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Chunnel blaze repairs will take until February
Peter Allen in Paris15.10.08
THE fire-damaged Channel Tunnel will not be fully operational again until at least February - with the repair already escalating towards the £500million mark.
Eurotunnel said repair teams have pledged that everything will be done within four months.
A massive blaze broke out on 11 September on a shuttle train carrying 27 lorries from Britain to France. Since then, both freight and Eurostar passenger trains from London to Paris and Brussels have been severely disrupted.
Police are still trying to establish what caused the fire. Officials suspect a truck's braking system overheated and set light to a tyre.
Ferry companies operating between Dover and Calais have since reported a surge in passenger numbers.
Although Eurostar lost a comparatively low £18million because of the fire, the work to repair the tunnel damage is proving extremely costly.
Workers are having trouble reaching the site, about seven miles from the French end of the tunnel near Calais. They have been barred from using the service tunnel between the twin running tracks because it must be kept clear for passenger evacuations.
A similar fire in November 1996 put the tunnel out of action for six months and cost some £300million to put right a figure which could easily double this time around.
"We're looking at a conservative figure of £500million," said a source.
Earlier this month the House of Lords was told that the Government should urgently review the safety of the Channel Tunnel.
Labour peer Lord Berkeley, a former public affairs manager of Eurotunnel, told the Lords: "This is the second major fire that has taken place since the tunnel opened and in both cases I believe a very large length of tunnel lining has burnt out and collapsed, which of course means the sea bed is standing up on its own."
Eurostar started operating in 1994, since when it has carried more than 81million travellers.
