DAMALS podcast, episode ten: the almost never-ending story of the Eurotunnel

On January 20, 1986, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and French President François Mitterand announced the construction of a tunnel under the English Channel. A sensation – with around 150 years of history.

It was now to become a railway tunnel, and it was: Judging by the discussions about such a project on the British side, which had flared up again and again over many decades, it was now very fast: as early as November 1994, eight years later, trains crossed the Tunnel. They transport goods (or trucks) and passengers. The major project, praised by engineers around the world, had become more and more expensive during the construction phase – in the end, the real costs had roughly doubled compared to the planning to around 15 billion euros. The central point, however, was the political signal emanating from the “Eurotunnel”: With this, the British acknowledged their increasingly close ties with Europe – a particularly interesting aspect from a post-Brexit perspective.

For the first time at the beginning of the 19th century and then intensively since the 1850s, such a connection had been discussed again and again: Engineers on both sides of the canal designed various scenarios up to very specific projects: a stagecoach connection with changing horses on an artificial island, soon to be a tube tunnel , even bridges. But time and again the idea was rejected at crucial political points because there were great fears on the British side that there would be too close ties. Not only was the question of whether something of the uniqueness of the British and their special island world would be lost if such a transport connection existed, but serious military strategic concerns ultimately prevented a breakthrough in favor of rapprochement with Europe for a long time.

Even before the Second World War, however, it was clear that possible future attacks on Great Britain were to be expected essentially from the air – which then happened with the Battle of Britain – and not through a vulnerable tube or bridge. But the course of history still held various twists and turns before the visions finally became reality.

And here is the podcast:

Recent Articles

Related Stories