Channel tunnel

The Channel Tunnel is a 50.5-kilometre undersea rail tunnel linking Folkestone, Kent, in the United Kingdom with Pas-de-Calais, near Calais in northern France beneath the English Channel at the Strait of Dover. At its lowest point, it is 75 m deep. At 37.9 kilometres, the Channel Tunnel possesses the longest undersea portion of any tunnel in the world.

Working from both the English side and the French side of the Channel, eleven tunnel boring machines cut through chalk marl to construct two rail tunnels and a service tunnel. The vehicle shuttle terminals are connected to the English and French motorways .

Tunnelling started in 1988, and the tunnel began operating in 1994. In 1985 prices, the total construction cost was £4.650 billion (equivalent to £11 billion today), an 80% cost overrun. At the peak of construction 15,000 people were employed with daily expenditure over £3 million. Ten workers, eight of them British, were killed during construction between 1987 and 1993, most in the first few months of boring.

There are three communication systems in the tunnel: concession radio (CR) for mobile vehicles and personnel within Eurotunnel's Concession (terminals, tunnels, coastal shafts); track-to-train radio (TTR) for secure speech and data between trains and the railway control centre; Shuttle internal radio (SIR) for communication between shuttle crew and to passengers over car radios.

All tunnel services run on electricity, shared equally from English and French sources. Power is delivered to the locomotives via an overhead line (catenary) at 25 kV 50 Hz.

A large proportion of the railway south of London uses a 750 V DC third rail to deliver electrical power, but since the opening of High Speed 1 there is no need to use the third rail system for any part of the Eurostar journey. High Speed 1, the tunnel itself and the route to Paris has power provided via overhead catenary at 25 kV 50 Hz. The railways on "classic" lines in Belgium are also electrified by overhead catenaries, but at 3000 V DC.

A cab signalling system is used that gives information directly to train drivers on a display. There is a train protection system that stops the train if the speed differs from that indicated on the in-cab display. The in-cab signalling is interconnected with the signalling on the high-speed lines either side, allowing trains to enter and exit the tunnel system without stopping. The maximum allowed speed is 160 km/h.

The Channel Tunnel network and terminal areas use a very large loading gauge to allow drive-in shuttle rolling stock. Through freight traffic is allowed up to European loading gauge if onward travel is via High Speed 1.

The tunnel carries high-speed Eurostar passenger trains, Eurotunnel Shuttle roll-on/roll-off vehicle transport – the largest in the world – and international rail freight trains. The tunnel connects end-to-end with the LGV Nord and High Speed 1 high-speed railway lines.

Total cross-tunnel passenger traffic volumes peaked at 18.4 million in 1998, then dropped to 14.9 million in 2003, from then rising again to 17.0 million in 2010.

At the time of the decision about building the tunnel, 15.9 million passengers were predicted for Eurostar trains in the opening year. In 1995, the first full year, actual numbers were a little over 2.9 million, growing to 7.1 million in 2000, then dropping again to 6.3 million in 2003. Eurostar was also limited by the lack of a high-speed connection on the British side. After the completion of High Speed 1 to London in two stages in 2003 and 2007, traffic increased. In 2008, Eurostar carried 9,113,371 passengers in cross-Channel-Tunnel traffic, a 10% increase over the previous year, despite traffic limitations due to the 2008 Channel Tunnel fire. Eurostar passenger numbers continued to increase, reaching 9,528,558 in 2010.

Ex.10. Go back to the text and match the beginning of the sentences in A with their endings in B.

A	B
1. The Channel Tunnel is 75 m deep …	a. is25 kV 50 Hz.
2. English side and the French side of the Channel …	b. was an 80% cost overrun.
3. The terminals are …	c. a 750 V DC third rail.
4. When the tunnel began operating there …	d. to allow drive-in shuttle rolling stock.
5. Power delivered to the locomotives …	e. in 1998, then dropped in 2003
6. The railway south of London uses …	f. constructed two rail tunnels and a service tunnel.
7. The tunnel and the route to Paris has power	g. high-speed passenger trains, roll-on/roll-off vehicle transport and freight trains.
8. The Channel Tunnel network and terminal areas use …	h. provided via overhead catenary.
9. Total cross-tunnel passenger traffic volumes peaked …	i. at its lowest point.
10. The tunnel carries …	g. connected to the English and French motorways .

Ex.11. Go back to the text and choose the right question to the answer.

1.50.5-kilometre.

a) How big is the tunnel? b) How long is the tunnel? c) How wide is the tunnel?

2. Eleven.

a) Who made the tunnel? b) What kind of equipment was used? c) How many machines were used?

3. £4.650 billion.

a) How much did the British side spend? b) How much did it cost to construct the tunnel? c) How much did the French side spend?

4. Three.

a) How many communication systems are used in the tunnel? b) How many service tunnels are there? c) How many people were killed during the construction?

5. Via an overhead line.

a) What source of power is used? b) What sort of power is used? c) How is power delivered?

6. To give information directly to train drivers.

a) How train drivers receive information? b) Who receives information? c) What for is the cab signaling used?

7. The LGV Nord and High Speed 1.

a) What lines does the Channel Tunnel connect? b) What are the sections of the Channel Tunnel? c) What terminals does the Channel Tunnel connect?

8. In 1998.

a) What was the peak of the passenger traffic volumes? b) When was the peak of the passenger traffic volumes? c) When was the drop of the passenger traffic volumes?

9. In 2008.

a) Why were there traffic limitations? b) Why was there a decrease in passenger traffic volumes? c) When did the fire in the Tunnel happen?

10. To allow drive-in shuttle rolling stock.

a) Why is the electrical tractive power used? b) Why is the overhead catenary used? c) Why is a very large loading gauge used?

Ex.12. Complete the following sentences using the text.

1. The Channel Tunnel links ….

2. At its lowest point, the Channel Tunnel is …..

3. Eleven tunnel boring machines cut through chalk marl to ….

4. Daily expenditure on people working in the Tunnel was ….

5. Shuttle internal radio is used for ….

6. Power is delivered to the locomotives at ….

7. A large proportion of the railway south of London uses ….

8. The Tunnel carries ….

9. In 1995actual numbers were …

10. In 2003 ….

Ex.13. Translate the following text from Russian into English using the active vocabulary of the unit.

Евротоннель – железнодорожный двухпутный тоннель протяженностью около 51 км; 39 км проходят под проливом Ла-Манш. Евротоннель соединяет континентальную Европу с Великобританией. Благодаря тоннелю стало возможно добраться из Парижа в Лондон всего за 2 часа 15 минут; в самом тоннеле поезда находятся от 20 до 35 минут. Евротоннель является третьим по протяженности железнодорожным тоннелем в мире. Евротоннель состоит из трёх тоннелей — двух основных, имеющих рельсовый путь для поездов, следующих на север и юг, и одного небольшого служебного тоннеля. Служебный тоннель через каждые 375 метров имеет переходы, соединяющие его с основными. Он обеспечивает доступ обслуживающего персонала к основным тоннелям и аварийную эвакуацию пассажиров в случае опасности. Всего на Евротоннель было потрачено около 10 млрд. фунтов стерлингов (с учётом инфляции). При этом проектная стоимость была превышена на 80 %. 6 мая 1994 года Евротоннель был открыт руководителями стран-участниц – королевой Великобритании и президентом Франции.

Additional text 1

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