Eurotunnel

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Eurotunnel logo

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. However, passenger numbers are around one-third of the original projections.

The tunnel cost around £10bn, over double its original estimate of £4.9bn to build^[1]. Heavily indebted, the company has been struggling with the interest on the £10bn loan that has been taken to construct the tunnel. Eurotunnel's current debts are around £6.2bn and its profits cannot 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.

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

[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.^{[citation needed]}

In July 2006, shareholders voted on a deal which would see half the debt swapped in exchange for 87% of the equity^[2][3]. However, this plan failed and, on 2 August 2006 the company was placed into bankruptcy protection by a French court for six months.^[4]

[edit] May 2007 bankruptcy aversion

In an effort to avert the continued bankruptcy of the Eurotunnel company, shareholders have approved the cut of debts from £6bn to £2.84bn. A new company will be created called Groupe Eurotunnel. Major investors will trade their shares for a stake in the new company. The new Group Eurotunnel will receive a loan of £2.84bn from major investment banks such as Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs and Citigroup.^[5]

[edit] Locomotives

[edit] Diesel

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

[edit] Electric

Electric locomotives operate vehicle shuttles.

• Eurotunnel Class 9
• British Rail Class 92 - for use by freight subsidiary Europorte 2

[edit] References

[edit] See also

• Cost overrun
• High-speed rail in Europe

[edit] External links

• Eurotunnel

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