The first structures that resemble today's tunnels, mankind began to build in the Stone Age and over the past years has achieved some success in this matter. We have selected the most notable of the existing ones: get acquainted.
The first known underwater tunnel was built in ancient Babylon under the Euphrates more than two thousand years before the birth of Christ. Technologies have changed since that time, but the essence has not: tunnels are still the most convenient way of dividing traffic flows vertically and overcoming various natural and man-made obstacles in the movement of people and goods. But not only them.
Longest in the world: Delaware Aqueduct (New York State, USA)
The honorary title of the longest operating tunnel in the world today is held by a structure not intended for the movement of people and goods. It transports about 4.9 million cubic meters from the Rondout Reservoir in the Catskills to New York City every day. fresh water, that is, about half of what the 20 millionth megalopolis spends over the same period. The length of the tunnel is 137 kilometers with a diameter of 4.1 meters, and it runs at a depth of up to 300 m.It was built at a time that was not the most successful for the United States and the entire Northern Hemisphere: the work started in 1939 and ended only in 1944.
Pumping stations are used to pump water underground and rivers. Those located in New York, like this one, look stylish, somewhat reminiscent of the Palladian villas.
Delaware aqueduct (Delaware Aqueduct) although it supplies the most big city USA with water for seven decades, nevertheless, it is not without problems: it is leaking. As a result of leaks, at least 140 thousand cubic meters are released into the soil. m daily, which volume would be enough to provide about half a million people with clean drinking water. And it would be fine if the water just went into the ground! No, it heats buildings and fields and harms nature. To solve the problem, the City Department of Defense environment New York City is building a parallel tunnel to replace the hardest hit section of the aqueduct. The cost of repairing leaks is approaching one and a half billion dollars.
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SMART Universal Tunnel (Kuala Lumpur City, Malaysia) One of the options for using tunnels is to combat flooding by diverting water. In the capital of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur decided to build a universal two-level tunnel SMART (Stormwater Management And Road Tunnel), which can be used for both vehicles and water during heavy rains.
Normally, the tunnel works like a car tunnel and serves to bypass the city center (on the upper level). During heavy rains, water from the city storm sewer is diverted to the lower level. And if there is a very serious flood threat, then the tunnel is closed for car traffic and both levels serve for drainage. When the danger passes, the car part can be returned to service within 48 hours. Only since the beginning of 2007, when it was opened SMARTUntil the summer of 2010, the tunnel saved the center of Kuala Lumpur from seven severe floods. |
Longest train: Gotthard Base Tunnel (Switzerland)
Opening ceremony of the Gotthard Base Tunnel (Gotthard-Basistunnel) in Switzerland took place on June 1, 2016. Thus, almost a quarter-century ended (the first construction work began in 1993), the history of the construction of not only the longest (57 km from the portal to the portal), but also the deepest (up to 2450 meters of rock rises above the tunnel) railway tunnel in the world. And it cannot be said that the Gotthard Pass, which, roughly speaking, separating Italy from Germany, could not have been overcome in any other way: apart from the picturesque winding path through the pass on the surface, before the opening of the GBT it was possible to use an old railway tunnel (built in 1882) or a road (1980), but to get to them, both trains and motorists had to overcome many kilometers of dangerous mountain roads with dozens of sharp turns, which greatly complicated the task.
The northern portal of the Gotthard Base Tunnel is located near the town of Erstfeld at an altitude of 460 m above sea level. In this photo you can see that, in fact, we are talking about two parallel electrified tunnels with a diameter of 8.83-9.58 m. By the way, the basic tunnel is called because it was laid at the base of the mountain range, whose name is
Now it became possible to get from Zurich to Milan in just 2 hours 50 minutes instead of the previous 3 hours 40 minutes, and on a high-speed train following in the tunnel at a speed of up to 250 km / h (during the tests, ICE trains even accelerated to 275 km / h) ... In total, there are about 65 such trains per day - they carry about 10 thousand passengers per day, and the increase in traffic was 30% in the first 8 months of the tunnel's operation. But still more important is the freight traffic - up to 260 freight trains can be passed through the tunnel per day. It was for the sake of transferring the transportation of goods from road to rail that everything was started. The construction cost about 10 billion Swiss francs and nine human lives - that's how many of the 3,500 people who built the tunnel died during the construction.
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Natural Tunnel (Virginia, USA) To lay railway tracks or a highway in the thickness of the earth, humanity does not have to hammer the rock for a long time and stubbornly - you can use what nature itself has built over millions of years.
This was done at the end of the 19th century in the American state of Virginia, laying a railway through a natural cave made by groundwater in a layer of limestone and dolomite. Nature has obtained an underground structure open from both ends, 255 meters long, up to 61 meters wide and up to 24 meters high. This is a real wonder of the world, the European settlers decided in North America... This is a real tunnel - it's a sin not to use it, their industrial descendants decided a couple of hundred years later, and they let freight and passenger trains through the cave. |
Longest submarine: Eurotunnel (under the English Channel between France and Great Britain)
Even if this tunnel (also known as Channel Tunnel and Le tunnel sous la manche) would not be the current world record holder for the length of the underwater part, it should have been included in our selection - for symbolism. Opened in 1994, it has embodied almost two centuries (the first plans for such a structure appeared in 1802) Europe's dream of connecting the British Isles and the continent with a land line. It was built for a relatively short time, only six years, and paid an astronomical amount, even by modern times - about £ 9 billion (that is, $ 21 billion at the then exchange rate), which turned out to be more than the planned £ 5.5 billion. In any case, the project has been the most expensive infrastructure project in history for quite a long time.
On the continent, the tunnel begins in the Calais region. This photo shows how the railway tracks, after the turning circle, turn to the right and go towards the sea. There's a portal to Britain
As a result, we got two parallel tunnels with a diameter of 7.6 m, 30 meters apart for trains and a 4.8-meter service tunnel between them. The length of the railway section is 50 km, 37.9 of which run under the bottom of the English Channel at a depth of 75 meters (or 115 meters below sea level).
On both sides, the tunnel is connected to the high-speed rail network, thus connecting European railways with the British. Trains run between London on one side and Paris, Brussels and Lille on the other. If you prefer to travel around Europe by car, the tunnel will help you too: you will not depend on the weather and suffer from rolling, crossing the English Channel by ferry. Instead, you can roll your car into Eurotonnel shuttle - 775-meter road train, which in 35 minutes will overcome the strait through the tunnel. True, you will not go far on it: only to a special terminal in Nord-Pas-de-Calais or Kent: the parameters of the train are such that it is excellent for the fast and safe transportation of cars and trucks, but the train simply cannot go further.
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Between two continents: Marmaray tunnel (Istanbul city, Turkey) In terms of symbolism and significance, the Eurotunnel has a competitor - the Marmaray tunnel (Marmaray), which runs under the bottom of the Bosphorus and connects the European and Asian parts of Istanbul, that is, in a sense, two continents: a 1.4-kilometer tunnel, or rather two parallel single-track tunnels for metro trains, built as part of a project to modernize the transport system of Istanbul, runs under the bottom the Bosphorus Strait at a depth of 60 meters in an earthquake-prone area and, moreover, in muddy soil and is able to survive an earthquake of magnitude up to 7.0.
While the tunnel was being built, the remains of the harbor of Theodosius, the main port of ancient Constantinople, with a mass of ancient and medieval artifacts, including the remains of Byzantine galleys discovered for the first time, and then traces of the first human settlement on the territory of modern Istanbul, was found in the ground on the European coast of the strait, which is supposed , arose around the 7th millennium BC. |
Deepest: Eiksund Tunnel (Norway)
Speaking about the tunnels laid under the seabed, one cannot but mention Eiksundtunnelen... In comparison with the previous ones, it is very small - 7.8 km long - and, moreover, it is intended for the movement of vehicles and connects not two largest European countries, but small villages on the islands in the western Norwegian province of Mere og Rumsdal with the continent. Its uniqueness is that it is laid at a depth of 287 meters below sea level, and from the bottom of the Sturfjord to the tunnel in some places - up to 50 meters of rock.
The tunnel opening ceremony took place on February 23, 2008 - five years after the start of construction. The latter, by the way, was cheaper than planned - an amazing deal for infrastructure projects
The Eiksund tunnel is only a part of the road complex, which also includes two smaller tunnels and a 405-meter bridge. The total population in the villages served by the complex is about 40 thousand people.
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Tunnels high in the mountains The task of the tunnel, as it is commonly thought, is to get deep underground. However, it is possible to get underground even at high altitudes. This is done, for example, by one of the highest mountain tunnels in the world - the Eisenhower automobile tunnel (or, officially, the Eisenhower and Edwin Johnson Memorial Tunnel, Eisenhower-Edwin C. Johnson Memorial Tunnel) 2.72 km long, pierced under the American Continental Divide in the Rocky Mountains in Colorado, USA, at an altitude of 3357-3401 m (west and east entrances, respectively) to facilitate road traffic I-70.
The rival of the Eisenhower Tunnel in the fight for the world record title is the railway tunnel under the Jungfrau Mountain in the Swiss Alps. It, together with underground stations and an open area, was completed by 1912 after 16 years of hard work. The tunnel is 7 km long (and the entire line is 9.3 km), the maximum altitude above sea level is 3454 m with an altitude difference of 1400 m. It is intended for pleasure trips along a narrow-gauge cogwheel railway line to the picturesque Jungfraujoch pass. It is noteworthy that the record for the number of passengers per day, recorded on June 1, 2000, was 8148 people. No wonder: the cost of a ticket for an adult starts at 113 francs (about 7,000 rubles) - compare with the free Eisenhower tunnel, through which about 30 thousand cars pass a day. |
Longest road: Lerdal tunnel (Norway)
Another record-breaking tunnel was built in Norway - Lerdalsky (Lærdalstunnelen)24.51 kilometers long, by far the longest road tunnel in the world. It is located about five hours by car along the winding roads from Eiksundskoye, it connects the communes of Aurland and Lerdal in the province of Sogn og Fjordane and is part of the highway between the two major cities countries - Oslo and Bergen, the introduction of which in operation relieved the Norwegians from the need to overcome the route between cities by ferry or along mountain roads, especially inhospitable in winter and in bad weather.
While the tunnel itself has conventional lighting with lamps whitedividing it into cave sections are highlighted in blue and yellow. This lighting is designed to mimic dawn skies and is designed to reduce driver fatigue.
Although the distance of about 25 km may not seem so great (only 20 minutes, subject to the speed limit), the creators of the tunnel made sure that the drivers overcome it as smoothly as possible - in particular, so that they do not fall asleep while driving and do not experience a fit of claustrophobia. For this, the tunnel is divided by three large caves, where you can stop or make a U-turn. It is noteworthy that in the same province they seriously thought about the construction of another tunnel - the Stad navigable tunnel, designed so that ships, including ferries, now going around the peninsula of the same name, could easily overcome one of the most dangerous sections of the sea off the coast of Western Norway. The construction of the tunnel, which is about 2 km long, 49 m high, 36 m wide and 12 m deep, will start construction this year or next, and will be completed in 2023. When and if the tunnel is built, "Around the World" will certainly tell about it - stay with us.
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The longest in Russia Most long tunnel in Russia, although it is much shorter in length than those described above, it is no less impressive: 15 kilometers 343 meters through the granite of the Severo-Muisky ridge in Buryatia have been punched for 26 years. This is not surprising: the builders had to fight with quicksands under pressure up to 34 atmospheres, faults and other geological difficulties, as well as with a harsh climate, radon and background radiation and a lack of funding - mining work began in 1977, and the first train passed through the tunnel only in 2001, thus, the project survived both the crisis and the collapse of the USSR, and the crisis of the early 1990s. The commissioning of the tunnel made it possible to establish non-stop movement of heavy freight trains along the BAM, which previously had to be disbanded and carried out in parts through a bypass along steep avalanche routes and viaducts. Travel time was reduced on the section from two hours to 20-25 minutes. |
Photo: Jim.henderson / Wikimedia Commons, Emran Kassim / Flickr, Zacharie Grossen / Wikimedia Commons, Virginia State Parks / Wikimedia Commons, Philippe TURPIN / Getty Images, T.Müller / Wikimedia Commons, Patrick Pelster / Wikimedia Commons, Svein-Magne-Magne / Wikimedia Commons
The tunnels are a real miracle of architecture, which dates back to quite ancient times. As a rule, people used to use underground tunnels for shelter from enemies and secret passages from one place to another. Today, tunnels are being built for completely different purposes - they allow you to shorten the route of a train or car, and also connect different countries. Moreover, there are such underground structures that are of considerable size. So what are the world's longest tunnels, and where are they located?
Seikan Railway Tunnel
This tunnel, located in Japan and connecting the islands of Honshu and Hokkaido, is now the longest in the world - it is 53,900 meters long. It is even difficult to imagine how long it will take to make a walking trip from the beginning to the end of the Seikan Tunnel. Moreover, it is considered the longest not only among the railway, but also among the underwater tunnels. The world's longest tunnel began its work in 1988. Approximately $ 3.6 billion was spent on its construction.
Nowadays, this tunnel is not used as often as it was before. The reason for this is the great popularity of airlines, which also allow people to save time and money. But we can say with confidence that the construction of this structure has led to the fact that Japan is still a strong and united country. It is worth noting that the Seikan is the longest in the world until the Gotthard Tunnel, which is being built in Switzerland, is launched.
Railway Gotthard Tunnel
The structure will be the longest tunnel in the world, with a length of 57,000 meters. The construction of this structure has been underway for 14 years and it is planned that trains will begin moving along it from 2017. It was laid under the Saint Gotthard mountain pass, from which the name of the tunnel actually came. Its main purpose is to communicate across the Alps by rail.
The Gotthard Tunnel is designed in such a way that trains move along it in the opposite direction. It is assumed that the movement of high-speed trains through this tunnel will pass at a speed of 250 km / h, and freight trains will move at a speed of at least 160 km / h. In the meantime, this tunnel is just getting ready to become the longest in the world, let's consider more tunnels that are impressive in their length.
The length of this tunnel, located under the English Channel and connecting the UK (Folkestone) and France (Calais), is 50,500 meters. Its construction was started back in 1802, but it was stopped due to the political situation and hesitation on the British side. But in 1988, the construction of the structure was resumed, and in 1994 the railway tunnel began to operate. The largest train in the world that carries cars and is called "Eurotunnel Shuttle" moves through the tunnel.
Although the Eurotunnel is less than the longest in the world Seikan tunnel in total length, it has a much larger underwater section - about 39,000 meters, which is 14,700 meters longer than the Seikan underwater section. Although the Eurotunnel has a special role in creating a connection between Britain and the mainland, it is considered unprofitable from an economic point of view.
Mountain Tunnel Lötschberg
It is the longest overland tunnel, which is quite young compared to other similar structures, since it was built in 2006 and began to be used in 2007. It took only two years to build it, thanks to innovative technologiesthat were used in this case.
This Swiss tunnel is 34,700 meters long. Both passenger and freight trains move along it. This tunnel allows tourists to take the shortest route to the Welsh thermal spas - in this way over 20,000 Swiss residents visit these spas every week.
Automobile Lerdal Tunnel
This tunnel, located in Norway, is the longest road tunnel. Its length is equal to 24,500 meters. This tunnel was developed according to modern standards. It consists of four parts, each of which is illuminated in a special way - the effect of natural lighting is provided (if it is dawn outside, then in the tunnel there will also be imitation of morning lighting, and if it is sunset, then lighting here is similar to twilight light). On the positive side, there is no need to pay for the passage through the tunnel - it is absolutely free.
Humanity can boast of great achievements. One of them is tunnels. These are truly miracles of architecture. Their development and improvement took place and will always happen.
Who and when invented the tunnels is unknown. It is believed that such structures originate from caves, which people in ancient times used as dwellings.
The modern role of buildings has changed somewhat. In the civilized period, tunnels are used as secret passages, underground plan. They were often used for cover from enemies.
In modern times, the role of tunnels has changed significantly. Now it is the main medium for high-speed movement. The structure of structures has a standard scheme in different countries. But the length and arrangement of such tunnels can differ significantly.
1. Basic Gotthard Tunnel
Its length is 57.00 km. It is often referred to as the Gotthard Base Tunnel. It is used as the main railway structure in Switzerland. Its length is the maximum in the whole world.
If you include all the passages (pedestrian and service), its length will be about 152 km. The southern end of the structure is located near the village of Bodio, the northern one - near the village of Erstfed. The structure was originally created for railway needs. With the help of such a tunnel, it was possible to create a message across the Alps.
At the moment, this message is closed - the opening of the structure is planned for the end of 2017. In general, the construction of the tunnel through the Alps took as long as 14 years.
2. Seikan
The length of the structure is almost 54 meters (53.9 meters). The longest underwater tunnel in the world. Built to connect the two Japanese islands of Hokkaido and Honshu.
In translation, its name means "Majestic spectacle" and it really is. The structure has an underwater part (about 23.3 km), since the tunnel runs under the Sangay Strait.
3. Eurotunnel, 49.94 km long
The structure is laid under the English Channel. It connects Folkestone (Kent from Great Britain) and Calais (part of France).
The tunnel is not the longest in the world, but it has the longest underwater part (as much as 39 km, which is 14.7 km more than that of Seikan). The tunnel was officially opened in 1994. Since then, it has worked reliably every day, transporting millions of people across the channel.
4. Lechberg, 34.70 km long
Representative of the longest overland tunnel. Located on the Bern-Milan line, in Switzerland. The design was created in the middle of the 20th century. She managed to connect the Bern and Interlaken area with the Brig and Zermatt area.
5. Guadaramma Tunnel, 28, 37 km long
Ranked 5th. This is a Spanish railway project that was created in the early 2000s. Its official opening took place in December 2007.
Since that time, people have received a unique opportunity to get from Madrid to Valladolid and back without any problems. Received the title of the longest and most sought-after device in all of Spain.
6. Iwate-Ichinohe Tunnel, the duration of which is 25.81 km.
This is an example of an underground railway structure in Japan. It connects two distant cities - Tokyo and Aomori. The opening of the structure took place in 2002. The tunnel has received the title of the longest underground railway construction in the world.
7. Hakkoda, 26.5 km long
It belongs to the longest Japanese land structures. The length of its railway section is almost 27 km.
8. Lerdal tunnel
The length of this structure is about 24.5 km. It is rightfully called the longest automobile tunnel. Built in 5 years, opened in 2000. It connects two distant municipalities - Lerdal and Aurland, which are located in Norway.
The tunnel is part of the European highway between Oslo and Bergen. The mountains through which the structure passes can sometimes reach 1600 meters and more.
The design feature is the presence of 3 large-sized artificial caves (grottoes). They are located approximately at equal distance from each other. Thus, the entire tunnel is divided into 4 approximately equal sections. This is done on purpose. In this way, it was possible to minimize the stress of the drivers.
Long-term driving in monotonous conditions has been proven to tire the driver. It is also convenient to turn around in such grottoes and stop for rest.
The special design lighting of the grottoes, the special arrangement of the track make the trip through the tunnel more exciting. The duration of the movement in the structure is no more than 20 minutes.
9. Daishimizu Tunnel, 22.20 km long
Japanese tunnel created for the Niigata-Tokyo rail link. All construction work was completed in 1978. It went down in history not only as the longest, but also the most tragic tunnel. The fact is that during its construction, a huge fire occurred in the structure.
As a result, 16 workers died.
Thanks to the opening of the structure, the time spent on the road was reduced by about an hour and a half. In addition, the construction of the tunnel made it possible to find a spring drinking water... Thanks to this, the production of natural drinking water began near the tunnel.
10. Wushaoling Tunnel, length - 21.05 km
A one-of-a-kind double railway tunnel that opened in 2006. Located in northwest China. Created to connect the two ends of the Gansu province.
The design reduced the distance between Dakaigou and Longgou by 30.5 km. Received the title of the longest railway structure in all of China. Able to receive trains at a speed of 160 km / h. The maximum depth of the structure is 1100 m.
The idea of \u200b\u200bmankind is the construction of the longest, most grandiosely comfortable tunnel of the future. This is the Japan-Korea Tunnel. Its length is expected to be about 187 km. The structure is supposed to connect Japan and South Korea. Negotiations on the start of construction work have already begun, but they have been going on for a long time.
Image copyright AFP Image caption This photo was taken on October 15, 2010. Workers stand at a huge tunnel shield, with the help of which the tunnel was built
The world's longest and deepest Gotthard railway tunnel opens in Switzerland today. It took almost 20 years and more than $ 12 billion to build it.
Its permanent operation will begin in December.
Swiss authorities say the tunnel will revolutionize the transport of goods in Europe. Goods, which are now carried by millions of trucks every year, will be transported by rail.
This technological miracle will provide faster and easier communication between southern and northern Europe. The tunnel will speed up the movement of goods and people and reduce environmental pollution from vehicle exhaust.
The Swiss authorities predict that 260 freight trains will be able to pass through the tunnel per day. 20 million passengers a year will be able to use the new highway. Travel time from Zurich to Milan will be reduced to 2 hours 50 minutes.
Conquering the Alps as part of self-identification
Until now, the longest railway tunnel in the world was considered to be the Japanese Seikan with a length of 53.9 km with an underwater fragment of 23.3 km.
Image copyright Reuters Image caption The Gotthard Tunnel runs under the Alps - the maximum height of the mountains above the tunnel is 2300 metersThe Gotthard Tunnel is also ahead of the length of the Channel Tunnel, which is 50.5 km long.
It is not only the longest tunnel in the world, it is also the deepest railway tunnel in existence: the maximum height of the mountains above the tunnel is 2300 meters. Without a powerful ventilation system, the temperature in it would reach +40 degrees.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President François Hollande will be present at the opening ceremony of the tunnel in Switzerland along with Swiss officials.
"This is part of the Swiss identity," Reuters quoted Peter Fueglistaler, head of the Swiss Federal Department of Transport, as quoted by Reuters.
“For us, conquering the Alps is like exploring the oceans for the Dutch,” he said.
Tunnel cost: $ 12 billion and 9 lives
The project, which cost more than $ 12 billion to build, was approved by the Swiss in a 1992 referendum.
Image copyright EPA Image caption 20 million passengers a year will be able to use the new highwayDuring the construction of the tunnel, engineers excavated 73 different types of rocks: some were as hard as granite, others as soft as sugar. Nine workers died during construction.
Completed on time and on budget, the Gotthard Tunnel will become the main railway linking Rotterdam in the Netherlands with italian Genoa... The tunnel, consisting of two parallel tunnels, runs from the municipality of Bodio in southern Switzerland to the municipality of Erstfeld in the center of the country.
From December, when permanent operation of the tunnel begins, the journey from Zurich to Milan will take two hours and forty minutes - an hour less than usual.
The money to finance the project was taken from budgetary revenues from fuel taxes and value added taxes, and another part of the funds was a state loan, which must be paid over 10 years.
Representatives of the Swiss bank Credit Suisse said that among the economic benefits of the Gotthard Tunnel were simplified transportation of goods and an influx of tourists.
The construction of a tunnel that would connect mainland Europe and island Great Britain was dreamed of back in the early 19th century. But it was only in 1994 that the grandiose plan to build the world's longest underwater railway tunnel was realized. But, strange as it may seem, the joy of building its creators quickly gave way to financial disappointment: the tunnel brought only losses.
The project for the construction of a railway tunnel under the English Channel, or Eurotunnel, as it is also called, started in 1973. But due to lack of funding, direct construction began only in 1987. The idea was unique in terms of the complexity of the design itself and the technical implementation of subsea drilling.
To implement the railway communication, it was decided to build two tunnels, through which trains will run, and one tunnel for maintenance and access in case of emergency situations. In this case, the drilling of the tunnels had to take place at a depth of more than 50 meters under the bottom of the English Channel. This was due to the fact that it is at this depth that the Cretaceous deposits, represented mainly by sandstone, lie. It was easier and faster to drill through them, so the tunnel itself is not strictly horizontal, but repeats the bend of the sedimentary layer.
Drilling of the passes was carried out simultaneously from two shores: British and French. The diameter of the central tunnel, which is intended for the maintenance of the line, is 4.8 m, and the diameters of the main lines, where the railway tracks pass, are 7.6 m. All walls of the tunnels are reinforced with 45 cm thick concrete. The service tunnel is connected to the main tracks by regular crossings through every 370 meters.
The route of the tunnel was laid using high-precision satellite equipment, and the direction of drilling was set using a laser beam. However, when the French and British builders met, it turned out that the error was about 30 centimeters in the horizontal direction, and the vertical deviations were insignificant.
In May 1994, the Eurotunnel was inaugurated, and Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain and French President Francois Mitterrand personally attended the festive event. The tunnel under the English Channel, which connects French Calais with British Folkestone, is used by passenger and freight trains, as well as shuttle trains carrying trucks and cars. The length of the tunnel is 50.5 kilometers, and 39 kilometers of track are located directly under the water. Trains cover the English Channel in 20-35 minutes (depending on the brand of the train) from average speed 160 km / h
But, despite the importance of the Eurotunnel and its obvious need, the grandiose Franco-British project turned out to be unprofitable. This was influenced by the policy of lowering prices by alternative carriers, which was carried out immediately after the opening of the tunnel, and emergencies that occurred more than once underground. And although the company operating the tunnel periodically announces annual profits, it does not bring stable income to its owners.