LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Channel Tunnel: Trains
built 657 days ago
As one of the first international undersea rail tunnels, the Channel Tunnel required an inventive approach to border controls, with the UK not being a member of the Schengen Agreement free-travel zone. The official border between France and the United Kingdom is marked by a stainless steel band, roughly halfway through the tunnel (the UK side is somewhat longer, because a longer part of the tunnel is under land). The British half is part of the District of Dover and the English county of Kent. As a practical matter border controls are handled at boarding or on the train. A detailed three-way treaty between the United Kingdom, France, and Belgium governs border controls, with the establishment of control zones wherein the officers of the other nation may exercise limited customs and law enforcement powers.[14] For most purposes these are at either end of the tunnel; for certain city-to-city trains the train itself represents a control zone.
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Where the tunnel emerges to the west of Castle Hill high-speed turnouts connect the tunnel tracks to the new terminal at Folkestone which houses all the services and interchange facilities for the Channel Tunnel trains. To avoid interference between incoming and outgoing trains within the terminal, the railway layout takes the form of a loop, with three arrival lines and twin departure lines initially serving ten parallel platform tracks where vehicles drive on and off the shuttles. The track layout has been designed to permit future expansion to 16 platforms. Nearly 54km of ballasted and non-ballasted track has been provided with more than 100 turnouts, including stabling and maintenance sidings.
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Section 1 is from the Channel Tunnel to Ebbsfleet, in Kent, where trains will switch onto existing tracks to Waterloo International. Construction started in October 1998 and is due for completion in Autumn 2003.
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The Channel Tunnel consists of three parallel tunnels: two primary rail tunnels, which carry trains north and south, and a smaller access tunnel. This access tunnel, which is served by narrow wheeled vehicles, is interconnected, by means of transverse passages, to the main tunnels at regular intervals. It allows maintenance workers access to the tunnel complex and provides a safe route for escape during emergencies.
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The Channel Tunnel comprises two 7.6m diameter bored running tunnels with a central 4.8m diameter service tunnel, connected at regular intervals by cross passages. The service tunnel carries the ventilation system, provides access for maintenance and acts as an emergency escape route with its own transportation system. Also connected to the running tunnels are 2m diameter pressure relief ducts which reduce aerodynamic drag from the high-speed trains.
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The channel tunnel spans under the English Channel from Cheriton, England to Folkestone, France. The tunnel is 32 miles long and is considered one of the greatest civil engineering projects of the 20th century. It has a capacity of 600 trains per day each way. There are three tunnels: two for trains and one for shuttles. If you were to shuttle from the beginning of the tunnel to the end of the tunnel it would take you 35 minutes. Each shuttle travels 80 miles per hour and can pull 120 shuttle cars.
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