The Channel Tunnel

The Channel Tunnel,
often called the Euro
Tunnel or the
Chunnel, is a railway
tunnel that lies
underneath the water
of the English
Channel and connects
the island of Great
Britain with mainland
France.

The Channel Tunnel
history current situation the future

I. History
•as early as 1802 plans were being made for an alternate
route across the English Channel
•This first plan, made by French engineer Albert Mathieu
Favier
•In 1984, French president Francois Mitterrand and
British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher agreed that a
link across the English Channel would be beneficial and
decided to have a contest
•The proposal that was accepted was the plan for the
Channel Tunnel, submitted by the Balfour Beatty
Construction Company

Graham
Fagg
Philippe
Cozette
December 1, 1990

•On December 10, 1993, the first test run was completed through
the entire Channel Tunnel
•After additional fine tuning, the Channel Tunnel officially opened
on May 6, 1994
•After six years of construction and $15 billion spent (some
sources say upwards of $21 billion), the Channel Tunnel was
finally complete.

II. The Current situation
1.Channel Tunnel Length
The Channel Tunnel is 31.35 miles long (about 50 km), with 24 of those miles
(about 39 km) located under water
2. Cities It Travels To
Channel Tunnel connects Folkestone in Great Britain with Coquelles in France
3. Time It Takes to Cross
It takes a total of 35 minutes to travel across the Channel Tunnel, from terminal
to terminal
4.Cost of Fare
As of 2010, prices for a standard car ranged from £49 to £75 (about $78 to $120)

5.Northern Tunnel
The northern running tunnel carries passengers from England to France
6.Southern Tunnel
The southern running tunnel carries passengers from France to England
7.One of the biggest problem of the Channel Tunnel today
Illegal immigrants

III. The Future
The possible future plans:
•a second tunnel
•The technical integration of Channel Tunnel operations with rail operations of the
UK and Europe
Problem they face:
•slow progress in paying off its enormous debt from the construction
•no one is likely to be keen to sponsor it