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Stowaways prefer to go by rail
Page 14
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x) Asylum seekers have switched their attention from trucks to freight trains in response to tighter security at Eurotunnel's Coquelles truck terminal.
Eurotunnel says that the number of trucks passing through the tunnel has been restored to normal.
However, disruption from illegal immigrants caused rail freight tonnage through the tunnel in the first quarter to slump by 50% to 367.199 tonnes. compared with 725,868 tonnes in the same period last year, English Welsh tft Scottish railway (EWS), which runs the cross-Channel rail-freight service, says that this week it found 34 stowaways on board a single train, bringing the total to more than 300 found in the past two weeks alone.
A spokesperson for EWS says that this once again highlights the need for the French government to tighten secu
rity to stop immigrants getting on board.
A Home Office spokesperson says: "The government has been, and is, very concerned about asylum seekers and the effect they have on freight traffic and UK business.
"It has raised the issue with both the French government and the SNCF on numerous occasions and will continue to take further concerted action as necessary until overall policing and security is adequate."