European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - March 22, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Burro double rally the English cd ventilation Tunnel Britain Cheriton Chalk layers France Miles source Agency Fra race Presse Magazine eur Tunnel project in jeopardy by Gregory Jensen United press International s if repeating 185 years of history there is Murk at she end of a Tunnel intended to Fink England and francs under me English Channel. One expert says problems which have come to a head recently mean it will take a Miracle now to dig the 17.5 billion Tunnel a project first proposed by Napoleon in 1802. The Anglo French consortium which holds the Tunnel franchise has jus been rocked by turbulent changes at lha lop. This july its new Board mul sell $1.12 billion Worth of shares on a Market mos reluctant o buy. Furthermore a committee of Britain s House of lords has begun considering 1,460 petitions against the Tunnel challenging everything irom he Tunnel s safety to the damage to Butterfly habitats. I do not believe the project is in danger of collapse said banker Alastair Morton 49, chosen feb. 20 As the Tunnel company s new joint chairman in a management upheaval which brought in seven new directors. Eur Tunnel the two nation group formed to build the Tunnel now has started striking Back Al English doubts about the project with newspaper ads extolling he Tunnel s Virtues. Aerial View of site near san Gatte France in Normandy when work Hen started on building Chermel Tunnel. Sunday March 22, 1987 but the now Board s Maior Campaign will be behind the scones aimed Al pension Lund managers and institutional investors who am Iho Market Lor ulv s huge share Issue openly however. The possibility is now Xung disc said thai history Wilt roped Al com and the Lund will be stillborn. Practical plans Lor an English Channel us incl acre drawn As far Back As 1851. The lust Channel Tunnel company was formed in 1872  storied twice in 1881 and Tho Early 1970s. Britain pulled out Bot Timas last year beginning All Ove again. Prime Minuter Margaret Thatcher and French president Francois Mitterrand signed a Tunnel enabling treaty. Eur Tunnel won a bitter fight Over the Type of Tunnel with its plan for a railway Only system to be built by 1393, with High frequency trains shuttling cars through 30-mile Runnals under the sea on imaginative drive on drive off carriages. But eur Tunnel Deputy chief executive and finance chief Michael Julian who resigned in mid february said he now rates its prospects of completion Al merely Well Over so percent because there Ere Olhorn rocks in the  the main Rock is Money. Thatcher end Mitterrand insisted from the outset that the giant project must be a private one. Thatcher reiterated to parliament after Julien s resignation that no government Money will be  Banks in France England and elsewhere have agreed conditionally to lend about $6 billion to dig the Tunnel. Tho condition is that eur Tunnel first must sell one billion pounds $ 1,5 billion Worth of shares. Us first phase Sale in october nearly floundered. French investors bought their allocation of the 250 million pounds �375 million equity Issue. But in Britain ii took Arm twisting by the Bank of England to persuade investors to cough up. This july s Sale of the remaining 750 million pounds s 1.12 billion looks More doubtful daily. Pension funds and insurance companies dislike sinking Money info shares that cannot pay dividends for Al least a half dozen years. Many Lund managers question the project s whole viability. The investment Community still needs to be convinced Jufen admitted. In England generally meanwhile a climate of double has been created Over the whole undersea Tunnel idea. The French see Trie Channel Tunnel As an Extension of lha ambitious network of High Speed railroads France has begun to build. The English see no comparable advantage. Parliament has debated problems of safety m she Long underwater tunnels. Conservation groups Are up in arms about damage to communities and landscape in the White Cliffs of Dover area. Experts Challenge eur Tunnel s forecasts of traffic and profits. Questions Are raised about everything from where to dump excavated Rock to enlarging London s Waterloo railway station As a Tunnel train terminus. There is a degree of disappointment that those things have Given a blurred View of the project when the project looks very Good said Andre Bernard inc French joint eur Tunnel chairman the other Day in England however the Bank of England became so concerned hat it forced the resignation of English co chairman lord Pennock on feb. 10. Within 10 Days he was followed out the door by the Best known Hoard member and by Linance chief Julien. Swiftly the eur Tunnel group named Morton As English joint chairman it strengthened its Board Wilh now High level directors a Lormer Deputy governor of the Bank of England anti Tho chief executives or chairmen of three French financial institutions two other Board members were replaced by higher ranking executives these changes gift not improve he prospects Lor the completion of inc eur Tunnel project said one English fund manager who was persuaded to buy shares in the october Sale. Thatcher however told parliament i think both the French government and this one remain enthusiastic about the project. It s one of Tho most challenging of our times. 1 Hope the finances will be forthcoming and i his generation will to Able to Rise to this challenging add Cluro " the stars and strikes Page 13