Quiet celebrations for Eurotunnel

Eurotunnel is currently battling huge debts

Eurotunnel staff in France and the UK are celebrating the 10th anniversary of its opening quietly on Thursday.

Staff at the Folkestone and Calais terminals will link up by video link in a live cake-cutting ceremony.

But the company is not holding a public celebration in reflection of what has been a rocky decade for it.

Dogged by financial difficulties and heavily in debt, it has also been the scene of a boardroom coup and a disappointing take-up by passengers.

It had been hoped the tunnel would become the only way to cross the Channel, but low cost airlines and competitive ferry prices dashed those hopes.

Now the company is £6bn in debt, losing £1.3bn last year alone.

The dream of a fixed link between the UK and France has turned into a nightmare for builder, owner and funders Andrew Roden Rail magazine Guide to Eurotunnel

Last month disgruntled French shareholders ousted the entire board which was followed by the resignation of chief financial officer Roger Burge.

"The financial framework and operating conditions for the Channel Tunnel were flawed from the outset," said International Rail Journal editor-in-chief David Briginshaw.

"There was an assumption that the Channel Tunnel would put the cross-Channel ferry operators out of business, which it has not."

Although officially opened on 6 May, 1994, the tunnel did not open to freight traffic until the following month and it was not open to passenger services until December 1994.

Disappointment

In 1996 a fire led to the suspension of freight traffic for months.

There was also the saga of the promised high-speed rail link.

The French had their end in place in 1993, while the Belgian link was ready in 1997.

However the English end, from Folkestone to London, will not be open in its entirety until 2007, with the first part - from Folkestone to northern Kent - having opened in September 2003.

However there is some light at the end of the tunnel for shareholders.

Passenger numbers are on the up as journey times are cut.

Andrew Roden, of Rail magazine, says the company has to concentrate further on getting more passengers aboard.

"The dream of a fixed link between the UK and France has turned into a nightmare for builder, owner and funders."

He went on: "Part of Eurotunnel's problem is that so much of its costs are fixed. It costs very nearly the same to run whether it is empty or full. There is little scope for cost-cutting."