Wednesday 1st October
>> 3pm (GMT) – Situation update
Today, Wednesday 1 October at 3pm (GMT), Eurotunnel removed the first third of the Truck Shuttle damaged in the incident in September from interval 6 of the North rail tunnel.
As observers were able to witness, the locomotive, the club car in which the HGV drivers travel and the first wagons are intact.
Monday 29 September
>> 7:45am (GMT) – Situation update
Eurotunnel has brought interval four of the Channel Tunnel, the middle section of the North Tunnel, back into service.
Following the restart of services in the South Tunnel on 13 September, then the re introduction of the first part of the North Tunnel on 22 September, five out of the six intervals which make up the Channel Tunnel are now operational.
This good news will enable an increase in traffic, notably by stepping up departure frequency (traffic will now leave in “flights” every 90 minutes instead of every 2 hours) and by raising capacity, from 170 trains per 24 hour period to 210, from 1 October 2008.
With between 55 and 58 paths provided per day, according to its requirements, almost 100% of normal capacity will be available to Eurostar. Eurostar is planning a modified timetable in order to best utilize the capacity provided by Eurotunnel.
Eurotunnel Shuttle Services:
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The number of Truck Shuttles will increase to 98 per day during the week and 34 per day at weekends, the equivalent to a transport capacity of approximately 17,000 trucks per week;
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Passenger Shuttles will increase to 30 per day during the week and 52 per day at weekends, equivalent to a transport capacity of approximately 41,000 cars per week.
Rail freight trains will use the Tunnel at night.
Monday 22 September
>> 3:15am (GMT) – Situation update
Bringing a 17km long section of the North Tunnel back into service this morning, 22 September, at 3:15am enables Eurotunnel to increase the number of trains running through the Tunnel to almost 170 per day.
Operating the whole South Tunnel, Interval 2 of the North Tunnel and the UK “Cross over” gives an approximately 50% improvement in the service Eurotunnel currently offers, bringing it to 44 Eurostars, 90 Truck Shuttles, 29 Passenger Shuttles and a varying number of rail freight trains per day.
Technical staff are working round the clock to bring a second 17km long section of the North Tunnel back into service in the next few days. This will further improve the quality of service available.
Since 13 September, Eurotunnel has given priority to customers who had already made reservations. The increase in the number of Passenger Shuttles will enable Eurotunnel once more to provide a regular service and customers are therefore advised that reservations are now available for departures planned after 5 October 2008.
Thursday 18 September
>> 7:30am (GMT) – Situation update
Currently, the traffic for all rail services - Eurotunnel’s Truck and Passenger Shuttles, Eurostar passenger trains and rail freight trains - is running in the South Tunnel (indicated in green on the plan below).
As the next step, Eurotunnel aims to recover interval 2, and then interval 4 (indicated in orange on the plan below) for commercial operations.
The section (interval 6) damaged by the incident in the North Tunnel is shown in red on this plan.
Plan of the Channel Tunnel railway installations
Sunday 14 September 2008
>> 10am (BST) – Situation update
Eurotunnel Passenger Shuttle services restarted early this morning, Sunday 14 September. The first car carrying shuttle left Folkestone at 0618 local time, followed by a second from Coquelles at 0803 CET. In order to facilitate the restart of Passenger Shuttle services they will, initially, only be available to customers who already have a reservation for travel.
Less than three days after the fire, all Channel Tunnel services are once again operational:
- 80 Truck and Passenger Shuttles,
- 24 Eurostars between London and Paris,
- 12 Eurostars between London and Brussels and,
- on average, six rail freight trains every 24 hours.
For further information on departures, go to www.eurotunnel.com
Saturday 13 September 2008
>> 2pm (BST) – Situation update
The progressive resuming of commercial services in the Channel Tunnel planned for the 13 and 14 September (total per day and in both directions) consists of crossings for 80 Eurotunnel Truck Shuttles between Folkestone and Coquelles, 24 Eurostar trains between London and Paris, 12 Eurostar between London and Bruxelles and about 7 rail freight trains.
The Eurotunnel Passenger Shuttle service remains temporarily suspended.
>> 8:32am (BST) – Situation update
Eurostar 9004 has just crossed through the Channel Tunnel and is heading for the Paris-Nord station.
>> 7:20am (BST) – Situation update
A first Eurostar train which left St Pancras International station just before 7:00am (BST), is heading for the Channel Tunnel.
9004 Eurostar is expected to arrive at the English portal of the Tunnel at 7:57am (BST).
Friday 12 September 2008
>> 11:53pm (BST) - Situation update
Channel Tunnel traffic has resumes using the South Tunnel.
The first Truck Shuttle which left the Folkestone Terminal with 27 vehicles on board arrived on time in Coquelles.
Earlier, two freight trains ran across the Channel Tunnel in the same direction.
>> 8pm (BST) - Situation update
The technical verifications currently being carried out by Eurotunnel teams confirm that the South Tunnel can be opened again for service.
It is intended that a test train will then run through the entire South Tunnel at 100km/h.
These remaining controls should result in the reopening of the South Tunnel with traffic being resumed progressively in close collaboration with Eurostar.
>> 12pm (BST) - Situation update
The binational plan that hands responsability for operations to the Public Authorities has been lifted by the "Préfet" of the Pas-de-Calais.
Eurotunnel takes over the infrastructure and its technicians have juste started on-site inspections of the South Tunnel which is necessary before resuming commercial service.
>> 11am (BST) – Situation update
At 10:30am (BST), all remaining fire spots were extinguished by the fire crews.
>> 10am (BST) – Situation update
The fire which had been burning in the North tunnel of the Channel Tunnel was brought under control at 07:00 (BST), and the main seat of the fire extinguished thanks to the combined efforts of the Kent and Pas-de-Calais fire brigades.Eurotunnel teams will now begin carrying out safety inspections in the South tunnel, which was unaffected by the incident.
All the Company's efforts are now focused on resuming limited operations as soon as possible.
>> 7:30am (BST) - Press release: Channel Tunnel traffic suspended
A fire broke out just before 3pm (BST) on Thursday 11 September on board a Eurotunnel Shuttle carrying trucks in the North Running Tunnel under the Channel. The Channel Tunnel consists of three tunnels, two for rail traffic and a third for maintenance and, when the need arises, for evacuation. The train was travelling from England to France and was approximately 11km from the French tunnel exit.
Eurotunnel’s security systems, on board the Shuttle and in the Tunnel, immediately detected the problem. The fire service based close to the French portal was quickly able to assess the situation and take the necessary action to get the fire under control.
Thirty-two people who were on board the shuttle were quickly evacuated into Eurotunnel’s Service Tunnel.
Three other trains using the Tunnel at the time were immediately redirected back to England.
The South Tunnel was not affected by the incident. As soon as possible it will undergo a detailed inspection before being brought back into service.
The Channel Tunnel has been designed and operates in accordance with the highest levels of safety. Every year, a major binational exercise is organised to test the safety procedures.
Eurotunnel considers at this stage that the financial impact of this incident will be limited and its operational losses are covered by insurance.
France’s Home Secretary, Mme Michèle Alliot-Marie was on the scene at Coquelles with the ‘Préfet’ of the Pas-de-Calais region, Rémi Caron, and praised the skill and professionalism of the emergency service and Eurotunnel teams who dealt with the situation quickly and effectively.
Jacques Gounon, Chairman and Chief Executive of Eurotunnel, declared “I would like to thank our staff for their swift actions to protect our customers. Eurotunnel is conscious of the disruption caused by this situation and will do all it can to restore the best possible service as soon as this can be done. Eurotunnel is well-equipped to deal with any operational incident and has demonstrated its abilities to respond effectively”.