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Channel Tunnel marks 30th anniversary

Reuters A yellow fronted train emerges from a tunnel with the words Euro Tunnel emblazoned in red, blue and black on the wall behind itReuters

The Channel Tunnel is celebrating 30 years since it was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II.

The 31-mile (50 km) long structure, opened on 6 May 1994, connecting Folkestone in Kent, with Calais, northern France, for the first time.

GetLink, which runs the Eurotunnel passenger shuttle, said about 480 million passengers had used the service since it opened.

It described the anniversary as "remarkable".

Speaking ahead of the anniversary, John Keefe, from GetLink, said: "Thirty years ago, the Channel Tunnel was considered to be the project of the century.

"It was seen as a real game-changer in terms of travel and transport - very futuristic with the latest technology."

GetLink said each year the service carried:

  • An average of 10 million passengers on LeShuttle
  • A further 11 million passengers via Eurostar services
  • Four million dogs
Getty/Tim Graham President Mitterrand in a blue suit and burgundy tie stands beside Queen Elizabeth in a red dress coat and hat as they cut a ceremonial ribbon at the opening of the Channel TunnelGetty/Tim Graham
On 6 May 1994, French President Francois Mitterrand and Queen Elizabeth II jointly opened the Channel Tunnel

More than 13,000 workers from both France and England worked on the project, which took six years to build.

In May 2022, the service began working in the energy sector, commissioning a high voltage interconnector linking the electricity between the England and France.

Mr Keefe said: "It enables the UK to sell its sustainable wind-generated energy into the European market and, at times of need, to bring nuclear energy, so low carbon energy, from the EU into the UK."

Eurotunnel said it was "paving the way for an increasingly carbon-free future".

'Gorillas and tigers'

BBC/ Jo Burn A middle-aged woman with shoulder length blonde hair wears a blue jumper with stars on it and smiles at the camera in front of a board of archive photographs of the Channel Tunnel BBC/ Jo Burn
Joanne Tanton has worked for Eurotunnel for 28 years, along with her parents and husband

Joanne Tanton has worked for Eurotunnel for 28 years.

"It is a family affair in that I started working here and then my mum started a few weeks later in the same department.

"Dad then got fed up of our "shop-talk" at home and he joined as well."

Speaking to BBC Radio Kent about her first trip through the tunnel, Mrs Tanton said: "I think it was just a shock that it was real, we talked about it and we were trained about how it worked but to actually drive a car onto a train was mind-blowing."

These days she works in a team handling group crossings and "exceptional animal transportation", and said she had seen "gorillas, tigers and a bear, and a raccoon, travel through the tunnel".

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