FRANCE/UNITED KINGDOM: "LE SHUTTLE" TRAIN SERVICE THROUGH THE CHANNEL TUNNEL GETS OFF TO A TROUBLE-FREE START

Record ID: 337871

  • Title: FRANCE/UNITED KINGDOM: "LE SHUTTLE" TRAIN SERVICE THROUGH THE CHANNEL TUNNEL GETS OFF TO A TROUBLE-FREE START
  • Date: 22nd December 1994
  • Summary: CALAIS, FRANCE/ FOLKESTONE, UNITED KINGDOM (DECEMBER 22, 1994) (RTV - AVAILABLE ALL) CALAIS, FRANCE 1. GV CAR AT TOLL BOOTH 0.03 2. CU PEOPLE IN CAR 0.07 3. GV OFFICIAL IN BOOTH GIVING DIRECTIONS 0.15 4. CU DEPARTURE SIGN 0.18 5. GVS CUSTOMS OFFICIALS CHECK CAR (2 SHOTS) 0.24 6. GVS CARS DOWN RAMP AND INTO TRAIN (2 SHOTS) 0.31 7. GVS CARS DRIVING THROUGH TRAIN (2 SHOTS0 0.40 8. GV DOORS CLOSING IN FRONT OF CAR 0.46 9. GV PASSENGER ASLEEP INSIDE CAR 0.52 10. CU PAN CHILDREN INSIDE CAR 0.58 11. CU POSTER ON WALL SHOWING LAYOUT OF TRAIN 1.02 FOLKESTONE, UNITED KINGDOM 12. GVS CARS DRIVE OFF TRAIN AS OFFICIAL WAVES (3 SHOTS) 1.21 13. GVS STALLED CAR IS PUSHED DOWN TRAIN BY OFFICIALS 1.35 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
  • Embargoed: 6th January 1995 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: CALAIS, FRANCE/ FOLKESTONE, UNITED KINGDOM
  • City:
  • Country: United Kingdom
  • Reuters ID: LVA4TURRJPL3KTNTAMFMI0NZK8MK
  • Story Text: The new "Le Shuttle" train service running passengers and their cars through the Channel Tunnel between Britain and France got off to a trouble-free start on Thursday (December 22), tunnel operator Eurotunnel SA/Plc said.

    The first train left full from its British coastal terminal at Folkestone at 1008 GMT for the 35-minute trip under the sea and arrived on time at Calais in France, said a Eurotunnel spokeswoman.

    Others will be leaving every hour between 0800 GMT and 2000 GMT each day until the service starts running round the clock in January with the frequency increasing to four trains an hour in April. "Le Shuttle" is the last of the various passenger and freight services to get rolling and raises the stakes in the battle between the undersea trains and their ferry rivals.

    Eurotunnel got its operating licence last week and announced fares ranging from 49 pounds (76 United States dollars (USD) for a one-day return, 136 pounds (211 USD) for a standard return, with a five-day return for 75 pounds (116 USD).

    Those fares apply until the end of March and are valid for a car with an unlimited number of passengers.

    The 51-kilometre (30 mile) tunnel should have opened in the summer of 1993 but delays in construction and commissioning the highly complex system forced one postponement after another.

    The Eurostar trains which speed between Paris, Brussels and London through the tunnel in times offering tough competition to airlines began in mid-November.

    The launch of the Eurostar service, which is provided by the national railways of Britain, France and Belgium, did little to improve the chequered history of the tunnel when the train taking the media broke down on the first London-to-Paris trip.

    The tunnel has cost 10 billion pounds (15.5 billion USD), double original estimates, saddling Eurotunnel with debts of around 8 billion pounds (12.4 billion USD).

    One car on the train broke down and had to be pushed off by Shuttle workers but the train itself made the 35 minute journey on time.


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