One of the seven modern wonders of the world, the Channel Tunnel, opened on this day, May 6, 1994. The equivalent of three times to population of the United Kingdom and France combined have used it since its opening.

The Channel Tunnel, colloquially called the Chunnel, sits under the English Channel, and connects southeastern England with northern France. Although its name is singular, the tunnel complex is comprised of three separate tubes, two large parallel railroad tunnels with a service and emergency tunnel between them. There are several cross tunnels connecting the service and railroad tubes.

Upon its official opening on this date in 1994, attended by Queen Elizabeth II and French President Mitterrand, the Channel Tunnel has provided efficient and reliable transportation between England and the European continent. Passengers service between London and Paris, via high-speed railway service now takes 2 hours and 15 minutes. A drive-on-drive-off service provides Britons and Europeans a way to take their automobile to the European continent and vice-versa. Freight services allow trade, including perishable food and products, to move between England and France.

For centuries, trade and people had to cross the wind-swept English Channel separating the United Kingdom and France via ferry and ship, or more recently, by airplane. Even before the plans for the Channel Tunnel were finalized in 1986 and construction commenced in 1988, there were several earlier proposals to build a tunnel under the channel. In fact, an enterprise was created in 1876 to do preliminary test borings on both sides of the channel. However, those tests and the enterprise were abandoned in 1882 over concerns a tunnel would allow European armies easy access to England, compromising British defenses. Another attempt was made in 1974, but those plans were also abandoned.

In the ensuing 26 years since it opened, nearly half a billion passengers have gone through the Channel Tunnel via train. Here are more interesting stats about this modern wonder:

Total Length: 31.35 miles --24 miles run under the Channel waters.
Passenger Railway Service Top Speed– 99 mph.
Average depth below sea bed – 148 feet.
Spoils from digging tunnel used as fill for terminals and reclaim land along British Coast.
11 Tunnel Boring Machines were used to bore the tunnels. Several buried in chalk adjacent to tunnel.
All three tunnels were bored simultaneously from the English and French side.
France and England were officially connected on December 1, 1990, when an Englishman and a Frenchman shook hands in the service tunnel.
Final construction costs were about 9.5 billion British pounds.
2019 Channel Tunnel Statistics:
- 2.6 million cars transported through the tunnel
- Nearly 350,000 pets crossed
- 1.6 million trucks were transported through the tunnel
- High speed rail carried 11 million passengers through the tunnel

The next time you travel in Europe, consider taking the train between Paris and London.

Source: Wikipedia, GetLink, Eurostar, EuroTrain

Image: A Eurostar exits the French side of the Channel Tunnel (Florian Fèvre via Wikimedia Commons)

This Day in History -- Channel Tunnel Opens