Tunnels

The Channel Tunnel

Construction begins			1988
A pilot hole, two inches (50 mm) in diameter, breaks through without ceremony			30 October 1990
Englishman Graham Fagg and Frenchman Phillippe Cozette break through the service tunnel, and shake hands with the media watching			1 December 1990
Official opening, by the Queen and President François Mitterand			6 May 1994
Passenger service begins			14 November 1994
Cost of construction			£4.56 billion
Number of workers who lost their lives	British		8
	French		2
Length of the Channel Tunnel			31 miles (50km)
Length under the sea			24 miles (39 km)

Other

The first successful tunnel under a navigable river – built by the Brunels as a foot tunnel – opened in 1843		Thames Tunnel
The world's longest rail or road tunnel (54 km, 33.5 miles, opened in 1988); under the Tsugaru Strait, connecting Honshu and Hokkaido (Japan)		Seikan (Rail) Tunnel

For more details of the world's longest tunnels, see Mileages.

The oldest of the three road tunnels under the Thames in London: opened in 1897, a second bore opened in 1967 (the original one now carries northbound traffic, the second one southbound)		Blackwall Tunnel
Road tunnel linking Italy to Austria through the Alps		Brenner Tunnel
US rail tunnel, opened in 1929, named after the mountain range that it passes under; provides a rail link to Seattle		Cascade Tunnel
Links Cheriton and Sangatte (san–gat)		Channel Tunnel
The world's longest international tunnel, and the third longest railway tunnel (not including 'metros'); also has the longest underwater section
Carries northbound M25 traffic under the Thames in East London; originally opened in 1963, a second tunnel was opened in 1980		Dartford Tunnel
Opened in 1871, linking Italy and France in the Western Alps – the only Alpine road link from Italy to France while the Mont Blanc tunnel was closed		Frejus Tunnel
Swiss rail tunnel: opened in 2016 as the world's longest and deepest traffic tunnel (35.5 miles, 57km)		Gotthard Base Tunnel
Switzerland: opened 1980 as the world's longest road tunnel (10 miles, 16km) – scene of a tragic fire in 2001 when 11 people died		Gotthard Tunnel
Succeeded the Gotthard as the world's longest road tunnel, on opening in 2000 (Norway) – 15.2 miles, 24.5 km		Laerdal Tunnel
Rail link between Bellinzona and Lugano, Switzerland – opened in 1913; a new tunnel (22 miles, 35 km) opened in 2007		Lotschberg Tunnel
The Kingsway and Queensway road tunnels, opened in 1934 and 1971 respectively, run under the river		Mersey
7.5 mile (12 km) tunnel under the Alps (from Pelerines, near Chamonix, to Entreves, near Courmayeur), closed for three years 1999–2002 following a fire in which 35 people died		Mont Blanc Tunnel
The westernmost (i.e. furthest upstream) of the three tunnels under the Thames, in London – completed in 1908		Rotherhithe
The world's longest under–sea tunnel (although the Channel Tunnel has a longer under–sea portion) – opened in 1988, linking Honshu and Hokkaido		Seikan Tunnel
Opened in 1906, linking Italy and Switzerland through the Alps; allowed the opening of a variant route on the Orient Express (from 1919); 12.3 miles (20km) long, the world's longest rail tunnel until 1982		Simplon Tunnel
Britain's longest, deepest and highest canal tunnel – 5,500 yards (5,029m) long – on the Huddersfield Narrow Canal, between Diggle (near Oldham) and Marsden (near Huddersfield); closed in 1943, re–opened in 2001; also the name of three railway tunnels, only one of which is still in use		Standedge Tunnel

© Haydn Thompson 2017–22