THE CHANNEL TUNNEL.

Globe, Volume III, Issue 259, 10 April 1875, Page 4

THE CHANNEL TUNNEL.

The Paris correspondent of the Times has received the following letter from a person who is, he says, qualified to speak with authority on the question of the tunnel from England to France:—“ I promised you some information respecting the Submarine Tunnel as soon as the matter had assumed a positive shape. I was waiting till the Bill had been submitted to the Assembly; but several papers having already alluded to it, I think myself bound without further delay to give you some particulars on the chance of their interesting you. The convention signed between M. Caillaux, Minister of Public Works, and M. Michel-Chevalier, as representing a French company, is substantially to this effect;—The company undertakes within five years at the utmost to expend on French territory a minimum sum of 2.000. in investigations, experiments, &c. At the expiration of five years it will have the right of abandoning or retaining the concession. It is bound to come to an understanding with an English company furnished with the necessary powers to insure the construction and working. The period allowed for the execution of the works is fixed at twenty years. The term of the concession will be ninetynine years from the opening of the undertaking. The French Government pledges itself to authorise no other tunnel between France and England for thirty years from the opening. The company has thus a monopoly of thirty years. These conditions have been submitted to Lord Derby, who declared he had no objection to them. The French company has been formed, and the 2.000. subscribed in 400 shares of 5000 fr each. The chief engineers of the enterprise will probably be Mr Hawkshaw on the English side, and M. Lavally, the general contractor of the Suez Canal, on the French side. I had forgotten to say that the estimate of the cost of the Submarine Tunnel has been calculated according to the outlay on French railways as regards everything applicable to the tunnel. The tariff per 1 ilometre has been considerably raised, but as the tunnel will have to compete with navigation, the tariff will necessarily be governed by the convenience of the public.”