Now that one tunnel is closed, what do you do?

Thoughts about the relationships between transport and the urban area it serves

Now that one tunnel is closed, what do you do?

You will doubtless have heard by now that a fire has closed one of the twin bores under the English Channel. Eurostar is now operating a much diminished service. So I was very interested to read in today’s Guardian how to do it the old fashioned way. Once upon a time there was through ticketing and reasonably convenient connections between train and boat i.e. a short walk through the customs shed. No more. I wonder if they will get any better- or now that it is all in the hands of competing copmpanies the current shambles will continue until the tunnel is fixed. Inter-modal transfers are not what they used to be.

Written by Stephen Rees

September 16, 2008 at 5:35 pm

Posted in Transportation

Tagged with Channel Tunnel, Eurostar

3 Responses

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My sister and her family are in France at the moment and I’m fairly sure they’re going back to England from there but I could be wrong. They left for the continent just in time before chaos. That’s how I heard…

Erika Rathje

September 16, 2008 at 7:50 pm
Good thing there’s an alternate route to the tunnel.

Ron C.

September 18, 2008 at 12:07 pm
The following information comes from the 22 Sept edition of the Railway Herald a free pdf publication

Following the Channel Tunnel fire, Eurotunnel
brought a 17km-long section of the north
bore back into service on the morning of 22nd
September, enabling an increase in the number
of trains to almost 170 per day.
Operating the whole south bore and interval
2 of the north tunnel, together with the UK
‘cross-over’, gives an approximately 50%
improvement in the service Eurotunnel currently
offers, bringing it to 44 Eurostars, 90 truck
shuttles, 29 passenger shuttles and a varying
number of rail freights per day.
Technical staff are working around the clock
to bring a second 17km long section of the
north tunnel back into service in the next
few days. This will further improve the quality
of service available. Since 13th September,
Eurotunnel has given priority to customers who
had already made reservations. The increase in
the number of passenger shuttles will enable
it to once more provide a regular service.

Stephen Rees

September 23, 2008 at 2:17 pm