Channel Tunnel Numbers Way Up

The number of people using the Channel Tunnel increased in the first half of this year, it was announced yesterday.

More than 955,000 cars used the shuttle trains on the 30-mile Folkestone to Calais tunnel – an eight per cent rise on the January- June 2006 total.

Lorries carried on the shuttle trains increased nine per cent to 707,422, although coach traffic dipped two per cent to 32,500, Channel Tunnel company Eurotunnel said.

The number of passengers carried through the tunnel on the high- speed London to Paris and Brussels Eurostar trains rose five per cent to 3.91 million in the first half of 2007.

Non-shuttle freight rail traffic was down 14 per cent at 660,531 tonnes.

Total revenues for the first half of this year rose seven per cent to pounds 252 million.

(c) 2007 Birmingham Post; Birmingham (UK). Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.