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
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.
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.
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
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