Fascinating facts about the quickest route to Europe
Did you know? Fascinating facts about the quickest route* to Europe
- The Channel Tunnel is the longest undersea tunnel in the world at 38km long
- 4.9 million cubic metres of chalk was excavated from the tunnel during construction, and this was used to enlarge the British Isles by 30 hectares to create Samphire Hoe Country Park.
- There are actually three tunnels: two running tunnels carry Eurotunnel freight and passenger vehicle trains and Eurostar, and a smaller service tunnel in the middle.
- The first ever passenger on Le Shuttle was HRH Queen Elizabeth II on May 6 1994.
- Tour de France champion Chris Froome was the first person to ride a bicycle through the Channel Tunnel in 2014. It took him approximately 55 minutes to complete the 31 mile journey from Folkestone to Calais.
- BBC One’s Children in Need Rickshaw Challenge followed in 2018, travelling the opposite direction, and taking slightly longer – they were in the tunnel for over 8 hours!
- Anglo-French crime drama series ‘The Tunnel’ was filmed inside the Channel Tunnel for Sky Atlantic.
- Since it opened, the equivalent of six times the population of the UK has crossed through the Tunnel.
- More than 80 million vehicles have boarded Le Shuttle since it opened (cars, trucks, motorcycles, coaches, camper vans and more)
- Around 1 million e-commerce express delivery parcels travel via Eurotunnel each day.
- A Eurotunnel passenger shuttle train is almost 800m long, the same as seven football pitches.
- If all 9 Eurotunnel passenger shuttles were parked end to end, they’d stretch for over 4 miles!
- 26% of goods traded between the UK and continental Europe go through the Channel Tunnel.
- The Channel Tunnel is one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World, alongside the Empire State Building and the Panama Canal.
- The Channel Tunnel connected the island of Great Britain with the European mainland by land for the first time since the Ice Age, about 8,000 years ago.
- Eurotunnel Le Shuttle has transported over 62 million cars since its inception in 1994.
- Eurotunnel Le Shuttle has transported over 3.5m pets since 2000, an average of 156k a year! They have also transported all kinds of weird and wonderful animals – red pandas, sloths, orangutans, snow leopards, pythons, jellyfish, bears, wolves and many more!
- The busiest day of 2022 so far was 19th February, on which 8,500 passenger vehicles were transported on Le Shuttle.
- 92% of Eurotunnel pet customers who completed a recent survey intend to take their pooch to Europe this year
- Travelling with Eurotunnel emits 73 x less C02 than travelling by ferry.
*in terms of start to finish journey – 35 minutes
Book your getaway with Eurotunnel Le Shuttle from as little as:
- £79 per vehicle (up to 9 passengers) each way for a Short Stay Saver ticket (valid for 5 calendar days)
- £97 per vehicle (up to 9 passengers) for a Standard ticket (for any duration). One way
- £269 per vehicle (up to 9 passengers) for a Flexiplus ticket, turn up any time and get on the next available train, and access to the club lounge (for any duration). One way
- Take your pet from just £22 each way
For more information please visit www.eurotunnel.com