required of the Network Rail infrastructure in Britain likely to come from the phased rollout of the Europe-wide European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS). Following several studies and consultations on high-speed rail, in 2009 the UK Government formally announced the High Speed 2 project, establishing a company to produce a feasibility study to examine route options and financing for
12696-467: The network would eventually be closed. This was never implemented by BR. Passenger services experienced a renaissance with the introduction of the InterCity 125 trains in the 1970s. Passenger levels fluctuated since then, increasing during periods of economic growth and falling during recessions. The 1980s saw severe cuts in government funding and above-inflation increases in fares, In the early 1990s,
12834-509: The new Labour government confirmed that passenger services would be brought back into public ownership upon the expiration of their contracts as part of the wider renationalisation of the rail network. Passenger services in Great Britain were divided into regional franchises and run by mostly private (that is, non-state owned) train operating companies from 1995 to 2020. These companies bid for seven- to eight-year contracts to run individual franchises. Most contracts in England are awarded by
12972-549: The passenger miles. The passenger-miles figure, after being flat from 1965 to 1995, surpassed the 1947 figure for the first time in 1998 and continues to rise steeply. The key index used to assess passenger train performance is the Public Performance Measure , which combines figures for punctuality and reliability. From a base of 90% of trains arriving on time in 1998, the measure dipped to 75% in mid-2001 due to stringent safety restrictions put in place after
13110-457: The peak of construction 15,000 people were employed with daily expenditure over £3 million. Ten workers, eight of them British, were killed during construction between 1987 and 1993, most in the first few months of boring. A 50 mm (2.0 in) diameter pilot hole allowed the service tunnel to break through without ceremony on 30 October 1990. On 1 December 1990, Englishman Graham Fagg and Frenchman Phillippe Cozette broke through
13248-637: The period 1997–98 to 2014 as compared to 62% in Germany, 41% in France and 16% in Spain. The United Kingdom is a member of the International Union of Railways (UIC). The UIC country code for United Kingdom is 70. The UK has the 17th largest railway network in the world ; despite many lines having closed in the 20th century, due to the Beeching cuts , it remains one of the densest networks. It
13386-468: The platforms themselves; vehicles unloaded from the front to the middle of the train would use the furthest bridge, while those unloaded from the centre to the rear would use the next bridge in, and vice versa for those vehicles embarking. The two bridges at the western end of the platforms are intended for embarking vehicles, while those at the eastern end are for those disembarking. The island platforms are separated by single track, allowing vehicles to access
13524-543: The previous survey results and access constraints, a more southerly route was investigated in the 1972–1973 survey, and the route was confirmed to be feasible. Information for the tunnelling project also came from work before the 1975 cancellation. On the French side at Sangatte, a deep shaft with adits was made. On the English side at Shakespeare Cliff, the government allowed 250 m (820 ft) of 4.5 m (15 ft) diameter tunnel to be driven. The actual tunnel alignment, method of excavation and support were essentially
13662-475: The prime minister, Tony Blair , opened the first section of High Speed 1, from Folkestone to north Kent. On 6 November 2007, the Queen officially opened High Speed 1 and St Pancras International station, replacing the original slower link to Waterloo International railway station . High Speed 1 trains travel at up to 300 km/h (186 mph), the journey from London to Paris taking 2 hours 15 minutes, to Brussels 1 hour 51 minutes. In 1994,
13800-486: The project came partly from provincial members of Parliament on the basis of promises of regional Eurostar through train services that never materialised; the promises were repeated in 1996 when the contract for construction of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link was awarded. The tunnel is a build-own-operate-transfer ( BOOT ) project with a concession. TML would design and build the tunnel, but financing
13938-813: The project had widespread approval. The French National Assembly approved it unanimously in April 1987, and after a public inquiry, the Senate approved it unanimously in June. In Britain, select committees examined the proposal, making history by holding hearings away from Westminster, in Kent. In February 1987, the third reading of the Channel Tunnel Bill took place in the House of Commons , and passed by 94 votes to 22. The Channel Tunnel Act gained Royal assent and passed into law in July. Parliamentary support for
14076-474: The railway network. Swindon , for example, was little more than a village before the Great Western Railway chose to site its locomotive works there. In many instances geography, politics or military considerations originally caused stations to be sited further from the towns they served until, with time, these issues could be overcome (for example, Portsmouth had its original station at Gosport ). High-speed inter-city rail (above 124 mph or 200 km/h)
14214-435: The railways, with journeys in 2020 being about 22% of the previous year, before rising again as travel restrictions eased. During 2020, all train operating companies entered into emergency measures agreements with the UK and Scottish governments. Normal franchise mechanisms were amended, transferring almost all revenue and cost risk to the government, effectively 'renationalising' the network temporarily. In September 2020,
14352-479: The same as the 1975 attempt. In the 1986–1987 survey, previous findings were reinforced, and the characteristics of the gault clay and the tunnelling medium (chalk marl that made up 85% of the route) were investigated. Geophysical techniques from the oil industry were employed. Tunnelling was a major engineering challenge; the only precedent was the undersea Seikan Tunnel in Japan, which opened in 1988. A serious health and safety risk with building tunnels under water
14490-466: The seabed depth at a maximum of 55 m (180 ft) and the continuity of geological strata (layers). Surveying continued for many years, with 166 marine and 70 land-deep boreholes being drilled and more than 4,000 line kilometres of the marine geophysical survey completed. Surveys were undertaken in 1958–1959, 1964–1965, 1972–1974 and 1986–1988. The surveying in 1958–1959 catered for immersed tube and bridge designs, as well as
14628-440: The selection included that it caused least disruption to shipping in the Channel and least environmental disruption, was the best protected against terrorism, and was the most likely to attract sufficient private finance. The British Channel Tunnel Group consisted of two banks and five construction companies, while their French counterparts, France–Manche , consisted of three banks and five construction companies. The banks' role
14766-428: The service tunnel with the media watching. Eurotunnel completed the tunnel on time. (A BBC TV television commentator called Graham Fagg "the first man to cross the Channel by land for 8000 years ".) The two tunnelling efforts met each other with an offset of only 36.2 cm (14.3 in). A Paddington Bear soft toy was chosen by British tunnellers as the first item to pass through to their French counterparts when
14904-419: The small, self-contained Channel Tunnel rail network, with the major work carried out at Coquelles (which is a much larger facility), and minor work undertaken at Cheriton. When rolling stock does need to be taken to another British location, locomotives and carriages are transported by trucks, as was done with the refurbishment of the locomotives at Brush traction in 2010/2011. The Eurotunnel rail control centre
15042-454: The survey started) to 83% in 2013 and the number of passengers not satisfied with their journey dropped from 10% to 6%. Since privatisation, passenger levels have more than doubled, and have surpassed their level in the late 1940s. Train fares cost 2.7% more than under British Rail in real terms on average. However, while the price of anytime and off-peak tickets has increased, the price of Advance tickets has dramatically decreased in real terms:
15180-606: The tilting train Class 390 Pendolino fleet designed for this maximum speed of service were still built and entered service in 2002, and operates limited to 125 mph. Other routes in the UK were upgraded with trains capable of top speeds of up to 125 mph running with the introduction between 2000 and 2005 of Class 180 Adelante DMUs and the Bombardier Voyager DEMUs (Classes 220 , 221 and 222 ). The first implementation of high-speed rail up to 186 mph in regular passenger service in Great Britain
15318-551: The track and infrastructure passed to Railtrack , whilst passenger operations were franchised to individual private sector operators (originally there were 25 franchises) and the goods services sold outright (six companies were set up, but five of these were sold to the same buyer). The government said privatisation would see an improvement in passenger services and satisfaction (according to the National Rail Passenger survey) has indeed gone up from 76% in 1999 (when
15456-418: The train from both sides. The terminal is located at the end of a loop connected to the route from the tunnel; trains exiting the tunnel travel clockwise around this loop and then pull into the terminal, meaning the locomotive that pulled the train will remain at the front for the next service through the tunnel. The terminal at Coquelles also has a loop arrangement, but instead trains travel anticlockwise; this
15594-518: The train in Cheriton, rather than on arrival in Coquelles. The terminal consists of ten island platforms , which are each 800 metres (2,600 ft) in length, with four overbridges connecting them to the motorway and the terminal. The overbridges are located at approximately equidistant points along the length of the platforms so that vehicles have to drive for as little distance as possible along
15732-515: The tunnel and were dismantled. A 900 mm (35 in) gauge railway was used on the English side during construction. In contrast to the English machines, which were given technical names, the French tunnelling machines were all named after women: Brigitte, Europa, Catherine, Virginie, Pascaline, Séverine. After the tunnelling, one machine was on display at the side of the M20 motorway in Folkestone until Eurotunnel sold it on eBay for £39,999 to
15870-455: The tunnel, have prompted deterrence and countermeasures. In 1802, Albert Mathieu-Favier, a French mining engineer, proposed a tunnel under the English Channel, with illumination from oil lamps, horse-drawn coaches, and an artificial island positioned mid-Channel for changing horses. His design envisaged a bored two-level tunnel with the top tunnel used for transport and the bottom one for groundwater flows. In 1839, Aimé Thomé de Gamond ,
16008-461: The two main ones; pairs of 3.3 m (10 ft 10 in)-diameter cross-passages linking the rail tunnels to the service tunnel at 375 m (1,230 ft) spacing; piston relief ducts 2 m (6 ft 7 in) in diameter connecting the rail tunnels 250 m (820 ft) apart; two undersea crossover caverns to connect the rail tunnels, with the service tunnel always preceding the main ones by at least 1 km (0.6 mi) to ascertain
16146-466: The two sides met. The tunnel was officially opened, one year later than originally planned, by the French president François Mitterrand and Queen Elizabeth II , at a ceremony in Calais on 6 May 1994. The Queen travelled through the tunnel to Calais on a Eurostar train, which stopped nose to nose with the train that carried President Mitterrand from Paris. After the ceremony, President Mitterrand and
16284-482: The war and the private sector only had two years to deal with this after the war ended. After 1945, for both practical and ideological reasons, the government decided to bring the rail service into the public sector . From the start of 1948, the "big four" were nationalised to form British Railways (latterly British Rail ) under the control of the British Transport Commission . Although BR
16422-469: The world which means any trains must be significantly narrower and less tall than those used elsewhere. This means British trains cannot be bought "off-the-shelf" and must be specially built to fit British standards. Average rolling-stock age fell slightly from the third quarter of 2001–02 to 2017–18, from 20.7 years old to 19.6 years old, and recent large orders from Bombardier and its acquirer Alstom , as well as CAF , Hitachi and Stadler , brought down
16560-498: Was a single entity, it was divided into six (later five) regional authorities in accordance with the existing areas of operation. Though there were few initial changes to the service, usage increased and the network became profitable. Regeneration of track and railway stations was completed by 1954. In the same year, changes to the British Transport Commission, including the privatisation of road haulage, ended
16698-423: Was at the time the most expensive construction project ever proposed. The cost finally amounted to £9 billion (equivalent to £22.6 billion in 2023). Since its opening, the tunnel has experienced occasional mechanical problems. Both fires and cold weather have temporarily disrupted its operation. Since at least 1997, aggregations of migrants around Calais seeking entry to the United Kingdom, such as through
16836-417: Was carried out in 1964 and 1965. Although the two countries agreed to build a tunnel in 1964, the phase 1 initial studies and signing of a second agreement to cover phase 2 took until 1973. The plan described a government-funded project to create two tunnels to accommodate car shuttle wagons on either side of a service tunnel. Construction started on both sides of the Channel in 1974. On 20 January 1975, to
16974-582: Was completed simultaneously with the tunnel project. The tunnel was officially opened on 6 May 1994, with services between Cheriton and Coquelles beginning in July the same year, when the first freight shuttles started running. Passenger services then started in December 1994. As a result of the Sangatte Protocol signed between France and the UK in 1991, juxtaposed controls have been established. Travellers going from Cheriton to Coquelles clear French entry immigration and customs checks before boarding
17112-544: Was established in 1876 for a cross-Channel railway tunnel. In 1881, British railway entrepreneur Sir Edward Watkin and Alexandre Lavalley , a French Suez Canal contractor , were in the Anglo-French Submarine Railway Company that conducted exploratory work on both sides of the Channel. From June 1882 to March 1883, the British tunnel boring machine tunnelled, through chalk, a total of 1,840 m (6,037 ft), while Lavalley used
17250-422: Was eventually reused as the starting and access point for tunnelling operations from the British side, and remains an access point to the service tunnel.) The cancellation costs were estimated at £17 million. On the French side, a tunnel-boring machine had been installed underground in a stub tunnel. It lay there for 14 years until 1988, when it was sold, dismantled, refurbished and shipped to Turkey, where it
17388-649: Was first introduced in Great Britain in the 1970s by British Rail. BR had pursued two development projects in parallel, the development of a tilting train technology, the Advanced Passenger Train (APT), and development of a conventional high-speed diesel train, the High Speed Train (HST). The APT project was abandoned, but the HST design entered service as the British Rail Classes 253, 254 and 255 trains. The prototype HST,
17526-583: Was followed by an era of rapid expansion. Most of the track is managed by Network Rail , which in 2017 had a network of 9,824 miles (15,811 km) of standard-gauge lines, of which 3,339 miles (5,374 km) were electrified . In addition, some cities have separate metro, light rail and tram systems, among them the historic London Underground and the Glasgow Subway . There are also many private railways , some of them narrow-gauge , which are primarily short lines for tourists. The main rail network
17664-494: Was later built as a patchwork of local lines operated by small private railway companies. Over the course of the 19th and early 20th centuries, these amalgamated or were bought by competitors until only a handful of larger companies remained (see Railway Mania ). The entire network was brought under government control during the First World War and a number of advantages of amalgamation and planning were revealed. However,
17802-591: Was matched by several Leeds to London Class 91 -operated East Coast trains if their two-minute recovery allowance for this section is excluded from the public timetable. A number of towns and cities have rapid transit networks. Underground technology is used in the Glasgow subway , Merseyrail centred on Liverpool, London Underground centred on London, London Overground and the London Docklands Light Railway centred on London, and
17940-569: Was not in place on the normal British railway network (but was used on the Channel Tunnel Rail Link). A final attempt by the nationalised British Rail at High Speed Rail was the cancelled InterCity 250 project in the 1990s for the West Coast Main Line. Post privatisation, a plan to upgrade the West Coast Main Line to speeds of up to 140 mph with infrastructure improvements were finally abandoned, although
18078-400: Was planned to build a brand new vehicle terminal on each side of the tunnel that would allow cars and lorries to be loaded quickly onto the trains. The site chosen for the British terminal was Cheriton , in Folkestone , Kent , not far from the British tunnel portal. The site eventually came to nearly 350 acres (140 ha) in area, which was considerably smaller than the French terminal. It
18216-441: Was severely damaged by a series of significant accidents after privatisation. These included the Hatfield accident , caused by a rail fragmenting due to the development of microscopic cracks. Following this, the rail infrastructure company Railtrack imposed over 1,200 emergency speed restrictions across its network and instigated an extremely costly nationwide track replacement programme. The consequent severe operational disruption to
18354-468: Was signed between Eurotunnel, British Rail and SNCF guaranteeing future revenue in exchange for the railways obtaining half of the tunnel's capacity. Private funding for such a complex infrastructure project was of unprecedented scale. Initial equity of £45 million was raised by CTG/F-M, increased by £206 million private institutional placement, £770 million was raised in a public share offer that included press and television advertisements,
18492-546: Was the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (now known as High Speed 1 ), when its first phase opened in 2003 linking the British end of the Channel Tunnel at Folkestone with Fawkham Junction in Kent. This is used by international only passenger trains for the Eurostar service, using Class 373 and Class 374 trains. The line was later extended all the way into London St Pancras in 2007. After the building of
18630-548: Was through a separate legal entity, Eurotunnel. Eurotunnel absorbed CTG/F-M and signed a construction contract with TML, but the British and French governments controlled final engineering and safety decisions, now managed by the Channel Tunnel Safety Authority . The British and French governments gave Eurotunnel a 55-year operating concession (from 1987; extended by 10 years to 65 years in 1993) to repay loans and pay dividends. A Railway Usage Agreement
18768-520: Was to advise on financing and secure loan commitments. On 2 July 1985, the groups formed Channel Tunnel Group/France–Manche (CTG/F–M). Their submission to the British and French governments was drawn from the 1975 project, including 11 volumes and a substantial environmental impact statement. The Anglo-French Treaty on the Channel Tunnel was signed by both governments in Canterbury Cathedral . The Treaty of Canterbury (1986) prepared
18906-516: Was used for fill at the terminal site, and the remainder was deposited at Lower Shakespeare Cliff behind a seawall, reclaiming 74 acres (30 hectares) of land. This land was then made into the Samphire Hoe Country Park. Environmental assessment did not identify any major risks for the project, and further studies into safety, noise, and air pollution were overall positive. However, environmental objections were raised concerning
19044-762: Was used to drive the Moda tunnel for the Istanbul Sewerage Scheme. In 1979, the "Mouse-hole Project" was suggested when the Conservatives came to power in Britain. The concept was a single-track rail tunnel with a service tunnel but without shuttle terminals. The British government took no interest in funding the project, but British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher did not object to a privately funded project, although she said she assumed it would be for cars rather than trains. In 1981, Thatcher and French president François Mitterrand agreed to establish
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