High Speed Rail and the Channel Tunnel

The Channel Tunnel

LeShuttle Car Shuttle Trains at the French portal of the Channel Tunnel

The Channel Tunnel, also known as Eurotunnel, runs under the English Channel between Cheriton, near Folkestone in England, and Coquelles, near Calais in France. It opened to traffic in 1994.

The Tunnel is actually three parallel tunnels, two rail tunnels with a service and emergency tunnel in between. In normal operation, one rail tunnel is used by traffic in each direction, but in exceptional circumstances trains can run in either direction in either tunnel. Crossovers between the tunnels facilitate this form of operation. These are housed in giant caverns excavated below the seabed.

The tunnel carries passenger and freight rail traffic between Great Britain and continental Europe, and also a service of shuttle trains conveying road vehicles between terminals at each end of the Tunnel.

• Getlink owns and operates the tunnel
• LeShuttle operates the shuttle services for lorries, cars, caravans and coaches
• Eurostar operates frequent daily passenger services between London, Paris and Brussels, and occasional services to destinations further afield
• Europorte Channel operates through freight trains

High Speed One

Eurostar trains at St Pancras

When Eurostar passenger services commenced, they operated over existing railways in England between the Channel Tunnel portal and London Waterloo station. This route was subject to many speed restrictions and frequent pathing conflicts with other services.

A completely new high speed railway was constructed to connect the Channel Tunnel with central London. The first section of this Channel Tunnel Rail Link opened in 2003, considerably shortening journey times but still involving a slow and tortuous approach to Waterloo station.

In 2007, the second phase of the new railway opened, giving direct access to a superbly refurbished St Pancras station with its impressive Victorian trainshed. The completed line, known as High Speed One, has also carried high speed domestic passenger trains since 2009, and international freight traffic since 2012. In 2025, the owning company changed its trading name to London St.Pancras Highspeed.

As part of the refurbishment of St Pancras Station, the former Midland Grand Hotel has been restored to use as prestige apartments and the luxury St Pancras London Hotel.

High Speed Two

In 2009, the Department for Transport published a report announcing a study into a new high speed rail line serving the Midlands and North of England. The results of the study were published in 2010, and in January 2012 the Goverment approved legislation to allow planning work to commence. The following schematic is taken from the Department for Transport report:

An Act of Parliament authorizing the construction of Phase 1 was passed by the House of Commons in 2016. This line, known as High Speed Two, will run from London to Birmingham, with a connection north from Birmingham to the West Coast Main Line in the vicinity of Lichfield. Further phases, including northern branches to Manchester and Leeds, a connection to Heathrow Airport, and a connection to High Speed one, have all been shelved for the time being.