Channel Tunnel The project was abandoned in May 1882, owing to British political and press campaigns asserting that a tunnel would compromise Britain's national defences. These early works were encountered more than a century later during the TML project. A 1907 film, "Tunnelling the English Channel" by pioneer filmmaker Georges Méliès, depicts King Edward VII and President Armand Fallières dreaming of building a tunnel under the English Channel. In 1919, during the Paris Peace Conference, the British prime minister, David Lloyd George, repeatedly brought up the idea of a Channel tunnel as a way of reassuring France about British willingness to defend
2008 Channel Tunnel fire 2008 Channel Tunnel fire The 2008 Channel Tunnel fire occurred on 11 September 2008 in the Channel Tunnel. The incident involved a France-bound Eurotunnel Shuttle train carrying heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) and their drivers. The fire lasted for sixteen hours and reached temperatures of up to 1000 °C. Of the thirty-two people on board the train, fourteen people suffered minor injuries, including smoke inhalation and were taken to hospital. When the fire was reported, the tunnel was immediately shut to all services except emergency traffic. The undamaged south tunnel was reopened on 13 September with a freight train entering the