May 6th 1994 - Channel Tunnel Opens A tunnel between France and the United Kingdom was 192 years in
May 6th 1994 - Channel Tunnel Opens A tunnel between France and the United Kingdom was 192 years in the making before the Channel Tunnel officially opened in 1994. French engineer Albert Mathieu first proposed a tunnel under the English Channel in 1802. Yes, he thought it would be good for horse drawn coaches and not high speed trains, but his head was in the right place. By 1876 an Anglo-French protocol was created for a cross-Channel railway tunnel and by 1881 a French contractor was doing exploratory work on both sides of the Channel. Test tunnels began being constructed but the project was abandoned by 1882 because the English feared for their national security. The idea was brought up again in 1919 and 1929. Nothing came of it. By 1955 the national defense arguments were irrelevant since World War II showed how important and powerful an air force could be. The third (or fourth at this point) geological survey was conducted in 1964 and 1965. Though construction began in 1974, the English stopped in 1975 due to inflating costs. Finally in 1981 British PM Margret Thatcher decided to leave the governments out of it, and open it up to the free market. A proposal by Channel Tunnel Group/France Manche (two companies working in conjunction with one another, one French and one English) was approved in 1987. In 1988 tunneling began on both sides. In a ceremony held on May 6th Queen Elizabeth II and French President Francois Mitterant each departed from their home country, traveled through the tunnel on trains going moving towards each other and met in the middle. The Channel Tunnel, affectionally known as the Chunnel, moved 20 Million people between France and the UK in 2013 alone. And The American Society of Civil Engineers elected the the tunnel as one of the seven modern Wonders of the World. -- source link
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