FIRE! in the (Channel)tunnel

[richard222]

There has just been a fire in the Channel tunnel

All services are currently cancelled, so passengers are advised to travel via Ferry

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7610919.stm

[desiro5]

oops.

[charlie99]

Oh dear.

[dggar]

Firefighters are still tackling the fire after more than 8 hours.

Wonder how long the tunnel will be out of action

[dkightley]

I wouldn't be surprised if the tunnel is out of action for a couple of weeks at a minimum.

The biggest problem is damage to the infrastructure within the main tunnel. With the fire burning for seven or eight hours, it must have generated a lot of heat and acrid smoke, which must have caused some damage to cables, lighting, overheads, etc., or even the tunnel lining!

And then there's the damage to the rolling stock. Will the affected wagons be capable of simply being hauled out by a recovery train....or will they have to be recovered using lifting gear, etc?

No doubt the story will unfold over the day or so......

[NewcastleFlyer]

Adds the word "Euro" onto the tunnel in the sub-heading!

How long did it close for the last time, it was closed because of fire? I'm not saying this, but our excuse for news (ABC, think BBC equivalent!) said it would only be closed for a day or two.

But a question, would it have been safe to open the emergency crossover doors, and use single line working? I thought this was the idea of those crossovers, in cases like these.

EDIT 12:16: Change above to: I read on the Trainz forum that is the media (ONCE AGAIN!) is beating it up, and the fire was quickly put out, and it the tunnels should open tomorrow.

[dkightley]

The "Independant" appear to have the most plausible version of the story:

The fire in the Channel Tunnel has been put out after burning for more than 16 hours, French police said today.

A spokesman for the Calais force said the main seat of the fire was extinguished at 7am today UK time.

Firefighters then spent two hours smothering minor fires nearby, he said.

It appears that once the situation has been brought under full control, then a safety inspection will decide when it will be safe to re-open the other tunnel tube for single line running whilst the damaged tube is sorted out.

[JSReeves86]

AFAIK from reading various books etc and speaking to people who work within Eurotunnel in the past once the fire is out (Which it now is) and Eurotunnel are happy that the tunnel is safe to use the section that has been damaged would essentaily be closed. So traffic headding to France will enter the UK portal and use the Northern tunnel as far as the Frnech Crossover (approx 2/3 distance) then cross to the Southern Running tunnel and continue to the French portal and use the cross over imediatly outside to re-gain the correct path into the terminal loop. Trains headding for the UK would run as normal, although depending on traffic volume might have to wait at the French portal to allow the section to become clear. This is what happened after the fire in November 1996 (that train in that case headding the other way so the other tunnel was affected) The 1996 fire caused a lot of damage to the tunnel lining and I would be suprised if this hasnt ethier, tempratures approaching 1000 degrees having been reported, at the least the OHLE will be down as will most of the other cabling etc in the tunnel so I wouldnt expect a very speedy repair, a few weeks maybe but no one can tell untill a report has been made on the condition of the infrastructre.

From the reports coming out Eurotunnel say that Eurostar will start running before LeShuttle but exactly when that is is still unclear.

[jtiffin]

I was one of the lucky ones.

[richard222]

What do you mean?

Enlighten me!

[jtiffin]

I got out of the tunnel before the fire started.

[richard222]

Aah so you were on a train!

[jtiffin]

Yes.

[WSR2005]

I was one of the lucky ones.

Well yeah, I would have thought everyone on the train were 'lucky' since nobody died or anything

[dkightley]

No "luck" involved at all!

The channel tunnel is probably the safest tunnel in the world. It has a service tunnel running alongside the running tunnels that is kept at a higher air pressure, and there are fire and smoke proof connecting doors every few hundred yards. The train staff have regular safety practise drills, and the whole system and the trains have smoke and fire detection systems.

And if we look at this incident, the detectors picked the fire up in its early stages, the train was brought to a halt with the passenger carriage adjacent to a connecting door, the passengers and the train crew made their way to the safety of the service tunnel, and the three other trains in the tunnel at the time (none being Eurostars) were evacuated out of the tunnel by the nearest end.


And its nice to hear that the tunnel has been re-opened for a reduced capacity service.