European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 21, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                The c h u n n e l e  linking continent to . Tunnel workers celebrate the completion of the initial drilling phase at Folkestone England in late 1990. By Nancy l Torner . Bureau soon it will be possible to Cross the English Channel without having to get your feet wet % up to now the Only Way to get to and from the continent has been by ferry hovercraft and air plane. However the Long awaited eur Tunnel which joins Folkestone England to Calais France will allow people for the first time to travel under rather than Over the water. An official opening Date for the Tunnel has been postponed several times since its original projected Start up Date of May 1993 because of such things As construction contract disputes and Tunnel operators no longer Are releasing proposed opening dates to the Public. Company officials said however that the system still must undergo rigorous safety tests to obtain a certificate to operate from the Channel Tunnel safety authority and that the system is not expected to open to regular vehicle traffic before september the Tunnel is designed for train traffic Only which will carry freight and passenger vehicles from one Side of the Channel to the other said Gail Flett a Public relations representative for eur Tunnel. The High Speed train called be shuttle will run 24 hours a Day every Day of the year and during Peak demand times it will be Able to carry a maximum of 180 cars or 120 cars and 12 coaches per trip. ". O / crossing the Channel from Highway to Highway is expected to take just Over an hour during which about 35 minutes will be spent in the Tunnel Flett said. Ferry Crossings take Between two and 2vi hours from Motorway to Motorway and hovercrafts take More than an hour. Currently there Are no provisions for carrying foot passengers through the eur Tunnel. Future plans Call for adding passenger cars but a Start up Date has not been set yet according to a representative of euro Star a private firm that will provide the service. The eur Tunnel s terminal in the United kingdom is off the m20 at Junction 11a, about 95 Miles Southeast of the Center of London the French terminal is off the a16 at Junction 13, about 110 Miles West of Brussels Belgium and about 150 Miles North of Paris. Itis not necessary to Purchase tickets in Advance although it is possible to do so either from be shuttle ticket offices or a travel agent. However Possession of an Advance ticket will not Reserve a place on a particular continued on Page 8 s4s do Ukso a lockup in the Folkestone visitors Center shows How cars will be tunnelled onto rail cars for the subterranean Channel crossing. April 21, 1994 stripes Magazine 7