Three decades ago Queen Elizabeth II and French president Francois Mitterand officially opened the Channel Tunnel between Folkestone in Kent and Calais in northern France. So how much has the link transformed travel? Unfortunately, it’s been a tale of broken promises so far in terms of direct services between the UK and continental Europe.
The problem for proponents of terrestrial transport is that there has been a revolution in travel over the past 30 years, but it’s been the transformation of aviation. Eurotunnel is the company that owns the infrastructure and runs LeShuttle car- and coach-carrying service from Folkestone to Calais. It takes about 20 million people a year through the tunnel in these vehicles, as well as on Eurostar trains from London to Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam.
Yet that is a tiny proportion of the number of people who fly to and from the UK. The only prospect of making good on proper transcontinental connectivity from the UK: cutting costs and opening up to new budget operators.
What was the original plan?
When Eurostar was first envisaged the idea was to have trains from Glasgow, Edinburgh, Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham, Cardiff and Plymouth direct to Paris and Brussels.
This story is from the May 08, 2024 edition of The Independent.
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This story is from the May 08, 2024 edition of The Independent.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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