High Speed Vision

Britain's first high-speed rail line, the 68-mile Channel Tunnel Rail Link, is nearing completion. This article discusses some of the challenges of constructing this line. When opened, the line will cut the London-Paris journey time to two hours, 15 minutes. Constructing a high-tech 25k volt network next to an existing infrastructure presented some difficult technical problems. Nearly 12 miles of tunnels were built for the line, and at 8.1 meters in diameter, the tunnels beneath London are the largest ever under a UK city. A new station that will support 4 railroad lines and a subway link is planned. Despite the challenges of the project, construction has been largely trouble-free. Most of the construction is completed and the railroad line is now in the testing phase.