The Channel tunnel connects Britain to continental Europe. It was completed in 1994 after 7 years of construction. The Channel tunnel actually comprises three tunnels of 50 kilometers long with 38 kilometers under the sea, it is bored with the average depth of 40 meters below seabed. Two tunnels are rail tunnels and another is a service tunnel linking the two and acting as a permanent safe haven. It remains the longest undersea tunnel in the world.
As expected with such novel, ambitious and expensive project involving so many players, negotiations for the financing was protracted and difficult. This is reflected the structure of the project.
Eurotunnel was awarded the contract in January 1986 after successfully responding to an invitation by the French and British governments to submit proposals for a link between England and France. Brief details of the transaction are set out below.
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34 Ibid 204; Grant Michael, Financing Eurotunnel, April 1997, Japan Railway & Transport Review.