Channel Tunnel Fire
 

Channel Tunnel Fire.

http://fyad.org/w55s

Eurostar no services Friday.
http://fyad.org/w55z

Update

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/pressass/20...g-6323e80.html

Thanks for keeping us informed Alan.
I was hoping to use the Channel Tunnel for the first time this winter but it looks like the damage will be pretty extensive.:(

I hate it when this happens, but, just as a side thought...

Am I the only one who finds open tarpaulin covered trucks + chemicals + OHL + Potential sparks a bad combo? = /

Is it the best policy to stop the train in the tunnel ? - It was seven miles to the exit which is about 5 minutes traveling time. It means traveling into the tunnel futher and to tackle it and thus harder to fight the fire plus all the amount of damage it causes to the tunnel. The enclosed carriages should be stronger enough to last that time before the train emerges from the tunnel.
And maybe be a go idea to have special water spray booths at each end of the tunnel for trains to stop in to fire fight blazing trucks instead of waiting for fire services to arrive.

I don't think so, aren't the carrages the trucks are on open to a degree, like metal cages?

The problem with continuing to move the train is the potential to damage longer stretches of tunnel as the train moves through, the possibility of derailment, etc. etc. Plus you want to be as away from that thing as possible incase it goes up, those trucks have fuel on board etc.

Far safer to just stop and get out quickly.

Looks like they're sending two test trains into the tunnel right now, with a view to resuming services tonight or in the morning.

I shouldn't think that there is much in a modern tunnel that would be damaged to any great extent by a fire moving across it. Most serious damage occurs when the structure is exposed to prolonged high temperatures such as when the burning train comes to a halt. I don't know if the Channel Tunnel train drivers have any say in deciding whether or not to stop or if the train is automatically brought to a halt by a safety trip system.
In the new Lötschberg Base Tunnel in Switzerland it is left to the driver to decide where and when to stop based on the information at his disposal.

Tunnel fire update.

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/pressass/20...l-6323e80.html