The Channel Tunnel is a roughly 50 km rail tunnel linking Folkestone, Kent, in England with Coquelles, Pas-de-Calais, near Calais in northern France. The tunnel extends beneath the English Channel at the Strait of Dover. It is the only fixed link between the island of Great Britain and the European mainland. It allows the city of London to be directly connected by train to Paris, Lille, Brussels, Amsterdam and Cologne – thanks to the Eurostar and Thalys train lines. The Channel Tunnel was officially opened in 1994. Train operation consists of shuttle trains conveying cars and coaches and other trains conveying heavy goods vehicles between the two terminals. Other trains using Getlink infrastructure are operated by the respective owners.
The idea of a tunnel under the English Channel has a long history, with the first proposal dating back to 1802, and several others following over subsequent years. The idea was discussed several times during the 20th century but only in the 1960s did dialogue between France and the UK result in a call for proposals, leading to the drafting of a convention in 1972, which gave the Channel Tunnel Group the mandate to start the technical and financial feasibility studies and the preparation of the construction works. Government-funded tunnel boring works started in 1974 but were cancelled in 1975 by the newly elected UK Government for financial reasons, including the oil crisis. The project resumed in 1981 with the formation of a joint working group to study technical and economic aspects of a fixed link. After four years of studies and discussions, the procurement procedure was initiated in 1985 under British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and French President François Mitterrand for the construction of the link as we know it today.