Channel Tunnel facts for kids
The Channel Tunnel (or Chunnel) (French: le tunnel sous la Manche) is a long underwater tunnel between England and France that runs under the English Channel at the Strait of Dover. It is only for trains. Some of the trains in the Channel Tunnel carry freight, including automobiles. Others, like the Eurostar, carry only passengers.
The tunnel, which was once called the Eurotunnel, opened in 1994. It is 50 km (31 miles) long and its deepest point is 75 m (250 feet) beneath the surface. It connects Folkestone, Kent in the United Kingdom to Calais in northern France. This has reduced travel time between London and Paris to a little over two hours with high-speed trains.
Images for kids
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Albert Mathieu-Favier's plans for a coach service through the channel as of 1802 containing huge ventilation chimneys
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Thomé de Gamond's plan of 1856 for a cross-Channel link, with a port/airshaft on the Varne sandbank mid-Channel
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American cartoon (c. 1885) depicting fears of the Channel Tunnel: One of the strongest opponents of the Channel Tunnel, General Wolseley riding on the fleeing lion.
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One of the southern tunnel boring machines
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Class 319 EMUs ran excursions trips into the tunnel from Sandling railway station on 7 May 1994, the first passenger trains to go through the Channel Tunnel
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The Channel Tunnel exhibit at the National Railway Museum in York, England, showing the circular cross section of the tunnel with the overhead line powering a Eurostar train. Also visible is the segmented tunnel lining
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Interior of the Eurotunnel Shuttle, used to carry motor vehicles through the Channel Tunnel. These are the largest railway wagons in the world.
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The British terminal at Cheriton in west Folkestone. The terminal services shuttle trains that carry vehicles, and is linked to the M20 motorway
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The 2003 Folkestone White Horse viewed at Cheriton terminal
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Car being driven onto a shuttle carriage at the French terminal in Coquelles
See also
In Spanish: Eurotúnel para niños
