Hi
I’ve been through the channel tunnel dozens of times now, and always wonder, when the safety announcement gets to the point where he says: “the train may stop for a number of reasons, most of these are not incident-related” (or something like that) if the train ever really does stop in the tunnel? And if so why?
Never had a train stop in the tunnel myself, can only imagine they mean that the train may be brought to a halt by a danger signal because of congestion further along the line. Or immigrants running all over the place at Coquelles. 
Had a fascinating chat with a Eurotunnel safety officer on the train one day, who told us loads about it. I asked him how fast we were going, and he said 90mph. I was amazed by this, I would have guessed 40-50mph at most, but all of Le Shuttles go through at 90mph.
It’s also the busiest stretch of main line railway in the world.
I’ve had a train stop on a couple of occasions, once for a break down of another train, then the second time for a problem with our train. This train then had to driven back out of the tunnel, the train driver then had to walk from the front to the rear. Retest the brake system and nurse it back to Folkestone.
That time because it took so long we were offered free coffee, only a small one though
It’s not theirs anymore,
This is our England now.
Paaaaarrrrrrttttttttyyyyyyyy
Eurotunnel shuttles have a maximum permitted speed of 140 kph. This is being increased to 160 kph to match Eurostars and increase capacity through the tunnel. There are no conventional signals in the tunnel. It’s all done through cab signalling.
daveb0789:
There are no conventional signals in the tunnel. It’s all done through cab signalling.
Yep, it’s not just in the tunnel, it’s the same on the main line.
One thing I have always wondered is what those lineside posts are, which you can see from the M2 and M20, which look like smiley faces?
Yep same signalling system on the High Speed lines until you get just short of the terminating stations. The ‘smiley faces’ are neutral sections (to separate one part of the overheads from another) in the overhead line equipment so the driver should shut off power on approach and reapply after to avoid discomfort to passengers.
Useless fact # 1
Eurotunnel trains are too big to be driven on the conventional railway.
Useless fact # 2
Eurotunnel drivers are so specialised they cannot easily transfer to other train driving jobs. They would have to start from scratch.
I believe that the Eurostar broke the UK speed record for trains by over 45 mph when they were testing it. That bit of line in Kent is just about the only modern piece of railway line in the country.
Indeed. As part of HS1 (High Speed 1) overspeed testing, trains are required to achieve a speed 10 percent in excess of the maximum as part of their safety approval. Thus the maximum line speed is 300 kph for Eurostar. They needed at least 330 kph and got a bit more.
The non HS1 British speed record is still held by the Advanced Passenger Train (APT) long since been retired at 162.2 mph and this was achieved in Scotland, not somewhere you’d associate with having high speed tracks!
So trains in britain each have to do a 10 percent overspeed test and 2000 fault free miles before being permitted to run in service. Does anyone know of a similar procedure for coaches or lorries ?
Thanks everyone! Interesting replies 
daveb0789:
Indeed. As part of HS1 (High Speed 1) overspeed testing, trains are required to achieve a speed 10 percent in excess of the maximum as part of their safety approval. Thus the maximum line speed is 300 kph for Eurostar. They needed at least 330 kph and got a bit more.The non HS1 British speed record is still held by the Advanced Passenger Train (APT) long since been retired at 162.2 mph and this was achieved in Scotland, not somewhere you’d associate with having high speed tracks!
So trains in britain each have to do a 10 percent overspeed test and 2000 fault free miles before being permitted to run in service. Does anyone know of a similar procedure for coaches or lorries ?
Nardo, Nurburgring, Mira and Millbrook.
not sure if it’s still the case, but when I used to ship out late Friday night 10 or so years ago, The tunnel used to be single line running for maintenance etc. I used to get to folkestone just before midnight and sit in the lanes for up to 4 hours. Once on the train it would often stop in the tunnel once or twice - whether this was at the cross over points to allow UK bound trains to pass or not, I don’t know… worked to my advantage though, as I used to take the wait at the terminal as an extended break.
Very interesting. It probably does happen/has to happen as Eurotunnel is a 24/7 service and they have to maintain the tracks and equipment at some point. Roads only seem to need preventative maintenance 
I quite like it when the train stops and starts, especially if you get a decent window seat. I can spend ages watching the fish
Way back in the mid 90’s (94or 95) I was on a Shuttle train that derailed. We sat in the tunnel for about 2 hours going no where.
It was the rear carriages that had derailed so eventually they disconnected them and the train carried on to France. Luckily my truck was in one of the front carriages so I drove off but another truck of the same company (Dockspeed) was stuck for about half a day if I remember right.
I put this on because I was sat by the toilet !
A tip for you all……
Take a coat with you on the train what ever the weather outside
It’s very cold when you have to get out into the service tunnel!! very windy too!