3511 x 2332 px | 29,7 x 19,7 cm | 11,7 x 7,8 inches | 300dpi
Date de la prise de vue:
10 octobre 1998
Lieu:
Medway Crossing, Kent, UK.
Informations supplémentaires:
Cette image peut avoir des imperfections car il s’agit d’une image historique ou de reportage.
UK Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott is the politician most closely associated with the Channel Tunnel Rail Link project and, many believe, the man but for whom the Link might never have been built. Back in 1998, John Prescott said the time had come to stop talking and start digging and his rescue of the ailing private project is considered to be the outstanding legacy of his political career. The £5.2 billion Channel Tunnel Rail Link (now High Speed One) was built between 1998-2007 and partly funded by the European Union, it forms a section of the Trans European Rail Network. It is basically a French-style high-speed rail line linking London with the Channel Tunnel, the Eurostar trains were developed on proven technology from the French TGV high-speed system. Stations on the CTRL are the existing Ashford International and new stations at Ebbsfleet and Stratford. The line ends at the rebuilt St. Pancras. Fourteen new tunnels were constructed, the longest being the London Tunnel which is 10.5km long from Ripple Lane to Stratford, after which the line briefly comes to the surface at Stratford Station. Five huge shafts of 17.15m diameter ventilate the twin bore, single-track tunnels and provide emergency access and evacuation points. The line passes in tunnel under the River Thames and crosses the M25 at Thurrock. For the Thames crossing (a 3km twin-bore tunnel), the line drops 1 in 40 down under the river and then climbs 1 in 40 up, curving at the same time. The CTRL then negotiates the M25 motorway, going under the southbound and over the northbound carriageway. Lengthy loops at two places along the route allow trains to be overtaken so freight and faster domestic trains can be mixed with 300 kph Eurostar high-speed services. In total, the new line took 9 years to build and comprises 109kms of new track, 152 new bridges, 3 viaducts, 14 new tunnels with a total length of 26kms, 2 new and 2 refurbished stations and the project created 8000 new jobs.
