Channel Tunnel UK

The 50.5km long Channel tunnel, located on the English Channel in the UK and France borders, is the longest undersea rail tunnel in the world. It connects Folkestone in Kent, UK, to Coquelles in Pas de Calais, France. The tunnel was opened for operations in 1994 after nearly six years of construction and cost $14.7bn. It recently won the Global Engineering Century Award by the international federation of civil engineering consultants, FIDIC.The two terminals are linked by three tunnels, including a 9.3km underground tunnel in UK, 38km undersea tunnel and 3.2km underground tunnel in France. In addition there is a service tunnel which allows access to maintenance and emergency rescue teams. The three rail tunnels have a diameter of 7.6m, whereas the service tunnel has a diameter of 4.8m. A total of 11 tunnel boring machines (TBM) dug the tunnel, which runs 40m below the English Channel.The UKs first high speed railway line High Speed 1 links central London with Europes rail network through the Channel tunnel. Eurotunnel (ET), a joint bi national company formed by Channel Tunnel Group (UK) and France Manche (France), owns and operates the tunnel.