When will the Channel Tunnel repairs be completed?

On 15 October, the Channel Tunnel operator Eurotunnel signed a deal with a consortium of construction companies to repair the damage caused when a lorry caught fire near the French entrance last month. The fire closed the tunnel between Kent and Calais for two days and there has been a reduced rail service ever since. Repairs are expected to cost £47m and be completed by February – seven months after the blaze.

What happened inside the tunnel?
On 11 September, a lorry shuttle train was carrying 17 vehicles from France to England. It was about seven miles into the tunnel, just over a fifth of the way through, when automatic smoke detectors warned that one of the lorries was on fire. Investigators still do not know what caused the blaze but they suspect the vehicle's braking system overheated and set one of its tyres alight. There were 32 people aboard the train at the time and all were quickly ferried to safety. Most were lorry drivers, travelling in a club car at the front of the train. When the club car and locomotive were removed from the damaged tunnel earlier this month, Eurotunnel made sure there were witnesses on hand to determine that the fire had not spread quickly enough to do any damage to either – thereby emphasising that neither the lorry drivers nor the train crew were in any real danger during the incident.

For a fascinating article with more information about the Channel Tunnel, click here.