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Eurotunnel Shuttle (previously known as Le Shuttle) is a shuttle service between Calais/Coquelles in France and Folkestone in the UK. It conveys road vehicles through the Channel Tunnel. Passenger and Freight vehicles are carried in separate shuttle trains.
The service is owned and operated by Eurotunnel, the Channel Tunnel owners.
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Passenger vehicle shuttles
Passenger vehicles are carried in closed wagons. Half of the train (the rear rake) carries cars and other low vehicles in double-deck wagons, with the first and last two carriages of the section containing the access ramps. Coaches, buses and other high vehicles travel in the single-deck rake at the front of the train. In busy times cars can also use this section.
Driver and passengers may leave their vehicles and walk along the train.
Eurotunnel occasionally run trains at 'half full', closing the top deck to reduce costs.
Toilets are provided in every third carriage in the double-deck section, and in the first and last carriages in the single-deck section.
Cyclists can use the Eurotunnel Shuttle to travel between Great Britain and France. This is achieved through the bicycles being housed in specially-adapted trailers and the cyclists travelling in a minibus.
Freight vehicle shuttles
Lorries are carried on semi-open wagons, with a separate passenger carriage at the front of the train for the drivers.
Operation
The carriages used for the shuttle have a larger Loading gauge than either British or French railways. They cannot travel outside the tunnel and the two terminals at Coquelles and Folkestone. Each terminal is provided with a loop of track. The train leaves the tunnel, goes round the loop, and stops at the unloading / loading platform. It is then unloaded, and re-loaded with a new set of vehicles. It then starts the return journey through the tunnel.
The loop at Folkestone is clockwise, the loop at Coquelles is anti-clockwise. This evens the wear on the wheels of the shuttle engines and vehicles, as each set (left or right) spends only half the time as the outer edge of the line.
For more information on the locomotives used to operate this service, see Eurotunnel Class 9.
Safety regulations
Safety regulations require two locomotives for all passenger trains through the tunnel (Shuttle and Eurostar), one at the front and one at the back, and both must be manned so that the train can be reversed out in case of a blockage. Plus there are attendants. In the case of the freight vehicle shuttles these ride in the passenger carriage at the front of the train with the lorry drivers; in the passenger vehicle shuttles they patrol the train.
Passenger vehicle carriages are sealed off with fire-proof doors, and are pressurised. These doors are closed once all vehicles are loaded. They include smaller pedestrian doors which may be opened when the train is in motion to move from one carriage to the next, but then re-close automatically.
Gallery
 A vehicle entering a shuttle wagon at the French terminal at Coquelles. |
 Interior of a Eurotunnel Shuttle passenger vehicle train |
 Interior of single deck train with carriage doors open |
 Interior of single deck train with carriage doors closed |
 View of the inside of a single-deck Eurotunnel Shuttle train with the carriage doors closed |
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External links
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This French railway-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
Wikipedia content modification information:
- This page was last modified on 6 January 2009, at 09:40.
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