Overview

The Channel Tunnel, known in French as Tunnel sous la Manche and sometimes called the Chunnel, is a 50.46-kilometre railway tunnel beneath the English Channel. It connects Folkestone in the United Kingdom with Coquelles in northern France and opened in 1994. It is the only fixed link between Great Britain and the European mainland.

Engineering and operations

The tunnel has the longest underwater section of any tunnel in the world, at 37.9 km, and reaches a depth of 75 m below sea level. It is the third-longest railway tunnel in the world. Although designed for speeds up to 200 km/h, trains are limited to a maximum speed of 160 km/h for safety reasons.

The tunnel is operated by Getlink, formerly Eurotunnel, and is used by Eurostar passenger trains, LeShuttle services for road vehicles, and freight trains. It connects to the LGV Nord in France and High Speed 1 in the United Kingdom.

Recent relevance

The tunnel has been in the news following a collision on the French side at Coquelles between a minibus and a freight train. The incident highlighted the loading platform area where vehicles are transported through the tunnel.