
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, December 19, 1993                   TAG: 9312190060
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-15   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: LONDON                                LENGTH: Short

CHANNEL TUNNEL FINALLY LINKS BRITAIN, FRANCE

A narrow, choppy strait that daunted both Napoleon and Hitler has succumbed to one of the biggest and most unlikely construction projects ever undertaken: the Channel Tunnel between Britain and France is officially finished and will open to freight and passengers next spring.

In ceremonies last week, the Anglo-French consortium that built the 23.6-mile long tunnel handed it over to Eurotunnel, the firm that holds an operating concession until 2042. Dignitaries popped champagne corks and took round-trip train rides between London and Paris.

"I took my wife to Paris by train last weekend," crowed Sir Alastair Morton, the tough, often-abrasive chief executive of Eurotunnel who is given much credit for bulldogging the project to conclusion. "It took us three and a half hours, London to Paris. Not bad."

When the tunnel opens for business, it will be a year late. It will have cost nearly $15 billion, more than twice the original estimate. Despite optimistic Eurotunnel projections, some analysts predict it will lose money for decades. - Associated Press

by CNB