On 6 May 2019, Eurotunnel celebrated its 25th anniversary and commends the genius of the designers, the doggedness of the builders, the dedication of the original shareholders and the motivation of the teams to prepare for the future. These have been 25 years of challenges, pride and sharing, states the company in a release.
-) More than 430 million passengers have travelled through the Channel Tunnel on board the Eurotunnel Shuttles and high-speed Eurostar trains, the equivalent of three times the populations of the United Kingdom and France combined.
-) Almost 410 million tonnes of goods have been carried through the Tunnel mainly on board the Eurotunnel Truck Shuttles but also on the freight trains of the Railway Operators.
-) More than 86 million vehicles have been transported in 25 years, of which 58 million cars, coaches, camper-vans and motorcycles by Le Shuttle and 28 million trucks by Le Shuttle Freight.
-) More than 2.6 million pets (dogs and cats) have travelled on board Le Shuttle since the opening of the service in February 2000.
The Channel Tunnel is the longest undersea tunnel in the world: its section under the sea is 38 kilometer long. It is actually composed of three tunnels, each 50 kilometer long, bored at an average 40 meter below the sea bed. They link Folkestone (Kent) to Coquelles (Pas-de-Calais). Eurotunnel Shuttles, Eurostar and freight trains runs on two monodirectional single-track tunnels. They are connected every 375 meters by cross-passages to a service tunnel, a road tunnel for maintenance operations and eventually emergency rescue.
