CHANNEL TUNNEL SCHEME

Waikato Times, Volume 125, Issue 20987, 14 December 1939, Page 8

CHANNEL TUNNEL SCHEME

For many years the proposal to construct a tunnel under the English Channel to link Britain and France has occupied the minds of both peoples, but the value of such a means of communication has never been more apparent than today. Because the ships that ply between Britain and France with their precious cargoes or human freights, are subject to the fury of the German submarine, mine and air campaign, agitation for the construction of the tunnel immediately after the present war has been revived in France, and no doubt a responsive echo will be heard in Britain. It is certain that a tunnel in full operation at the present time would be of enormous value to the Allies and would save large numbers of lives. Engineers admit that a tunnel under the Channel is a practical possibility, and indeed many different sets of plans have been prepared. Always, of course, the cost has been a stumbling block, but in view of modern spent mg on war, the Channel tunnel would be a comparatively minor undertaking. One estimate of tne cost was £30,000,000, but in existing conditions it might be necessary to revise that assessment substantially. Vast quantities of trade and very large numbers of people pass between Britain and the Continent every year, and the boring of a tunnel to carry the greater part of that traffic might yet become an economic proposition, to say nothing of its value in war-time. There has always been a body of opinion opposed to the forging of a link between the British Isles and the Continent on the grounds of sentiment and of strategy, but neither of those objections any longer holds good. It is true that for hundreds of years the sea has saved Britain from invasion, but it is ridiculous to suggest that a Channel tunnel would in any way jeopardise Britain’s security. Rather the reverse. It would be the simplest possible matter to render the tunnel impassable at either end, if necessary, by flooding or collapsing it. Britain and France were never more closely bound together, and much would be gained by improving inter-communica-tion, providing it can be done as a reasonably economic proposition.