Channel Tunnel celebrates 30th birthday

The chunnel became the longest undersea tunnel in the world at 50km when it opened in 1994 and its LeShuttle Freight service is open 365 days a year, 24 hours a day providing a flexible service for companies such as Europa Road.

The freight firm said an HGV crossing the Channel on LeShuttle Freight emits 12 times less carbon emissions than by ferry and claims its IT infrastructure has eased trade burdens post-Brexit.

Dan Cook, Europa Worldwide Group operations director, said: “Eurotunnel opened access to new European markets for British businesses, offering faster transit times of just 35 minutes compared to 90 minutes by ferry, fewer carbon emissions, and fewer disruptions associated with weather or traffic congestion at ferry ports.

“There have of course been challenges along the way,” he added. “Everything changed when the UK left the customs union and more complex border controls came into force after Brexit.

“Freight businesses transporting goods to the EU via France needed a more sophisticated IT infrastructure to improve operational efficiency, communication between stakeholders, and track and trace capabilities.”

Cook said Europa developed its own freight management software Leonardo, which it integrated following Brexit in order to transfer customs data into LeShuttle’s IT infrastructure and enabling the transport of goods reliably and efficiently.

“Carsten Pikkemaat, LeShuttle Freight sales director, said: “We’re delighted with the continued strong business partnership we’ve built over the years with Europa.

“We are looking forward to working together for many more years to come, making freight more flexible.”