Full Tunnel reopening in February

It will cost almost £50m to fully restore the Tunnel

The Channel Tunnel will reopen completely in mid-February following last month's fire, operator Eurotunnel has confirmed.

The total cost of the restoration work will come in at under £50m, it added.

Services are now almost back to normal after initially being severely disrupted for several weeks.

The fire, which broke out on a freight train on 11 September, injured 14 people and closed the tunnel between the UK and France for almost two days.

A full report on the incident in the north tunnel is expected from the Channel Tunnel Safety Authority by September 2009.

Speedy works

Chairman and chief executive of Groupe Eurotunnel, Jacques Gounon, said "The goal is to regain full operations in the north tunnel by mid February to re-establish the best quality of service for our many customers".

Eurotunnel said the total budget for the restoration of the tunnel was expected to be "less than 60 million euros" (£46.8m).

It added that it had approved contracts for the work to renovate the damaged section of tunnel and that a number of companies would be involved.

Mr Gounon said: "Eurotunnel has retained a group of companies who all have an excellent knowledge of the Channel Tunnel and whose recognised skills can guarantee the safety and speed of the works."

Transport Minister Lord Adonis said earlier this week that a full report on the fire from the Channel Tunnel Safety Authority would be produced by September 2009 at the latest.

In last month's fire, a total of 32 people were led to safety after a lorry on board a shuttle train caught alight about seven miles from Calais.

Eurotunnel said last week it lost 21m euros (£16.4m) as a result of the fire.

Sales rise

Despite disruption caused by the fire, train company Eurostar recorded a 6.4% rise in passengers from July to September compared with the same period last year.

The trains carried 2.37m passengers in the three-month period, with ticket sales of £152.3m.

Eurostar chief executive Richard Brown said: "Our growth in the third quarter is particularly encouraging given the incident in the Channel Tunnel and that the comparative three-month period in 2007 was boosted by the Rugby World Cup."

He added: "Our staff have done an amazing job to restore 93% of capacity within a very short time and this has enabled travellers to carry on booking with confidence."

Since the beginning of the year, seven million passengers have travelled on Eurostar services, with ticket sales generating £521.1m for the company.