Who was responsible for the Channel tunnel?

The project to build the undersea leg between England and France began in earnest in 1986. But as work progressed, the owner, Eurotunnel, and the Anglo-French consortium responsible for design and construction, TransManche Link, were plagued by severe cost, schedule, and safety problems.



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Soon after the start of operations, Eurotunnel reached a delicate financial situation which resulted from the escalation of construction costs, a large overestimation of the cross-Channel market and the underestimation of the cross-Channel ferry operators' competitive response which led to a very damaging price war.

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The project was financed entirely by private sector capital, including five banks who were part of the TransManche Link consortium. Financing originated partly from investment by shareholders and partly from GBP8 billion of debt (about USD12. 2 billion, 1994 prices).

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Eurotunnel is now highly profitable, after a difficult start when it was held down by massive debts from the tunnel construction. Debt restructuring in 2007 reversed the company's fortunes — at the expense of thousands of small shareholders who saw their holdings slashed in value.

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Fast Facts: At the time it was being built, the Chunnel was the most expensive construction project ever conceived. It took $21 billion to complete the tunnel. That's 700 times more expensive than the cost to build the Golden Gate Bridge!

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What does the Eurotunnel look like underwater? This may be a disappointing answer, but you can't actually see the sea from the Eurostar. When you go through the tunnel and look out of the window, all you can see is your reflection in the glass because it's quite dark outside.

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While the aviation industry remains in chaos with airports and airlines racking up billions of pounds of losses, the Channel Tunnel has returned to profit. Eurotunnel operates the sub-sea link between England and France, running Le Shuttle trains for cars and lorries.

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Given the enormous design changes, this was a remarkable achievement – but only possible because construction and design were undertaken in parallel. This was effective in terms of avoiding delay, but a disaster in terms of escalating overall costs because of the abortive work involved.

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The carriage is lit and there are toilet facilities available. You can get out and walk around, but there is nowhere to go. Toilets are fine. You mustn't smoke or take flash photos because they have smoke and flash detectors that are very sensitive and can stop the train.

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The Channel Tunnel is one of the biggest engineering projects ever undertaken in the UK. Taking more than five years to complete, with more than 13,000 workers from England and France collaborating to realise the vision, the tunnel has been named one of the seven wonders of the modern world.

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At €1.049 billion, Eurotunnel revenue saw an increase of 63% at a constant exchange rate, a level never before seen for this business. Revenue from the Shuttle business increased by 53% to €732 million compared to 2021, in a context marked by the return of tourist traffic, thus confirming people's appetite for travel.

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