Going Under
Thursday. No work for me today… it’s my birthday! Raff kindly took over the school runs for the day, so I had a very relaxing time: coffee, breakfast and then a stroll to the barbers for a long overdue haircut and beard trim, with all the hot towels and blokey pampering that entails. Late afternoon, Dash and I headed off to meet Monty, Kenadee and Bentley in Calais. It’s far simpler to bring a pet into the UK by car on Le Shuttle, than by plane or ferry.
It turned out to be an adventure: Monty & Ken missed their train from Paris due to heavy traffic, so arrived at Calais-Fréthun TGV station two hours later than planned. This did have an upside for Dash and me, as we got to visit an excellent French KFC and scoff creamy wasabi chicken burgers… far better than the equivalent offerings in England. There were a few delays on the way home, and poor Ken got grilled by an immigration official, but in the end we arrived safely at half past eleven.
I did a little research into the history and engineering of the tunnel, prompted by the numerous questions and discussion in the car on the journey home. Kenadee and the boys were fascinated by the idea of driving a car onto a train that then goes under the sea—which, when you think about it, is a pretty incredible feat of human ingenuity.
The Channel Tunnel, commonly referred to as the "Chunnel," is one of the most remarkable engineering achievements of the modern era, significantly altering the relationship between Britain and Continental Europe. This 50.5-kilometre railway tunnel beneath the English Channel has been facilitating travel between Folkestone and Calais since 1994, with Le Shuttle providing a unique car-carrying service that has revolutionised cross-Channel transport.
The concept of a fixed link across the English Channel has remarkably deep historical roots. The first serious proposal emerged in 1802, when French mining engineer Albert Mathieu approached Napoleon Bonaparte with plans for a tunnel ventilated by enormous iron chimneys projecting above the sea, complete with an artificial international island at the midpoint of the Channel for changing horses. This visionary scheme caught the attention of British opposition politician Charles James Fox, though it was abandoned when hostilities resumed between the two nations.
The idea persisted throughout the 19th century, championed by determined individuals like Aimé Thomé de Gamond, who earned recognition as the "Father of the Channel Tunnel." By 1856, Thomé de Gamond had produced a comprehensive proposal for a double-track railway tunnel connecting East Wear Bay near Folkestone to Cap Gris-Nez, complete with ventilation shafts and lighthouses along the route. His plans gained support from engineering luminaries, including Robert Stephenson and Isambard Kingdom Brunel, as well as Queen Victoria, Prince Albert, and Napoleon III. However, like many subsequent proposals, it foundered amid deteriorating Anglo-French relations.
The first actual construction attempt began in 1880 under Sir Edward Watkin, Chairman of the South Eastern Railway. Welsh miners bored 800 feet of tunnel at Abbot's Cliff between Dover and Folkestone, using Captain Thomas English's revolutionary rotary boring machine capable of cutting nearly half a mile per month. This pioneering effort was halted in 1882 due to military concerns about Britain's national security, with critics arguing that a tunnel would compromise the nation's natural island defences.
Following the collaboration between Margaret Thatcher and François Mitterrand in 1981, the wheels were finally set in motion for construction. The two leaders signed the treaty authorising construction on 29 July 1987, with excavation beginning on the British side in December 1987 and in France in February 1988. The project represented an unprecedented Anglo-French collaboration, with five companies on each side of the Channel working together under TransManche Link, a bi-national project organisation.
The construction itself was a monumental undertaking employing 13,000 people at its peak, with daily expenditure exceeding £3 million. Eleven specially designed tunnel boring machines, each weighing 1,100 tonnes, worked simultaneously from both sides of the Channel to create not one but three interconnected tunnels: two rail tunnels and a central service tunnel for maintenance and emergency access. The project followed the chalk marl layer, chosen for its relative impermeability compared to the overlying geological formations. However, this path required the tunnels to follow an undulating route rather than a straight line.
The precision achieved during construction remains extraordinary. When the British and French tunnelling efforts met on 1 December 1990, the alignment varied by only 36.2 centimetres horizontally and 5.8 centimetres vertically. This historic moment was witnessed by media representatives, with Englishman Graham Fagg and Frenchman Philippe Cozette breaking through the service tunnel. In a charming touch of British understatement, a Paddington Bear soft toy was chosen as the first item to pass between the two sides.
The human cost of this achievement was significant, with ten workers losing their lives during construction between 1987 and 1993, eight of whom were British. Most fatalities occurred in the early months of boring, highlighting the inherent dangers of such pioneering underground work. This death toll, while tragic, compares favourably to other major tunnelling projects; the Japanese Seikan Tunnel, for instance, claimed 34 lives during its construction.
The completed tunnel extends a total of 50.5 kilometres, with 37.8 kilometres underwater, making it the world's longest undersea tunnel. At its deepest point, the tunnel lies 75 metres below sea level, which Eurostar memorably describes as equivalent to 107 baguettes stacked on top of each other. The tunnel was officially opened on 6 May 1994 by Queen Elizabeth II and French President François Mitterrand in a ceremony at Calais, with both leaders travelling through the tunnel on historic train journeys.
Le Shuttle, formerly known as Eurotunnel Le Shuttle until its rebranding in 2023, offers a unique vehicle-carrying service that distinguishes the Channel Tunnel from other international rail links. The service operates with specially designed shuttle trains that rank among the most powerful in Europe, each train being pulled by two locomotives that generate a combined 14 megawatts of power. These 800-metre-long trains can accommodate up to 120 cars and 12 coaches, with separate shuttles for freight vehicles.
The passenger shuttles feature an ingenious double-deck design, with cars and motorcycles travelling on the lower level while coaches, minibuses, and taller vehicles use the single-deck carriages. Each shuttle consists of 24 carriages, plus four loading and unloading wagons, built from stainless steel and incorporating fire-resistant materials derived from the aerospace industry. The design incorporates safety features, including smoke, heat, and fire detectors, with each carriage sealed by specially designed fire-resistant doors capable of containing flames for 30 minutes.
The 35-minute journey time from terminal to terminal revolutionised cross-Channel travel, offering a weather-independent alternative to ferry services. Unlike ferries, passengers remain with their vehicles throughout the journey, able to stretch their legs or visit facilities only when the train briefly stops mid-tunnel for operational reasons. The service operates up to four departures per hour during peak periods, providing remarkable flexibility for travellers.
Safety considerations have driven continuous improvements to the tunnel's systems. Following serious fires in 1996 and 2008, Eurotunnel invested €20 million in developing SAFE (Stations d'Attaque du FEu) fire suppression stations. These four 870-metre-long stations use high-pressure water mist technology, with specially designed nozzles creating micro-droplets that rapidly turn to steam, reducing air temperature from 900°C to below 250°C within three minutes while displacing oxygen needed for combustion.
The tunnel's environmental credentials have become increasingly significant. Le Shuttle generates 52 times lower emissions than equivalent ferry crossings, utilising 100% electric traction with over 50% renewable energy consumption. The Getlink group prevents the emission of 1.7 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent annually, with Le Shuttle passengers alone saving approximately 350,000 tonnes of CO2 per year compared to ferry travel.
An unexpected environmental legacy emerged from the tunnel's construction, as it led to the creation of the Samphire Hoe Nature Reserve. The 4.9 million cubic metres of chalk marl excavated during tunnelling were used to reclaim 30 hectares from the English Channel at the base of Shakespeare Cliff. This artificial headland, opened to the public in 1997, now supports over 200 plant species, 220 bird species, and 30 butterfly species, creating a thriving ecosystem where none existed before. The reserve has received 15 Green Flag awards and stands as a remarkable example of how major infrastructure projects can deliver positive environmental outcomes.
The economic impact of the Channel Tunnel has been transformative. The fixed link handles a quarter of all trade between the UK and the European Union, representing £91 billion in annual trade value for the UK economy. Industries, ranging from automotive manufacturing to fresh food production, have restructured their operations around the tunnel's reliability, enabling just-in-time manufacturing processes and express delivery services that would be impossible with weather-dependent ferry operations.
Tourism has also benefited, with the tunnel contributing approximately £1.7 billion annually to the UK's tourism revenue. The infrastructure facilitated the development of High Speed 1, connecting St Pancras International to the tunnel portal at a cost of £5.8 billion, reducing journey times from London to Paris to just 2 hours 15 minutes.
Passenger numbers have grown steadily since opening, with annual usage reaching over 20 million passengers by 2013. The service has consistently gained market share from ferry operators, with more people travelling through the Channel Tunnel than by sea since 2016. In 2023, 18.3 million passengers travelled internationally via the tunnel, demonstrating its crucial role in maintaining Britain's connections with Continental Europe.
The Channel Tunnel's recognition extends beyond its practical achievements. The American Society of Civil Engineers designated it one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World in 1994, while Popular Mechanics included it among the greatest construction achievements of the 20th century. These accolades reflect not just the tunnel's engineering excellence but its broader significance in connecting communities and facilitating international cooperation.
The cultural impact has been equally profound, fulfilling early 20th-century French visions of the tunnel as a means to strengthen the Entente Cordiale and promote lasting peace through closer economic and social connections. The fixed link has enabled millions of people to travel between Britain and Continental Europe with unprecedented ease, fostering the kind of international understanding that tunnel advocates had envisioned for over two centuries.
Today, as the tunnel approaches its fourth decade of operation, ongoing investment ensures its continued relevance. Alstom has undertaken a complete renovation of the passenger shuttle fleet, with the first refurbished trains entering service in 2026. These improvements, combined with the tunnel's inherent advantages of speed, reliability, and environmental performance, position the Channel Tunnel to remain a vital artery connecting Britain with Europe for generations to come.
The Channel Tunnel and Le Shuttle service represent more than mere transportation infrastructure; they embody the triumph of human ingenuity over natural barriers and the power of international cooperation to achieve seemingly impossible goals. From Napoleon's early visions to today's modern reality, the tunnel stands as a permanent bridge between two proud nations, facilitating trade, tourism, and understanding in ways that continue to shape the relationship between Britain and Continental Europe.
