Eurotunnel

:"This article is about the Eurotunnel company.":"Not to be confused with the Channel Tunnel describing the underground infrastructures."

Eurotunnel plc (in the UK) and Eurotunnel SA (in France) make up the Eurotunnel Group, founded in August 1986, which manages and operates the Channel Tunnel between the UK and France.

It operates the car shuttle and earns revenue on other trains (freight by EWS and SNCF and passenger service by Eurostar) passing through the tunnel. However, passenger numbers are around one-third of the original projections.

History

Construction

The tunnel cost around £10bn, over double its original estimate of £4.9bn to build [ [http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0521009464&id=RAV5P50UjEC&pg=PA1&lpg=PA1&dq=Megaprojects+and+Risk:+An+Anatomy+of+Ambition&sig=tyt4h0TwEnf7NDKcG1WY8Qw2VQI Bent Flyvbjerg, Nils Bruzelius, and Werner Rothengatter, Megaprojects and Risk: An Anatomy of Ambition (Cambridge University Press, 2003). ISBN 0521009464] ] . Heavily indebted, the company has been struggling with the interest on the £10bn loan that has been taken to construct the tunnel. In order to deal with this, many cuts in services have been introduced with varying success and a third of the staff have been laid off.The construction of the tunnel was completed in 1993. The Eurotunnel was once expected to take nearly all business away from cross-channel ferry companies.

As part of the original deal, Eurotunnel has had to invest in research into another two-storey road tunnel, but for cars only, as the fumes of other vehicles would be too high in volume.

Bankruptcy protection

In April 2004, a dissident shareholder group succeeded in taking control of the board. The chairman, Jacques Gounon, tried to persuade creditors to write off some £4bn of debt, with limited success.Fact|date=February 2007

In July 2006, shareholders voted on a deal which would see half the debt swapped in exchange for 87% of the equity [cite news | title=Eurotunnel faces debt opposition | work=BBC News | date=2006-06-04 | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/5046802.stm] [cite news | title=Eurotunnel blames Deutsche as it files for bankruptcy protection | work=The Independent | date=2006-07-14 | url=http://news.independent.co.uk/business/news/article1174375.ece] . However, this plan failed and, on 2 August 2006 the company was placed into bankruptcy protection by a French court for six months. [cite news | title=Eurotunnel gets court protection | work=BBC News | date=2006-08-02 | accessdate=2006-08-03 | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/5237000.stm]

May 2007 bankruptcy aversion and return to profit

In an effort to avert the continued bankruptcy of the Eurotunnel company, shareholders have approved the cut of debts from £6bn to £2.84bn. A new company will be created called Groupe Eurotunnel. Major investors will trade their shares for a stake in the new company. The new Group Eurotunnel will receive a loan of £2.84bn from major investment banks such as Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs and Citigroup. [cite news | title=Eurotunnel 'saved' by investors | work=BBC News | date=2007-05-25 | accessdate=2007-05-26 | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6693897.stm] .

After the cut on its debts, Eurotunnel was able to announce a small net income of 1 million euros in 2007 for the first time in its existence [cite news | title=Pour la première fois de son histoire, Eurotunnel est devenu bénéficiaire | work=Le Monde | date=2008-04-08| accessdate=2008-07-19 | url=http://www.lemonde.fr/economie/article/2008/04/08/premiers-benefices-pour-eurotunnel_1032093_3234.html] . Half-year earnings for 2008 have risen to €26 million (£20.6m) [cite news | title=Eurotunnel profits steam ahead | work=money.aol.co.uk | date=2008-07-18| accessdate=2008-07-18 | url=http://money.aol.co.uk/money-news/eurotunnel-profits-steam-ahead/article/20080717044548149771273]

Eurotunnel charge £25 per passenger to Eurostar. http://www.railpro.co.uk/issues/pdfs/feb08_interview.pdf

Locomotives

Diesel

*Eurotunnel Class 0001 - used to rescue failed trains
*Eurotunnel Class 0031 - diesel shunting locomotives

Electric

Electric locomotives operate vehicle shuttles.
*Eurotunnel Class 9
*British Rail Class 92 - for use by freight subsidiary Europorte 2

References

ee also

*Cost overrun
*High-speed rail in Europe

External links

* [http://www.eurotunnel.com/ Eurotunnel]