European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 3, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                A a Hunnell dredging up old fear britons sour on undersea link to France London apr its been described As the largest ongoing civil engineering project a must billion Dolmer link that will help revolutionize Europe a Economy and physically end Britain a historic isolation a dream bom in Napoleons Day. The a ugh unnels Between Britain and France is half dug and scheduled to open on time in three years. But the three Tunnel thoroughfare under the English Channel is almost 60 percent Over budget embroiled in a contractor dispute and scrambling for More investment Money. Hostility toward the project also is growing among britons who fear it will provide an easy conduit for ills from the continent ranging from terrorism to Rabid animals. A we will have the Money to finish the project Quot says Alastair Morton British Deputy chairman of eur Tunnel the privately owned Anglo French company overseeing the work. The a Hunnell a debut scheduled for june 15, 1993, will come six months after the 12-nation european Community formally drops remaining Trade barriers becoming a unified marketplace of 320 million Consumers. But the projects Success hinges on much More than just finishing it. While the French Are forging ahead with a High Speed rail link to their end of the Tunnel for example state owned British rail is dragging. A Britain becomes Branch line of Europe a a guardian newspaper headline declared after the government an ounce try Une 14 that it would not fund a High Speed link Between London and the British end of the Tunnel. Its not the first time the idea of a Tunnel has confronted Britain a Island identity. The British resisted an undersea Bond with the continent envisioned nearly 200 years ago by a French Engineer named Albert Mathieu. Napoleon wanted to build it but Britain warned him off. Tunnelling actually was started in subsequent efforts in 1882 and 1974, but they were scrapped. The Channel project also has been marred by eight accidental deaths on the site. The British Public demonstrates Little enthusiasm for the Channel. Random samplings elicit fears that it would import rabies terrorists invading armies a there is an attitude in France that this is a great project in the National interest. In this country the attitude to these projects tends to be the reverse Quot Morton told a recent news conference. Eur Tunnel chairman Andre Benard said the company has provided for any foreseeable problems but stressed a we always made it very Clear that this was a risk  giant Boring machines Are digging three tunnels toward each other from Folkestone England and Calais France with the first underground meeting expected in november in the service Tunnel Between the rail tunnels. Tunnelling is three months ahead of schedule on the French Side a week behind on the British. As of mid june workers had dug 53.2 of the total 91.9 Miles. Channel trains will carry passengers cars and freight Between London and Paris in about three hours roughly the time As a flight including ground Totvey and at least twice As fast As a car ferry journey. Eur Tunnel estimates that 28 million passengers and 17 percent of Britain a non Oil Trade will pass through the Tunnel in the first year. The civil aviation authority says the Tunnel should divert 5 million out of 53 million air Passen building the Channel Tunnel cwt Wum Temh in film Mons of dollars a construction train runs through a Shaft in the British end of the underwater Tunnel Between England and France. Gers annually. Shareholders last week approved the Sale of an extra $906 million Worth of Stock to existing shareholders who already have bought $1.7 billion Worth. That step could Clear the Way for a Bank syndicates approval of additional credit eur Tunnel has requested from $8.6 billion to $12 billion. Assuming Banks approve the project would have a total of about $14.6 billion in debt and equity financing. The company most recently estimated it would Cost $13.1 billion to Complete compared with the $8.3 billion initially forecast. A history dictates that that will not be the last figure we hear. But the order of magnitude of increase will slow Down Quot said Richard Hannah a transport analyst with the London investment firm us Phillips and Drew he expected the extra financing to come through. A a it a one of these situations where the More Money you put in the More you have to spend or else you re walking away from billions of pounds a a Hannah said. Eur Tunnel says it does no to expect to profit before the end of the Century and probably wont pay shareholders a dividend until 1999, four years later than envisioned. But stoc Jolders Haven to fared badly the shares first traded in no Semder 1987 at about $6, have traded recently at $8.55. The More urgent Wor a flt  a Don Huff Ries for eur Tunnel have been costs creditors and contractor feuds. In october concern about the rising Price tag drove euro Tunnel a banking Syndicate to freeze funds for three months until the company reached a truce with trans Manche link the consortium of 10 British and French contractors doing the construction Over responsibility for $1.7 billion in overruns. The problems led to euro Tunnel a second management shake up since 1987. The British governments refusal to finance a rail link has presented another big obstacle. Eur Tunnel says it can survive without a hew link. But clearly it stands to lose business if travellers Nave to Daw die through the tangled commuter network of Southern England to reach the Tunnel. A the prevailing scene hardly conveys an impression of history being made Quot commented the conservative daily Telegraph. Jimmy Knapp general Secretary of the National Union of railway men said a the decision is an unmitigated disaster for British Industry and for the British people As we approach the 1992 single Market Economy Quot British rail says it will go on studying options but a new line is not expected this Century. British industrialists say they arc worried that poor rail links will lose them Export markets. But prime minister Margaret Thatcher for whom Market forces Are a Cornerstone of policy is Adamant that she wont spend taxpayers Money on a rail link. The French government on the contrary is spending roughly $2.8 billion building 210 Miles of rail from Paris to the Tunnel with a Branch to Brussels where the dec is headquartered. Trains capable of travelling 190 Mph will link the tunnels freight and passengers to another planned High Speed system. One reason the French Are enthusiastic is that the Tunnel surfaces in one of the most depressed areas of France. On the other hand residents of Kent in England a Rural and prosperous Southeast have campaigned strenuously against having High Speed trams screaming through their Back cards