Have you ever wanted to travel in the Eurotunnel? The yet-to-see experience held all our thoughts and excitements. Minds would be baffled by this phenomenal masterpiece of construction. Everything was at its best, but all we waited for was the experience of the journey.
Our experience
Before any exhilaration started, security check was taken into hand. Then came the exciting part which we’d all been waiting for. My mind was filled up with expectations of how our journey was going to be like. To be fair, I came into thought that the security check would take more than an hour, however it concluded quite quickly.
I wondered about the thoughts which flew through my brain. Thinking of this extraordinary construction of a tunnel under-water is crazy to imagine about. The idea of just coming up with an under-water tunnel stretching 50km in length, and reaching up to approximately 75m below the sea surface, is like a thousand explosions happening in your mind. Well that’s surely how it is for me!
As we entered, we realised that there were not one but two decks in the train. It was the first time I saw a double-decker train, so I found it fascinating. We ended up in the bottom deck, it was neither tall nor long but our car seemed to fit perfectly. We came to a halt. It wasn’t really a custom parking slot but more of a co-incidental line up of cars. There were a few doors ahead of us that gradually enclosed.
The Eurotunnel otherwise known as the English channel is for travelling from South-England to France. It is a link from the Strait of Dover to the Pas-de-Calais. The trains in the tunnel have a maximum speed limit of 160kmph (99mph), although when you are in the train it doesn’t even fell like you’re moving an inch.
We soon made a move to look out through the windows and we identified the speed. I got off the car to see how the train looked, then I discovered that you have the availability to go to the top deck by a staircase. There was nothing, it was just empty. We stared at the windows but all we saw was basically nothing(darkness). Although time flies quite quickly, with our journey lasting thirty minutes, we had sufficient time to look around. Toilets are available across the shuttle on both decks.
The Construction
The construction took place in the late 19th century as a first attempt. This project succeeded so it continued in 1988 and was opened in 1994 to the present day. Towards the end of the project accomplishment, the total cost ended up being an enormous 4.5 billion pounds which is equivalent to 12 billion pounds now. It was the most expensive project at that time. 13,000 English and French workers collaborated to create such a masterpiece of architecture and construction. The project took only 6 years (1988-1994). The Eurotunnel shuttle(the train) itself is 775m long (nearly 1km) and 11 tunnel boring machines which are the size of 2 football pitches dug 250ft everyday (that’s a lot of digging). Over five times the size of UK’s population travelled in the Eurotunnel shuttle since 1994, however some people unfortunately died during the tunnel construction.
The History
The first two designs were created in the late 1802 and 1803. Then the invention of steam-trains led to the proposal of a tunnel in the UK. Both Queen Victoria and Napoléon III agreed to an undersea tunnel designed by a person called Thomé de Gamond during the state visit to France in Versailles, 1855. From both sides of the channel they started digging undersea with a tunnel boring machine. A Franco-British treaty was signed by the British Prime Minister (Edward Heath) and the French President (Georges Pompidou) in order to commence the construction.
The construction first took place in 1986-1987 where the boring of the channel tunnel took place. As the boring came to an end, both the English and French teams met each other and they created the first breakthrough tunnel. The construction almost came to an end in 1994. All that was left to do was test if it was ready to unleash to the public. The official opening took place in 1994 by Queen Elizabeth II and French President François Mitterrand. As the whole construction finished, it was open to the public from 1994 to the present day.
Our journey through the Eurotunnel really impressed us. I’m sure anyone who travels through it will feel completely satisfied with their journey. We sure did. A visit to France would definitely be more exciting with a journey in the English Channel. If you’re travelling in the Eurotunnel, enjoy your journey and locations in your holiday!
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