WHY THE CHANNEL TUNNEL WAS BUILT

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1 LOCATION MAP

2 WHY THE CHANNEL TUNNEL WAS BUILT As the United Kingdom is an island and has water surrounding it, the ways of going out of the United Kingdom into the rest of Europe and coming back were limited and slow before the Channel Tunnel was built. There had to be a quicker way of transporting goods and people quickly and safely. Flying in an aeroplane was too expensive for a short distance. Ferries were too slow and expensive. The British and French Governments had been discussing the idea of a link between the United Kingdom and France for a long time. High-speed trains were the answer to the problem. High-speed trains are cheap to run and are very quick. There had to be a way to transport the trains through the water. A tunnel going through the Channel was the only realistic way of allowing the high-speed trains to run across it. This high-speed train takes cars with their passengers inside them through the tunnel

3 HOW THE CHANNEL TUNNEL WAS BUILT Each of the three tunnels were made so that they were approximately 50 kilometres in length, 30 metres apart and at an average of 45 metres below the seabed. The larger tunnels have a diameter of 7.6 metres and each contain a single railway line. The service tunnel has a diameter of 4.8 metres. All of the tunnels are connected every 375 metres by a cross-passage which gives access to the service tunnel in an emergency. They are also used for ventilation and maintenance. Every 200 metres, the two rail tunnels are linked by piston relief ducts. These are used for the regulation of the air pressure in the tunnels. A diagram of what the Channel Tunnel looks like under the seabed Tunnel boring machines were used on both sides of the Channel, as said below. The machines were specially designed to excavate the chalk marl rock, which had been said to lie A tunnel boring machine beneath the proposed tunnel route. Construction on the French side of the Channel began in 1987 at Sangatte. A circular access shaft was excavated and lined with concrete. All the workers and equipment were lowered into the shaft and the tunnel boring machines were assembled. Three tunnel boring machines excavated the three tunnels under the seabed towards Kent while two other tunnel boring machines excavated tunnels to the terminal at Coquelles. At the base of the shaft, a spoil treatment plant mixed the waste rock with water before pumping it 500 metres to the disposal site at Fond Pignon.

4 Once construction work was complete, the shaft at Sangatte was transformed into a permanent feature of the tunnel system, housing the ventilation and cooling system installations. The rest of the construction site has been landscaped and rehabilitation work continues with environmental monitoring of the Fond Pignon site. Construction on the British side of the Channel also began in 1987 at Shakespeare s Cliff, the location of the previous tunnel attempt in The earlier tunnel attempt was used as one of two shafts with a rack and pinion railway to transport the workmen and materials. Six tunnel boring machines were used on the British side of the Channel. Three were used for the tunnels going towards Sangatte and the other three were used to tunnel towards the terminal at Folkestone. HOW THE CHANNEL TUNNEL OPERATES TODAY The Channel Tunnel is operated by one main company Eurostar. Eurostar run two different Shuttle services. These consist of: Passenger shuttles These carry cars and coaches mainly, but also caravans and motorcycles. There are also privately run bus services for pedestrians. There are up to four shuttle departures every hour. Each passenger shuttle can hold up to 120 cars and 12 coaches. Freight shuttles These transport goods vehicles and three leave every hour.

5 Each shuttle is made up of several wagons. Cars drive through the wagons until there is no space left. The loading doors close and the train leaves. When the train has reached its destination, only the unloading doors open to let the vehicles out. There are two types of shuttle Single-decker shuttles These are for cars, vans and coaches mainly. They have heights of 1.85 metres. Double-decker shuttles These are for trucks. They have heights of 2 metres and are slightly wider than single-decker shuttles. HOW THE CHANNEL TUNNEL HAS CHANGED TRAVEL FROM THE UK The introduction of the Channel Tunnel has completely revolutionised travelling from the United Kingdom to mainland Europe. More people travel to mainland Europe using the Channel Tunnel mainly because of the time reduction over taking a ferry. It takes around three hours to cross the English Channel by ferry, and that is if there is good weather. It takes only an hour to cross the Channel by the Channel Tunnel, which is two hours quicker than a ferry. The United Kingdom is now exporting more to mainland Europe. This is because it is easier to export to mainland Europe because of the Channel Tunnel. There is now competition between Ferry Operators and The Channel Tunnel. The Channel Tunnel has taken away many of the travellers using ferries and the ferry operators are trying to reduce prices to encourage more travellers to travel by ferry. lso takes the custom away from aeroplane companies, as travelling by train is much cheaper than travelling by aeroplane. THE MAIN ADVANTAGES OF THE CHANNEL TUNNEL There are a few clear advantages of the Channel Tunnel. The time it now takes to reach France from the United Kingdom has been drastically reduced with the introduction of the Channel Tunnel. Costs have also been drastically reduced. Waiting times for trips have also been reduced; a train arrives every minutes. More goods can be exported and imported, to and from mainland Europe easily. Also, the train cannot be halted by bad weather. Overall, the Channel Tunnel s advantages are mainly towards intercontinental business and people going on holiday in Europe.

6 DIFFERENT PEOPLE S OPINIONS ON THE CHANNEL TUNNEL This part of the report will be set out as a table. Who? Opinion Why? bad idea. The residents of Folkstone and Dover The ferry operators. Truck drivers. Job seekers in Folkstone and Dover A family going on holiday in mainland Europe bad idea. good idea. good idea. good idea. The construction of the Channel Tunnel and the trains which go through it, give a lot of Noise Pollution. Less people are travelling by ferry to Europe, which means less custom for the ferry operators. Truck drivers can get more jobs completed, as it is now quicker to transport goods across the Channel. Over 1000 jobs have been made at the terminal in Folkstone and many business parks in the area have been created, making many more jobs available. It takes them a short time to get to their destination.