Cheriton
Shuttle Terminal
During the peak times
there would be, on average, seven trains in each running tunnel at any one time,
thus a total of fourteen under the English Channel, comprising a mixture of
Shuttles, Eurostars, and freights. In the future, Britain’s high-speed Channel
Tunnel Rail Link would be controlled from a computerised signalling centre at
Ashford, but the actual Channel Tunnel and terminal system were to be operated
from a pair of control centres – one at the Cheriton Terminal and another at
Coquelles. Similar to control towers at airports, these tall white-painted
buildings would afford an unrivalled view across the terminal areas. A giant
illuminated signalling diagram – destined to become the largest LED (Light
Emitting Diode) displays in the world – was to be present in each control room,
allowing operators to pinpoint the exact positions of trains within the tunnel
and terminal areas. The entire Eurotunnel layout was to use the TVM430 (TVM:
Transmission Voie Machine) signalling system, a modernised version of the
existing TVM300 signalling used on the high-speed TGV line between Paris and
Lyon. Locomotives equipped with TVM430 equipment would be able to operate over
TVM300 lines, but the reverse would not be possible. The entire Chunnel system,
including the terminals, was to be operated by just one of the control centres
mentioned, and this role would usually fall to the Cheriton installation. These
control towers would also be responsible for controlling terminal road traffic.
Both control rooms were to be equipped with a back-up power supply, should the
electricity mains be cut off. Planned for each terminal were huge electricity
sub-stations: that at Cheriton was to be positioned to the north east of the
tracks, and measure some 590-foot long by 260-foot wide.
As mentioned earlier, Coquelles was to house the core engineering facilities to
maintain the shuttle fleet, although a smaller affair would be present at
Cheriton. An 8000 square foot workshop was to be positioned at the south west
corner of the terminal, within the arrival curve, and would be joined by four
shuttle stabling lines and an array of maintenance sidings. In the company of
the tunnelled double-track arrival curve would be a third line; this would
connect the shuttle stabling sidings with the platforms. By April 1992, the
workshop and maintenance sidings had been completed, and since the beginning of
that year, this area had been used to stable permanent way trains.
Queen Elizabeth II and French President Mitterrand formally opened the Channel
Tunnel and shuttle terminals on 6th May 1994, with much ceremony. On 10th
December of the previous year, TransManche Link (TML) had disbanded as a result
of the Channel Tunnel handover to Eurotunnel. Thereafter, commissioning of
traffic would be piecemeal, and the first commercial trains to use the Chunnel
were freight services, these commencing on 1st June 1994. The Chunnel terminals
did not see their first customers until 25th July of the same year, which marked
the inauguration of the freight shuttle service. It was not until Christmas that
leisure travellers could use ‘’Le Shuttle’’, the passenger services starting
on 22nd December. The latter had been preceded on 14th November by the running
of the first Eurostar services from Waterloo. By October 1995, the shuttle
terminals were handling a full range of road traffic: coaches and campervans had
been permitted on services from 26th June and 29th September respectively.
On 18th November 1996, disaster struck: a cornflakes lorry caught fire on a
Britain-bound shuttle within the southern running tunnel. Damage was to the
extent that a large section of this particular tunnel had to be closed for nearly six months, whilst over 655
yards of lining was replaced. The whole tunnel blockade cost Eurotunnel £191
million, a figure which was met by the company’s insurers.
On 8th May 1998, it was announced that the branding of ‘’Le Shuttle’’ was to be
dropped, and the shuttle service would become plain ‘’Eurotunnel’’. This course
of action was in response to the claim by the company’s Board that the existing
name was confusing for the Chunnel’s French users. In the meantime, HGV custom
had been growing steadily, and measures were put in place to facilitate further
expansion of such traffic. The launching of the ‘’Arbel’’-type freight shuttle
rolling stock on 11th January 1999 had set the ball rolling. Nine ‘’Arbel’’
shuttle fleets were commissioned, each comprising thirty HGV-carrying vehicles,
a trio of loading/unloading flat wagons, and an air-conditioned club car. The ‘’Arbel’’
vehicles are easily distinguished from the earlier freight wagons introduced by
Eurotunnel; they lack the extensive lattice framework of their older
counterparts, which means they require less maintenance and are of reduced
weight. To accommodate increased shuttle movements, an additional island was
brought into use at Cheriton during October 2002, to the north of the existing
surfaces, creating a total of ten platform faces. The increase of platforms here
was matched at Coquelles, with the commissioning of two additional platform
faces.
17th August 2007
In the background of this view is the diesel-electric maintenance depot. Of the two main rail-served buildings,
the largest measures some 475 feet by 75 feet, whilst the smaller structure is approximately 335 feet by 35 feet.
From the outset, Eurotunnel had five diesel-electric locomotives, which were used for hauling maintenance
trains through the tunnel, but also for rescuing stricken shuttles. The depot and shuttle stabling sidings are
separated from the main terminal complex by the lines from the capital. David Glasspool
17th August 2007
A trio of freight shuttles are in evidence in this view from the North Downs. The shuttle nearest to the camera
contains the 1999-introduced ''Arbel'' wagons, which lack the extensive lattice frame-work of the 1994-launched
vehicles. The latter can be seen within the next shuttle formation, whilst beyond this, constituting the third freight
shuttle, are more Arbel vehicles. The island platform in the foreground is the most recent, having been commissioned
during October 2002. David Glasspool
17th August 2007
The tall black fencing in the background flanks either side of the lines from London and those tracks which form
the beginning of the terminal arrival loop. No. 9004 ''Victoria de Los Angeles'' was seen leading a passenger
shuttle out of the terminal, with a telescopic hood and single-decked wagons trailing. David Glasspool
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