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 Freight
services by lorry on 'Le Shuttle', pictured left, were introduced on
19th May 1994.
The 'Le Shuttle' locomotives weigh approximately 2100 tonnes and can
carry about 150 cars on specially built double-decked wagons or a
smaller number of buses (from Dec 94), coaches and heavy goods vehicles
on single-deck wagons.
The locomotives, which are the most powerful in Britain, were built by
companies in England and Switzerland.
 The
high speed 'Eurostar' train service, pictured right, was introduced in
November 1994. Foot passengers can board the express train at London
Waterloo, Paris Gare de Nord and Brussels Midi.
The 'Eurostar' service also serves Ashford in Kent, Lille and Calais-Frethun
in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais. The Class 373 locomotive can reach speeds of
upto 186 mph and takes 3 hours to travel from London to Paris.
The 'Eurostar' train services is owned and operated by European
Passenger Services which is a consortium of British Railways, SNCF
(French National Railway) and SNCB (Belgium National Railway).
Now that the UK is linked with the European mainland, more and more
freight services are using the Channel Tunnel.
The opening of the tunnel has given freight operators an ideal
opportunity to transport goods directly to France, Germany and the rest
of Europe.
UK Rail Freight operators have made large investments in the UK to make
available locomotives, rolling stock and goods terminals.
More information about the Channel Tunnel is available from:
www.eurotunnel.com or from 'Eurotunnel, The Illustrated Journey', by
Jeremy Wilson and Jerome Spick.
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