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Description - The Eurotunnel is an underground railway line which
goes from Folkestone to Calais.
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Opened as the Channel Tunnel in 1994 it turned the centuries old dream of a fixed link between the UK and mainland Europe into a reality.
In 1802, French mining engineer, Albert Mathieu, put forward the first ever design for a Channel Tunnel, closely followed in 1803 by an English design by Henri Mottray. The first attempt at a tunnel excavation began in 1880 when the Beaumont & English tunnel boring machine began digging undersea tunnels on both sides of the Channel. In 1955, the British Defence Minister announced that he no longer opposed a fixed link on military ground, and in 1957 a Channel Tunnel Study Group was formed. In 1960, the group proposed a railway tunnel system comprising two main tunnels and a service tunnel. The project was formally launched in 1973. However, the fuel crisis was to see the project abandoned in 1975. On 30 November 1984, the British and French Government announced their intention to seek private promoters for the construction and operation of a fixed link without public funding. The invitation to tender was issued in March 1985 and four serious proposals were submitted by 31 October 1985.
On 20 January 1986, Margaret Thatcher and François Mitterrand announced that the Eurotunnel bid had been selected. Three weeks later on 12 February the foreign ministers of both countries signed the Franco-British Treaty in Canterbury. In 2002 the Eurotunnel had 2,335,625 cars, Coaches - 71,911, Trucks - 1,231,100, Eurostar (passengers) - 6,602,817 and Rail freight (tonnage) - 1,463,580. There are a range of places on the Internet where you can easily book tickets for the Eurotunnel, and because the Eurotunnel is generally quicker than ferry crossing it has become very popular.
User Rating - 
User - UK Shop Index editor
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Very fast and run very efficiently but far too expensive, price has gone up by £270 in 4 years. Why pay £350 for a half hour crossing when you can go on the ferry for under £150 and it only takes an hour longer. It's that expensive that I flew to Los Angeles for less and they say the tunnel was built to offer affordable channel crossings.
User Rating -
User - Amanda
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