Eurotunnel

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Eurotunnel plc (in the UK) and Eurotunnel SA (in France) make up the Eurotunnel Group, founded in August 1986, which manages and operates the Channel Tunnel between the UK and France.

It operates the car shuttle and earns revenue on other trains (freight by EWS and SNCF and passenger service by Eurostar) passing through the tunnel. Unfortunately, passenger numbers are around one-third of the original projections.

Heavily indebted, the company has been struggling with the interest on the £10bn it has taken to construct the tunnel. The tunnel cost nearly 6 times more than expected to build and Eurotunnel's debts are around $11 billion. Its profits can not even match its interest payments. In order to deal with this, many cuts in services have been introduced with varying success and a third of the staff has been laid off.

The Eurotunnel was once expected to take nearly all business away from cross-channel ferry companies, however the increase in passengers has meant there has been enough customers for both.

As part of the original deal, Eurotunnel has had to invest in research of another two-storey road tunnel, but for cars only, as the fumes of lorries would be too much.

[edit] Chairmanship

The man who deserves the greatest credit for the completion of the Channel Tunnel is the late Sir Alastair Morton, whose dogged determination and professionalism saved the project from failure on several occasions.

[edit] Bankruptcy protection

In April 2004, a dissident shareholder group succeeded in taking control of the board. The chairman, Jacques Gounon, tried to persuade creditors to write off some £4bn of debt, with limited success.

In July 2006, shareholders voted on a deal which would see half the debt swapped in exchange for 87% of the equity. However, this plan failed and, on 2 August 2006 the company was placed in to bankruptcy protection by a French court for six months.^[1]

[edit] Locomotives

Diesel locomotives

• Eurotunnel Class 0001 - used to rescue failed trains
• Eurotunnel Class 0031 - diesel shunting locomotives

Electric locomotives, which operate vehicle shuttles

• Eurotunnel Class 9

[edit] References

1. ^ BBC News report, accessed 3 August 2006

[edit] External links

• BBC, June 2006: Eurotunnel faces debt restructuring opposition
• The Independent, July 2006: Eurotunnel files for bankruptcy protection

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