Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2024/03/19/the-forgotten-1802-plan-for-an-underwater-brick-tunnel-to-france.html
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Geopolitics sank this horse-powered version of the Chunnel, but today Eurostar trains run daily between Calais and Kent…
…at below capacity because of euro-geopolitics. Brexit and border controls mean that UK stations cannot cope with the numbers of passengers the service can serve.
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Which also drives up prices because demand is still high.
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I remember a brief period in the 90s when we actually used that horrible portmanteau. But since then, I have only heard Americans use it.
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Even before Brexit the airport-like security measures meant it wasn’t as convenient to use as a normal train
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I took the Eurostar in 2000, before all the security took off. I was travelling with a 10" / 250 mm chef’s knife in my backpack. No problem, it was obviously a kitchen tool and not any kind of weapon.
It was a different time.
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And the late 1800s plan was scuppered because the British thought the French would use it to invade. (Bits of the remains of the initial excavations for that one can still be seen.)
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Forgotten? Not amongst civil engineers who are into tunnelling, I assure you!
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Perhaps not as convenient as a normal train, but it never was. London and Manchester are both outside the Schengen zone and in the same country - no passport checks needed. With London outside Schengen and Paris inside, there was always a formal, if cursory passport check. (Has this person got a passport, is it forged, etc).
But the hugely increased load/demand post-Brexit for passport stamping and counting whether someone spent more than 90 out of 180 days in the EU has meant that, basically, the systems, processes and personnel assigned to this border farce can simply not cope with the Eurostar’s capacity.
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If you ever wondered what to make of those press releases announcing future long distance services through the Channel Tunnel, Jon Worth has got you covered.
[This is a very in-depth analysis on the obstacles any operator intending to rival Eurostar currently faces.]
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Napoleon later abandoned this idea for an even more ambitious “waterslide”-based transit system.
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