THE CHANNEL TUNNEL PART 1: RACEHORSE ON RAILS

This article describes the channel tunnel, now under construction, and discusses some of the problems that it faces. It will be 49.4 km (30.7 miles) long, from cheriton, near folkestone, to coquelles, near calais; it is due to open in may 1993. Allowing for contingencies, the eurotunnel consortium that is building it has had to raise 6000 million, entirely from private sources. The tunnel will carry road and rail traffic on the same infrastructure. Shuttle trains carrying cars, coaches, and lorries between both ends of the tunnel, will share its tracks with through passenger and freight trains. There will be single and double deck 'tourist' shuttles, and single deck freight shuttles; tourist shuttles will depart every 12 to 15 minutes at peak times, once or twice an hour at night, and take 35 minutes to run between the terminals. With the spread of very high speed (250 km/h to 300 km/h railways in France and elsewhere in Europe, there will be strong pressure to build similar lines from the tunnel to London and beyond. So far, British rail has no plans for this, because it would not be subsided for it, even though the fastest trains would probably go through the tunnel at 200 km/h. One appendix to the article assesses the tunnel's impact on cross-channel ferries, and another raises the question of potentially very serious terrorist threats to the tunnel.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/0016741X
• Corporate Authors:

  GEOGRAPHICAL PRESS LIMITED

  1 KENSINGTON GORE
  London,   United Kingdom 
• Authors:
  • HUGHES, M
• Publication Date: 1988-4

Language

• English

Media Info

• Pagination: p. 36-43
• Serial:
  • GEOGRAPHICAL MAGAZINE
  • Volume: 9
  • Issue Number: 4
  • Publisher: GEOGRAPHICAL PRESS LIMITED
  • ISSN: 0016-741X

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Financing; Freight transportation; Private enterprise; Public transit; Railroad trains; Safety; Speed; Travel time; Trip length
• Identifier Terms: Channel Tunnel
• Geographic Terms: English Channel; France; United Kingdom
• Old TRIS Terms: Channel fixed link
• ITRD Terms: 244: Financing; 3363: Fixed link (transmaritime); 8036: France; 741: Goods traffic; 697: Journey time; 9118: Private; 744: Public transport; 1665: Safety; 5408: Speed; 1268: Train; 8119: United Kingdom
• Subject Areas: Freight Transportation; Public Transportation; Railroads; Safety and Human Factors; Vehicles and Equipment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00487483
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Transport and Road Research Laboratory (TRRL)
• Files: ITRD, TRIS
• Created Date: Sep 30 1989 12:00AM