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[quote]QUOTE: Originally posted by Murphy Siding Looking at the links to shuttle equipment above, and the discussion that follows, it leads me to wonder if the tunnel is just a hi-tech/hi-priced cross channel ferry? I had envisioned it as sort of an extention of the British rail system, but maybe not? Thanks [/quote] It's a bit of both - the tunnel replaced the old train ferry operations with a system that could take straight through services rather than having to split the train up and load it onto a ship. However, through rail freight has had major problems with stowaways on board, so every train has to be checked very thoroughly on arrival to ensure nobody has attempted to sneak in clinging to a brake rod. I'm not sure if the situation has improved much (in terms of time taken to transit the tunnel) though they have added a lot of extra tools to their armoury (such as heat seeking cameras, X ray machines that can take a whole truck, a lot of CCTV, etc). As far as passenger and truck traffic is concerned, the tunnel is just another competitor for the same business as the ferries. They won't allow some vehicles onto the shuttles (I think cars fitted with an LPG conversion aren't allowed, and for a while they wouldn't let you on with bottled gas on board). so the ferries are able to take some business that way, but mainly they fight it out on price. It's popular with those who for whatever reason (seasickness, fear of water, fear of ships) won't use the ferries as well. Personally I'd rather spend an hour or two sitting in the sea air and watching the traffic than riding through a tunnel (the Channel is one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world, so there's plenty to look at).
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