1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140 
Hole in the ground
Page 34
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
I'm now more certain than ever (and I w as pretty sure before) that the Channel Tunnel will never be built; at least, not in my lifetime or yours. Which in my opinion will be no loss, as it had all the appearance of being the biggest white elephant ever conceived, in my view. Surely if there is one lesson we've learned in transport it is that big, fixed, concentrated facilities are too inflexible — they simply can't be adapted to changes in traffic flow and changes in the nature of the traffic; then they tend to be propped "because they are there". Like a thing called the railways, not to mention a host of outmoded industries and skills. Sad, maybe, but true.
I was interested to see that a Chunnel champion, writing in one of the nationals on Sunday, was downcast to hear from a freight forwarder that even if the Chunnel had gone ahead, and the rail link, as planned, he would not have used it much — because British Rail had left it too late to start getting their marketing under way and their local facilities set up. The difference between theory and practice, he said. Also the difference between being a big-company employee and running your own business.