Editing Channel Tunnel (section)

== History ==

=== Earlier proposals ===
{{quote box
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* '''1802''': Albert Mathieu put forward a cross-Channel tunnel proposal.
* '''1875''': The Channel Tunnel Company Ltd<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.subbrit.org.uk/sb-sites/sites/c/channel_tunnel_1880_attempt/index.shtml |title=Subterranea Britannica: Channel Tunnel – 1880 attempt |publisher=subbrit.org |access-date=19 July 2009}}</ref> began preliminary trials
* '''1882''': The Abbot's Cliff heading had reached {{convert|897|yd}} and that at Shakespeare Cliff was {{convert|2040|yd}} in length
* '''January 1975''': A UK–France government-backed scheme, which started in 1974, was cancelled
* '''February 1986''': The [[Treaty of Canterbury (1986)|Treaty of Canterbury]] was signed, allowing the project to proceed
* '''June 1988''': First tunnelling commenced in France
* '''December 1988''': UK [[Tunnel boring machine|TBM]] commenced operation
* '''December 1990''': Service tunnel broke through under the Channel
* '''May 1994''': Tunnel formally opened by Queen [[Elizabeth II]] and [[François Mitterrand|President Mitterrand]]
* '''June 1994''': Freight trains commenced operations
* '''November 1994''': Passenger trains commenced operation
* '''November 1996''': Fire in a heavy goods vehicle (HGV) shuttle severely damaged the tunnel
* '''November 2007''': [[High Speed 1]], linking London to the tunnel, opened
* '''September 2008''': Another fire in an HGV shuttle severely damaged the tunnel
* '''December 2009''': Eurostar trains stranded in the tunnel due to melting snow affecting the trains' electrical hardware
* '''November 2011''': First commercial freight service run on [[High Speed 1]]

}}
In 1802, Albert Mathieu-Favier, a French mining engineer, proposed a tunnel under the English Channel, with illumination from oil lamps, horse-drawn coaches, and an artificial island positioned mid-Channel for changing horses.{{sfn|Whiteside|1962|p=17}} His design envisaged a bored two-level tunnel with the top tunnel used for transport and the bottom one for [[groundwater]] flows.<ref>{{cite web|title=Channel Tunnel History|url=http://www.eurotunnelgroup.com/uk/the-channel-tunnel/history/|publisher=[[Getlink|Eurotunnel]]|access-date=7 June 2017|archive-date=22 July 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120722224731/http://www.eurotunnelgroup.com/uk/the-channel-tunnel/history/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 1839, [[Aimé Thomé de Gamond]], a Frenchman, performed the first geological and hydrographical surveys on the Channel between Calais and Dover. He explored several schemes and, in 1856, presented a proposal to [[Napoleon III]] for a mined railway tunnel from Cap [[Gris-Nez]] to [[East Wear Bay|East Wear Point]] with a port/airshaft on the [[Varne Bank|Varne sandbank]]{{sfn|Whiteside|1962|pp=18–23}}<ref>{{cite book |last=Wilson |first=Keith |date= January 1994|title=Channel Tunnel Visions, 1850-1945 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AnU5bZT7gRMC&pg=PA6 |location=London |publisher=Hambledon Press |page=6 |isbn=978-1852851323 }}</ref> at a cost of 170&nbsp;million [[French franc|francs]], or less than £7&nbsp;million.<ref name="NY Times 1866">{{cite news |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1866/08/07/83456856.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200605163617/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1866/08/07/83456856.pdf |archive-date=5 June 2020 |url-status=live |title=The Proposed Tunnel Between England and France |work=The New York Times |date=7 August 1866 |access-date=3 January 2008 }}</ref>
[[File:AlbertMathieuFavierPlanOfCoachServiceThroughtTheChanneltunnel.png|thumb|Albert Mathieu-Favier's plans for a coach service through the channel as of 1802 containing huge ventilation chimneys.]]

[[File:Channel Tunnel 1856 idea from Gamond 1a.png|thumb|[[Aimé Thomé de Gamond|Thomé de Gamond]]'s plan of 1856 for a cross-Channel link, with a port/airshaft on the [[Varne Bank|Varne sandbank]] mid-Channel]]

In 1865, a deputation led by [[George Ward Hunt]] proposed the idea of a tunnel to the [[Chancellor of the Exchequer]] of the day, [[William Ewart Gladstone]].<ref name="William Gladstone 1888">{{cite book|last=Gladstone |first=William |author-link=William Ewart Gladstone|editor=A. W. Hutton & H. J. Cohen|title=The Speeches of the Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone on Home Rule, Criminal Law, Welsh And Irish Nationality, National Debt and the Queen's Reign|series=The Speeches And Public Addresses of the Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone, M.P. |volume=X|date=1902 |publisher=Methuen And Company|location=London |chapter=[[s:The Channel Tunnel (Gladstone)|The Channel Tunnel]]}}</ref>

In 1866, [[Henry Marc Brunel]] made a survey of the floor of the Strait of Dover. By his results, he proved that the floor was composed of chalk, like the adjoining cliffs, and thus a tunnel was feasible.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Donovan |first=Desmond T. |date=February 1967 |title=Henry Marc Brunel: The first submarine geological survey and the invention of the gravity corer |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/0025322767900655 |journal=Marine Geology|volume=5 |issue=1 |pages=5–14 |doi=10.1016/0025-3227(67)90065-5|bibcode=1967MGeol...5....5D }}</ref> For this survey, he invented the [[Box corer|gravity corer]], which is still used in geology.

Around 1866, William Low and Sir [[John Hawkshaw]] promoted tunnel ideas,<ref>{{cite book | last = Beaumont | first = Martin | title = Sir John Hawkshaw 1811-1891 | publisher = The Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway Society www.lyrs.org.uk | year = 2015 | pages = 126–129 | isbn = 978-0-9559467-7-6 }}</ref> but apart from preliminary geological studies,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article8842035 |title=Things Worth Recording about Steam Navigation |newspaper=[[The Mercury (Hobart)|The Mercury]] |location=Hobart, Tas. |date=9 October 1866 |access-date=26 April 2014 |page=3 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> none were implemented.

An official Anglo-French protocol was established in 1876 for a cross-Channel railway tunnel.
[[File:LionCannotFaceTheCrowingOfCock.png|thumb|American cartoon (c. 1885) depicting fears of the Channel Tunnel: One of the strongest opponents of the Channel Tunnel, [[Garnet Wolseley, 1st Viscount Wolseley|General Wolseley]] riding on the fleeing lion.]]
In 1881, British railway entrepreneur Sir [[Edward Watkin]] and [[Alexandre Lavalley]], a French [[Suez Canal Company|Suez Canal contractor]], were in the Anglo-French Submarine Railway Company that conducted exploratory work on both sides of the Channel.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6ok9AQAAIAAJ|title=Scientific American, "The English Channel Tunnel"|date=30 October 1880|publisher=Munn & Company|pages=279}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zoE9AQAAIAAJ&q=rosenberger|title=Scientific American|date=25 March 1882|publisher=Munn & Company|pages=185}}</ref> From June 1882 to March 1883, the British [[tunnel boring machine]] tunnelled, through chalk, a total of {{Cvt|1840|m|ft|0}},{{sfn|Hemphill|2013}} while Lavalley used a similar machine to drill {{Cvt|1669|m|ft|0}} from [[Sangatte]] on the French side.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Wilson |first1=Jeremy |last2=Spick |first2=Jérôme |title=Eurotunnel: The Illustrated Journey |date=1994 |publisher=Harper Collins |location=New York, NY, USA |isbn=0-00-255539-5 |pages=14–21}}</ref> However, the cross-Channel tunnel project was abandoned in 1883, despite this success, after fears raised by the British military that an underwater tunnel might be used as an invasion route.{{sfn|Hemphill|2013}}<ref>Terry Gourvish, ''The Official History of Britain and the Channel Tunnel'' (Abington, England: Routledge, 2006), Chapter 1, § 2: The commercial possibilities:  Lord Richard Grosvenor, Sir Edward Watkin and the 'Manchester to Paris Railroad'.</ref> Nevertheless, in 1883, this TBM was used to bore a railway ventilation tunnel—{{cvt|7|ft}} in diameter and {{cvt|6750|ft}} long—between [[Birkenhead]] and [[Liverpool]], England, through sandstone under the [[River Mersey|Mersey River]].{{sfn|West|1988|p=248}} These early works were encountered more than a century later during the project [[TransManche Link]] (TML).

A 1907 film, ''[[Tunnelling the English Channel]]'' by pioneer filmmaker [[Georges Méliès]],<ref name=MM>{{citation|last1=Malthête|first1=Jacques|last2=Mannoni|first2=Laurent|title=L'oeuvre de Georges Méliès|year=2008|location=Paris|publisher=Éditions de La Martinière|isbn=9782732437323|page=219}}</ref> depicts King [[Edward VII]] and President [[Armand Fallières]] dreaming of building a tunnel under the [[English Channel]].

In 1919, during the [[Paris Peace Conference, 1919|Paris Peace Conference]], British prime minister [[David Lloyd George]] repeatedly brought up the idea of a Channel tunnel as a way of reassuring France about British willingness to defend against another German attack. The French did not take the idea seriously, and nothing came of the proposal.<ref>{{cite book |last=MacMillan |first=Margaret |title=Paris 1919 |url=https://archive.org/details/paris1919sixmont00macm |url-access=registration |publisher=Random House |year=2002 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/paris1919sixmont00macm/page/174 174], 194|isbn=9780375508264 }}</ref>

In the 1920s, [[Winston Churchill]] advocated for the Channel Tunnel, using that exact name in his essay "Should Strategists Veto The Tunnel?" It was published on 27 July 1924 in the ''[[Sunday Dispatch|Weekly Dispatch]]'', and argued vehemently against the idea that the tunnel could be used by a Continental enemy in an invasion of Britain. Churchill expressed his enthusiasm for the project again in an article for the ''[[Daily Mail]]'' on 12 February 1936, "Why Not A Channel Tunnel?"<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Collected Essays of Sir Winston Churchill, Vol I, Churchill at War|last=Churchill|first=Winston|publisher=Library of Imperial History|year=1976|isbn=0903988429|edition=Centenary|pages=260–264 and 357–359}}</ref>

There was another proposal in 1929, but nothing came of this discussion and the idea was abandoned. Proponents estimated the construction cost at US$150{{nbsp}}million. The engineers had addressed the concerns of both nations' military leaders by designing two [[sump]]s – one near the coast of each country – that could be flooded at will to block the tunnel, but this did not appease the military, or dispel concerns about hordes of tourists who would disrupt English life.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wN4DAAAAMBAJ&q=Popular+Science+1930+plane+%22Popular+Mechanics%22&pg=PA767 |title=New Plan for Channel Tunnel |magazine=Popular Mechanics |date=May 1929 |pages=767–768  |access-date=23 October 2017}}</ref>

A British film from [[Gaumont British|Gaumont Studios]], ''[[The Tunnel (1935 film)|The Tunnel]]'' (also known as ''TransAtlantic Tunnel''), was released in 1935 as a science-fiction project concerning the creation of a transatlantic tunnel. It referred briefly to its protagonist, a Mr. McAllan, as having completed a British Channel tunnel successfully in 1940, five years into the future of the film's release.

Military fears continued during [[World War II]]. After the [[fall of France|surrender of France]], as Britain prepared for an [[British anti-invasion preparations of World War II|expected German invasion]], a [[Royal Navy]] officer in the [[Directorate of Miscellaneous Weapons Development]] calculated that Hitler could use [[Forced labour under German rule during World War II|slave labour]] to build two Channel tunnels in 18 months. The estimate caused rumours that Germany had already begun digging.<ref name="breuer">{{cite book |title=The Spy Who Spent the War in Bed: And Other Bizarre Tales from World War II |publisher=Wiley |last=Breuer |first=William B. |year=2003 |location=Hoboken, New Jersey |page=[https://archive.org/details/spywhospentwarin0000breu/page/40 40] |isbn=0-471-26739-2 |url=https://archive.org/details/spywhospentwarin0000breu/page/40 }}</ref>

By 1955, defence arguments had become less relevant due to the dominance of air power, and both the British and French governments supported technical and geological surveys. In 1958 the 1881 workings were cleared in preparation for a £100,000 geological survey by the Channel Tunnel Study Group. 30% of the funding came from Channel Tunnel Co Ltd, the largest shareholder of which was the [[British Transport Commission]], as successor to the [[South Eastern Railway, UK|South Eastern Railway]].<ref>''Railway Magazine'' November 1958 p. 805</ref> A detailed geological survey was carried out in 1964 and 1965.<ref name="halcrow-film-1964–65">{{cite web |title=Channel Tunnel Site Investigation – 1964 |publisher=Halcrow Group |date=13 July 2011 |url=http://www.halcrow.com/Who-we-are/film_archive/Channel-Tunnel-site-investigation-film/ |access-date=26 July 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111001065054/http://www.halcrow.com/Who-we-are/film_archive/Channel-Tunnel-site-investigation-film/ |archive-date=1 October 2011 }}  Online presentation of a 1964–65 film documentary of a geological survey of the Channel, with a brief summary.</ref>

Although the two countries agreed to build a tunnel in 1964, the phase 1 initial studies and signing of a second agreement to cover phase 2 took until 1973.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|title = Illustrated London News|year = 1975}}</ref> The plan described a government-funded project to create two tunnels to accommodate car shuttle wagons on either side of a service tunnel. Construction started on both sides of the Channel in 1974.

On 20 January 1975, to the dismay of their French partners, the then-governing Labour Party in Britain cancelled the project due to uncertainty about the UK's membership of the [[European Economic Community]], doubling cost estimates amid the general economic crisis at the time.{{citation needed|date=July 2023}} By this time the British tunnel boring machine was ready and the Ministry of Transport had performed a {{convert|300|m|abbr=on}} experimental drive.<ref name="Wilson pp. 14–21" /> (This short tunnel, named Adit A1, was eventually reused as the starting and access point for tunnelling operations from the British side, and remains an access point to the service tunnel.) The cancellation costs were estimated at £17{{nbsp}}million.<ref name=":0" /> On the French side, a tunnel-boring machine had been installed underground in a stub tunnel. It lay there for 14 years until 1988, when it was sold, dismantled, refurbished and shipped to Turkey, where it was used to drive the Moda tunnel for the Istanbul Sewerage Scheme.

=== Initiation of project ===
{{see also|Premiership of Margaret Thatcher#Channel Tunnel}}
In 1979, the "Mouse-hole Project" was suggested when the Conservatives came to power in Britain. The concept was a single-track rail tunnel with a service tunnel but without shuttle terminals. The British government took no interest in funding the project, but British Prime Minister [[Margaret Thatcher]] did not object to a privately funded project, although she said she assumed it would be for cars rather than trains. In 1981, Thatcher and French president [[François Mitterrand]] agreed to establish a working group to evaluate a privately funded project. In June 1982 the Franco-British study group favoured a twin tunnel to accommodate conventional trains and a vehicle shuttle service. In April 1985 promoters were invited to submit scheme proposals. Four submissions were shortlisted:
* Channel Tunnel, a rail proposal based on the 1975 scheme presented by Channel Tunnel Group/France–Manche (CTG/F–M).
* Eurobridge, a {{convert|35|km|adj=on|abbr=in}} [[suspension bridge]] with a series of {{convert|5|km|adj=on|abbr=in}} spans with a roadway in an enclosed tube.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zhjOPdmyz1wC&pg=PA18|department=Across the Channel by 2020?|title=The five cross-Channel contenders|magazine=[[New Scientist]]|access-date=12 October 2019|publisher=Reed Business Information|date=2 May 1985|page=18|first=Mick|last=Hamer}}{{Dead link|date=November 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
* Euroroute, a {{convert|21|km|adj=on|abbr=in}} tunnel between artificial islands approached by bridges.
* Channel Expressway, a set of large-diameter road tunnels with mid-Channel ventilation towers.<ref name="Wilson pp. 14–21"/>

The cross-Channel ferry industry protested using the name "Flexilink". In 1975 there was no campaign protesting a fixed link, with one of the largest ferry operators ([[Sealink]]) being state-owned. Flexilink continued rousing opposition throughout 1986 and 1987.<ref name="Wilson pp. 14–21"/> Public opinion strongly favoured a drive-through tunnel, but concerns about ventilation, accident management and driver mesmerisation resulted in the only shortlisted rail submission, CTG/F-M, being awarded the project in January 1986.<ref name="Wilson pp. 14–21">Wilson pp. 14–21</ref> Reasons given for the selection included that it caused least disruption to shipping in the Channel and least environmental disruption, was the best protected against terrorism, and was the most likely to attract sufficient private finance.{{sfn|Foreign & Commonwealth Office|1994|p=5}}

=== Arrangement ===
[[File:Channel Tunnel project relations flow chart 1.svg|thumb|A block diagram describing the organisation structure used on the project. Eurotunnel is the central organisation for construction and operation (via a concession) of the tunnel.]]

The British ''Channel Tunnel Group'' consisted of two banks and five construction companies, while their French counterparts, ''France–Manche'', consisted of three banks and five construction companies. The banks' role was to advise on financing and secure loan commitments. On 2 July 1985, the groups formed Channel Tunnel Group/France–Manche (CTG/F–M). Their submission to the British and French governments was drawn from the 1975 project, including 11&nbsp;volumes and a substantial environmental impact statement.<ref name="Wilson pp. 14–21"/>

The Anglo-French Treaty on the Channel Tunnel was signed by both governments in [[Canterbury Cathedral]]. The [[Treaty of Canterbury (1986)]] prepared the Concession for the construction and operation of the Fixed Link by privately owned companies and outlined arbitration methods to be used in the event of disputes. It established the Intergovernmental Commission (IGC), responsible for monitoring all matters associated with the Tunnel's construction and operation on behalf of the British and French governments, and a Safety Authority to advise the IGC. It drew a [[France–UK border|land frontier between the two countries]] in the middle of the Channel tunnel—the first of its kind.<ref name=autogenerated1>Eurotunnel 2005 Annual Review, accessed on 10 December 2007 {{cite web |url=http://ww1.eurotunnel.com/NR/rdonlyres/D8313D6F-2EAB-4FA7-85DB-8A822E0E3A3E/0/UK_2_partie_RA2005.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=10 December 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080530173047/http://ww1.eurotunnel.com/NR/rdonlyres/D8313D6F-2EAB-4FA7-85DB-8A822E0E3A3E/0/UK_2_partie_RA2005.pdf |archive-date=30 May 2008 }}</ref><ref>BBC Inside Out – South East: Monday 14 October 2002, accessed on 11 December 2007 http://www.bbc.co.uk/insideout/southeast/series1/channel-tunnel.shtml</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Treaty concerning the construction and operation by private concessionaires of a channel fixed link. Signed at Canterbury on 12 February 1986|url=https://treaties.un.org/doc/Publication/UNTS/Volume%201497/volume-1497-I-25792-English.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221010/https://treaties.un.org/doc/Publication/UNTS/Volume%201497/volume-1497-I-25792-English.pdf |archive-date=10 October 2022 |url-status=live|editor=United Nations}}</ref>

Design and construction were done by the ten construction companies in the CTG/F-M group. The French terminal and boring from Sangatte were done by the five French construction companies in the joint venture group ''GIE Transmanche Construction''. The English Terminal and boring from Shakespeare Cliff were done by the five British construction companies in the ''Translink Joint Venture''. The two partnerships were linked by a bi-national project organisation, [[TransManche Link]] (TML).<ref name="Wilson pp. 14–21"/> The ''Maître d'Oeuvre'' was a supervisory engineering body employed by Eurotunnel under the terms of the concession that monitored the project and reported to the governments and banks.<ref name="Kirkland pp.10–11">Kirkland pp. 10–11</ref>

In France, with its long tradition of infrastructure investment, the project had widespread approval. The French National Assembly approved it unanimously in April 1987, and after a public inquiry, the Senate approved it unanimously in June. In Britain, select committees examined the proposal, making history by holding hearings away from Westminster, in Kent. In February 1987, the third reading of the Channel Tunnel Bill took place in the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]], and passed by 94&nbsp;votes to 22. The [[Channel Tunnel Act 1987|Channel Tunnel Act]] gained [[Royal assent]] and passed into law in July.<ref name="Wilson pp. 14–21"/> Parliamentary support for the project came partly from provincial members of Parliament on the basis of promises of [[regional Eurostar]] through train services that never materialised; the promises were repeated in 1996 when the contract for construction of the [[Channel Tunnel Rail Link]] was awarded.<ref>{{cite web |title=Parliamentary note on the Channel Tunnel Rail Link |url=http://www.parliament.uk/commons/lib/research/briefings/snbt-00070.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100423162022/http://www.parliament.uk/commons/lib/research/briefings/snbt-00070.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=23 April 2010 |publisher=[[House of Commons Library]] |access-date=5 April 2010}}</ref>

=== Cost ===
The tunnel is a build-own-operate-transfer ([[BOOT]]) project with a concession.<ref name="Flyvbjerg p. 96/97">Flyvbjerg et al. pp.&nbsp;96–97</ref> TML would design and build the tunnel, but financing was through a separate legal entity, Eurotunnel. Eurotunnel absorbed CTG/F-M and signed a construction contract with TML, but the British and French governments controlled final engineering and safety decisions, now managed by the [[Channel Tunnel Safety Authority]]. The British and French governments gave Eurotunnel a 55-year operating concession (from 1987; extended by 10 years to 65 years in 1993){{sfn|Foreign & Commonwealth Office|1994|p=5}} to repay loans and pay dividends. A Railway Usage Agreement was signed between Eurotunnel, [[British Rail]] and [[SNCF]] guaranteeing future revenue in exchange for the railways obtaining half of the tunnel's capacity.

Private funding for such a complex infrastructure project was of unprecedented scale. Initial equity of £45&nbsp;million was raised by CTG/F-M, increased by £206&nbsp;million private institutional placement, £770&nbsp;million was raised in a public share offer that included press and television advertisements, a syndicated bank loan and [[letter of credit]] arranged £5&nbsp;billion.<ref name="Wilson pp. 14–21"/> Privately financed, the total investment costs at 1985 prices were £2.6&nbsp;billion. At the 1994 completion actual costs were, in 1985 prices, £4.65&nbsp;billion: an 80% [[cost overrun]].<ref name="Flyvbjerg p. 12">Flyvbjerg et al. p. 12</ref> The cost overrun was partly due to enhanced safety, security, and environmental demands.<ref name="Flyvbjerg p. 96/97"/> Financing costs were 140% higher than forecast.<ref name="Flyvbjerg p. 3">Flyvbjerg et al. p. 3</ref>

=== Construction ===
[[File:A déli pajzs a keresztezőkamrában.jpg|thumb|One of the southern tunnel boring machines]]
Working from both the English and French sides of the Channel, eleven [[tunnel boring machine]]s (TBMs) cut through chalk [[marl]] to construct two rail tunnels and a service tunnel. The vehicle shuttle terminals are at [[Cheriton, Kent|Cheriton]] (part of [[Folkestone]]) and Coquelles, and are connected to the English [[M20 motorway|M20]] and French [[A16 motorway (France)|A16]] motorways respectively.

Tunnelling commenced in 1988, and the tunnel began operating in 1994.<ref name="BBConthisday">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/1/newsid_2516000/2516473.stm |title=On this day: Tunnel links UK and Europe |work=BBC News |access-date=19 July 2009 |date=1 December 1990}}</ref> At the peak of construction 15,000&nbsp;people were employed with daily expenditure over £3&nbsp;million.<ref name="Anderson Story p xvi-xvii">Anderson, pp. xvi–xvii</ref> Ten workers, eight of them British, were killed during construction between 1987 and 1993, most in the first few months of boring.<ref name="Harlow">{{cite news |first=John |last=Harlow |title=Phantom Trains Wreak Havoc in Channel Tunnel |work=The Times |location=UK |date=2 April 1995}}</ref><ref name="ingenious 1">{{cite web |url=http://www.ingenious.org.uk/Read/Identity/RailwaysandIdentity/Navvies/ |title=Navvies |date=11 March 2008 |publisher=ingenious |access-date=19 July 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090727195547/http://www.ingenious.org.uk/Read/Identity/RailwaysandIdentity/Navvies/ |archive-date=27 July 2009 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/thirteen-workers-die-as-safety-standards-are-ignored-in-race-to-build-olympic-sites-558698.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081204174908/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/thirteen-workers-die-as-safety-standards-are-ignored-in-race-to-build-olympic-sites-558698.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=4 December 2008 |title=Thirteen workers die as safety standards are ignored in race to build Olympic sites |work=The Independent |location=UK |access-date=26 September 2008 |date=3 April 2004}}</ref>

=== Completion ===

[[File:319008 at Sandling.jpg|thumb|right|[[British Rail Class 319|Class 319]] EMUs ran excursions into the tunnel from [[Sandling railway station]] on 7 May 1994, the first passenger trains to go through the Channel Tunnel.]]

A {{Cvt|50|mm||}} diameter pilot hole allowed the service tunnel to break through without ceremony on 30 October 1990.<ref name="WashPost">{{cite news |title=Britain and France Link Up-at Last |first=Glenn |last=Frankel |newspaper=The Washington Post|date=31 October 1990}}</ref> On 1 December 1990, Englishman Graham Fagg and Frenchman Phillippe Cozette broke through the service tunnel with the media watching.<ref name="Evening Mail birthday">{{cite news |title=Chunnel birthday |work=Evening Mail |publisher=Birmingham Post & Mail Ltd |date=2 December 2000}}</ref> Eurotunnel completed the tunnel on time.<ref name="Flyvbjerg p. 96/97"/> (A [[BBC TV]] television commentator called Graham Fagg "the first man to cross the Channel by land [[Last Glacial Period#Deglaciation|for 8000 years]]".) The two tunnelling efforts met each other with an offset of only {{Cvt|36.2|cm||}}. A [[Paddington Bear]] soft toy was chosen by British tunnellers as the first item to pass through to their French counterparts when the two sides met.<ref>{{cite news |date=4 October 2016 |title=Paddington Bear: 13 things you didn't know |work=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/film-news/10777912/Paddington-Bear-13-things-you-didnt-know.html |url-status=live |url-access=subscription |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/film-news/10777912/Paddington-Bear-13-things-you-didnt-know.html |archive-date=12 January 2022}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

The tunnel was officially opened, one year later than originally planned, by the French president [[François Mitterrand]] and Queen [[Elizabeth II]], at a ceremony in [[Calais]] on 6 May 1994. The Queen travelled through the tunnel to Calais on a [[Eurostar]] train, which stopped nose to nose with the train that carried President Mitterrand from Paris.<ref name="BBC openingceremony">{{cite news |title=On This Day – 1994: President and Queen open Chunnel |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/6/newsid_2511000/2511653.stm |work=BBC News |date=6 May 1994 |access-date=12 January 2008}}</ref> After the ceremony, President Mitterrand and the Queen travelled on [[Eurotunnel Shuttle|Le Shuttle]] to a similar ceremony in [[Folkestone]].<ref name="BBC openingceremony"/> A full public service did not start for several months. The first freight train, however, ran on 1 June 1994 and carried [[Rover Group|Rover]] and [[Mini]] cars being exported to Italy.

The Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL), now called [[High Speed 1]], runs {{convert|69|mi|km|0|}} from [[St Pancras railway station]] in London to the tunnel portal at Folkestone in Kent. It cost £5.8&nbsp;billion. On 16 September 2003 the prime minister, [[Tony Blair]], opened the first section of High Speed 1, from Folkestone to north Kent. On 6 November 2007, the Queen officially opened High Speed 1 and St Pancras International station,<ref name="High-speed Newswire">{{cite news |first=Peter |last=Woodman |title=High-speed Rail Link Finally Completed |work=Press Association National Newswire |date=14 November 2007}}</ref> replacing the original slower link to [[Waterloo International railway station]]. High Speed 1 trains travel at up to {{convert|300|km/h|mph|0|abbr=on}}, the journey from London to Paris taking 2&nbsp;hours 15&nbsp;minutes, to Brussels 1&nbsp;hour 51&nbsp;minutes.<ref name="NewsAsia High Speed 1">{{cite news |title=New high-speed rail line opens to link Britain to Europe |publisher=Channel NewsAsia |date=15 November 2007}}</ref>

In 1994, the [[American Society of Civil Engineers]] elected the tunnel as one of the seven modern [[Wonders of the World]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.asce.org/People-and-Projects/Projects/Seven-Wonders/Seven-Wonders/ |title=Seven Wonders |publisher=American Society of Civil Engineers |access-date=7 October 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121026093022/http://www.asce.org/People-and-Projects/Projects/Seven-Wonders/Seven-Wonders/ |archive-date=26 October 2012 }}
</ref> In 1995, the American magazine ''[[Popular Mechanics]]'' published the results.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Pope |first=Gregory T. |title=The seven wonders of the modern world |newspaper=Popular Mechanics |pages=48–56 |date=December 1995 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O2YEAAAAMBAJ&q=itaipu&pg=PA52 }}</ref>