2015-05-14
1771
THE CHANNEL TUNNEL
The first design of the Channel Tunnel was proposed in 1751. Since that time dozens of proposals had been considered before the actual tunneling began. The work proceeded very quickly and was successfully completed in 6 years. The Tunnel was opened for traffic on May 7, 1994.
The Channel Tunnel actually consists of three tunnels: the two running tunnels* and the service tunnel**. Single-track railway lines are laid down in each of the running tunnels. Normally, one of them carries passenger and freight trains from Britain to France and the other carries trains in the opposite direction. If one of the running tunnels is closed down for maintenance, the other is used for train movement in both directions. A smaller third tunnel lies between the two train tunnels. It is called the service tunnel. There is a roadway inside it, so maintenance workers and emergency teams can reach any point of the Tunnel system in their road vehicles. The service tunnel is linked to the running tunnels at regular intervals by cross-passages***. In the case of emergency or a train breakdown the passengers will leave the train through one of the cross-passages into the service tunnel where road vehicles will evacuate them to a safer place.
The total length of the Tunnel is about 50 km (37 km of the line is constructed under the waters of the English Channel). The electric trains run every 3 minutes during peak hours, providing the carrying capacity of 4,000 vehicles per hour in both directions.
A typical passenger shuttle* consists of 26 wagons. A half of them are double-deck carriages for carrying cars of average size. 13 single-deck wagons are used for transporting buses and vans. Freight shuttles consist of 25 single-deck wagons. Each of them is capable of carrying a vehicle weighing up to 44 tons. Two electric locomotives are coupled in front and at the rear of each shuttle.
The time of crossing the Tunnel is 35 minutes, about an hour less than by ferry. Passengers and drivers remain in their vehicles. The gauge of the tunnel railway is standard that’s way the tunnel can be used for international passenger and freight trains.
Notes: *running tunnel – железнодорожный тоннель
**service tunnel – служебный (подъездной) тоннель
***cross-passage – поперечный переход
