TRAVEL - GOING BY EUROTUNNEL

No question about it, the Channel Tunnel is now an established part of British travelling Life. Jonathan Crouch reports

These days, we're all so used to the Channel Tunnel that it's easy to forget just what an amazing engineering feat it really is.

Over 50km long with a 30km undersea section, it's the longest tunnel of its kind in the world, lying 40 meters below the seabed of the English Channel. In fact, to be accurate, we should say 'tunnels' for there are actually three, two rail tunnels through which the Eurotunnel shuttle, Eurostar, and international rail freight trains pass and a third central service tunnel. As well as providing access for maintenance crews, this tunnel has a higher air pressure level than the other two, so can act as a safe haven in the event of an accident, since it will always be free of smoke and fumes.

For the casual Continental visitor of course, the tunnel has been great news. Since the tunnel first opened in 1994, 265 million people have travelled through. In 2010 alone, over 2.1 million cars, 56,500 coaches and 1 million trucks were transported on Eurotunnel Shuttles, along with 9.5 million passengers on Eurostar services and 1.1 million tones of rail freight. As far as tourism is concerned, Eurotunnel now claims over 43% of the market for cross-Channel travel - and it's easy to see why.

For a start, going by 'chunnel' takes less than half the time it would by ferry, and t...