February 12, 1986, the fourth day of the first month (Bingyin), the Anglo-French Channel Tunnel Treaty was officially signed. exchange treaty text of the Anglo-French Channel Tunnel


French President Francois Mitterrand and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher
1986 February 12, 2010 British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and French President Francois Mitterrand in southeast England, Canterbury The Cathedral has participated in the signing ceremony of the Treaty of the British and French Channel Tunnel, which officially recognized the commitment of the two governments for the construction of the Channel Tunnel project.
French Constitution stipulates that the president can not sign foreign treaties, to sign the treaty on the same day, British Foreign Secretary Geoffrey Howe and the French Minister of External Relations, Laurent Dumas.
Margaret Thatcher said at the signing ceremony, the industrial co-operation of the treaty for Britain and France to write a new chapter, and is also an important event for the whole of Europe. President Mitterrand pointed out that the treaty was an important milestone in the history of relations of the two peoples.
the British continental Europe since ancient times through the English Channel ferry. Strait transport is extremely frequent. In 1984, for example, round-trip transportation passenger twenty million people, up to two thousand tons of freight. So busy dealings, people feel more and more to solve Strait transport is imperative.
early in 1751, the French scholar Nicola Desmarais wrote an "ancient Britain and France bordering theory", to clarify the territory of ancient times, Britain and France are connected together. 1802 French engineer Ma-Ti Eritrea had Napoleon I recommend the construction of an undersea tunnel straight through the UK, but was rejected. Later, a lot of people and a series of proposed recommendations of various dug the Anglo-French Channel Tunnel. The development of the modern European economy again this tunnel project urgently referred to the people's eyes. In November 1973, the British and French governments signed a treaty for the construction of the Cross-Harbour Tunnel, and put forward a specific proposal. 1978 [L $ dj��.c��m] bilateral state-owned railway company restored the of dug tunnel plan. In November 1984, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and French President Francois Mitterrand reached a basic agreement. In May 1985, the two governments have also invited the national engineering company and a consortium of banks the draft proposed project.
the leaders of France, Britain, the selected solution proposed by the consortium of the Anglo-French Channel Tunnel. According to the preliminary design of the program, the narrowest point in the Straits of Dover - Calais in chalk seabed 40 meters deep, dug two more than 50 km in length, 7.3 meters in diameter and the railway tunnel, which 37 km in the seabed. (Lssdjt.com) for a Paris - London train traffic, and another for the shuttle train operations, specialized personnel and vehicles carrying the car through the Strait. In which the central axis of the two main tunnels, and then open a 4.5 m diameter service tunnel every 375 meters through the main tunnel, and address issues such as ventilation and maintenance. The total project cost is expected to be approximately 53 billion francs. The two governments are not providing public funds, all use of private capital building.
two governments at the same time instructed the Anglo-French Channel consortium proposed another solution to repair a permanent road access in 15 years. The Anglo-French Channel consortium of 15 companies and banks in the two countries. After the completion of the Channel Tunnel in 1993, the high-speed train through the Strait in just 26 minutes. Operating throughout the day, peak hours every three minutes out of a train carrying 4,000 cars per hour each to the two sides. The two tunnels annual passenger traffic of 40 million passengers, and cargo throughput of 13 million tons.
According to statistics, in 1983 the Strait passenger traffic of 24 million passengers and cargo throughput of 26 million tons.