Driving UK to France via the Eurotunnel

Forums › Travel (planes, train, cruise) › Driving UK to France via the Eurotunnel

ScuL

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#161713 16-Jan-2015 23:55

In case anybody ever wondered what it looks like (in a compressed version) :)

It's a beautiful work of engineering.

Haere taka mua, taka muri; kaua e wha.

JoshWright

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#1216424 17-Jan-2015 09:18

Is this video just off the web or did you make it yourself? It's very well done, and very interesting as well.

Thanks for sharing it!

ScuL

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#1216435 17-Jan-2015 09:57

Thanks I recorded this myself when we went over during the Christmas break, it's footage of my dashcam that I've chopped up to cut some stale waiting time

Haere taka mua, taka muri; kaua e wha.

nathan

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#1216440 17-Jan-2015 10:06

how to they inspect cars looking for bombs etc? You'd think this would be a prime target

ScuL

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#1216460 17-Jan-2015 11:14

Around 1:18 in the clip you can see me driving through a kind of "gate" which looks very similar to a cattle grid, it's got yellow guard rails both sides.
This is actually an X-Ray scanner. It checks the lower parts of the car.
Because the risk is lower on the UK side they only cover the bottom on the British side.
On the French side (which I may upload later, it was very rainy and particularly busy therefore not as interesting) you go through a full-size X-Ray unit when you head towards the UK.

There are also random checks with "sniffing devices" (again mostly on the French side although they do occur on the British side) where they ask you to wind down your window and they sniff your hands/steering wheel/interior. If you have been in contact with fireworks or explosives the device will detect it.
At 1:30 in the video you can see two structures left and right where cars are being pulled in at random for the sniffer test.

Haere taka mua, taka muri; kaua e wha.

linw

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#1216461 17-Jan-2015 11:27

Pretty amazing. Lots of stops and starts! And then you had to swap from one side of the road to the other!

nathan

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#1216462 17-Jan-2015 11:29

interesting thanks! cool video cheers for uploading :)

ScuL

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#1216464 17-Jan-2015 11:42

The strangest thing for most people is that you remain in your vehicle at all times, you are able to go to the toilet as long as you walk *around* vehicles in the carriages and not in between them (big no no, if the train were to suddenly brake, cars could start sliding and people could get trapped)...
You can see the toilets and stair cases when driving to the front of the train. There are two levels for the regular cars (upper and lower).

In case you have a high vehicle (van, ski box, 4x4, camper van, caravan etc.) you go in the tall deck which has a separate entry/exit.

There is a special train for lorries (trucks) and freight that is completely open on all sides (just metal frame work). Professional freight drivers therefore have to exit their vehicle and stay in a passenger carriage that has catering services.

All in all the crossing takes about 35 minutes.

The fastest ferry is Dover to Calais (90 minutes) or alternatively Dover to Dunkerque (2hours)

I much prefer the train even though it's about $200 to cross versus $100 for a cheap ferry crossing.

Haere taka mua, taka muri; kaua e wha.

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Virgil

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#1216478 17-Jan-2015 12:00

That was actually interesting, thanks for that!

For me I didn't realize until just now that you could not actually "drive" through the Euro Tunnel and had to drive-on and drive-off a train.

Every day learning huh!

Cheers

Lurking ...

ScuL

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#1216480 17-Jan-2015 12:04

The tunnel is about 45km long so they didn't deem it safe to allow people to drive, also the fumes would have caused issues because it goes so deep under the water

To solve the fumes when boarding & disembarking the train they have a powerful fan system that is on full blow whilst vehicles enter/exit.
When you're in position you put the car in 1st gear / PARK and pull the hand brake and it stays like that until the doors open and the fan system goes on full blow again

Haere taka mua, taka muri; kaua e wha.

nzkiwiman

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#1217366 19-Jan-2015 10:23

That was very interesting
Due to the 4x, it looks potentially confusing and that you are going very fast when in fact your not.

Some serious speed at the end of the video - 130kph

ScuL

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#1217415 19-Jan-2015 10:59

I thought people would get bored at normal speed (and the video would take 4 times as long) due to all the waiting involved.

And yes 130kmh is the legal speed limit in France.

Haere taka mua, taka muri; kaua e wha.