Episode 1: Channel Tunnel
How did the Channel Tunnel get built? And why has it not quite lived up to its promise?
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Show notes
Jon Worth blogs about European rail.
The opening speech is from Shakespeare’s Richard II.
I am grateful to Terry Gourvish, the author of The Official History of the Channel Tunnel (Routledge) for insights into the long process of getting the tunnel built.
How John Bull Lost London is available at the Internet Archive. I also drew on The Churchill Project, BNP Paribas’ Origins of the Channel Tunnel 1957-87, Peter Keeling’s essay at Public Domain Review, material from the National Archives and INA footage from 1975. Politicians’ speeches are from Hansard.
The 1998 Eurostar ad features Antoine de Caunes.
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