Sea France sinks

[Schnellzug]

The tunnel's open access- but I bet there's no requirement that the Shuttle terminals are, and I doubt that you could take a shuttle-sized carriage very far past the terminal without it be hilariously out of guage.

They'd be within the loading gauge as far as London on HS1, wouldn't they? How about a lorry shuttle as far as some convenient interchange point with the m25, saving a fair bit of trucking around London.

 

[kylemore]

They'd be within the loading gauge as far as London on HS1, wouldn't they? How about a lorry shuttle as far as some convenient interchange point with the m25, saving a fair bit of trucking around London.

Now your'e talking - Eurotunnel have been sitting on their assets doing nothing innovative for years, by now we should have had all sorts of things like this.
Eurostar have been just as bad and it's taken DB to force them to do anything useful like providing services to other destinations like Amsterdam and Koeln/Frankfurt am Main.

 

[Nym]

If only HS1 and HS2 where four track railways woe could have extensive motorail services at 110mph running round the country to the chunnel, M25, near Northampton and Birmingham

Maybe we still could overnight?

 

[HSTEd]

Nope, Eurotunnel Shuttle trains are out of gauge on HS1 IIRC.
The Single deck lorry shuttles are not but then there is the question about building an enormously expensive terminal and all the complications that entails.

 

[Schnellzug]

Well, heavens, if anyone wants to make any money they couldn't expect a free lunch. Obviously they'd have to build the terminals & so on. Needn't take any more room or be any more expensive than an intermodal terminal, as long as Governments didn't decide that they had to do it.

 

[kylemore]

Nope, Eurotunnel Shuttle trains are out of gauge on HS1 IIRC.
The Single deck lorry shuttles are not but then there is the question about building an enormously expensive terminal and all the complications that entails.

Well ferry terminals are "enormously expensive" as well, it doesn't stop them tho!
And why "enormously" expensive?
A loop off the main line, a couple of sidings with some hard standing, a concrete ramp to load the wagons a few portacabins for the shunters and customs surrounded by a big fence. Ok not cheap but hardly "enormously expensive" and about as uncomplicated as you can get.
And why stop at the Tunnel, why not direct to the Ruhr or to the Alps to connect with the Transalpine lorry shuttles?

 

[jopsuk]

Nope, Eurotunnel Shuttle trains are out of gauge on HS1 IIRC.
The Single deck lorry shuttles are not but then there is the question about building an enormously expensive terminal and all the complications that entails.

I though the lorry "cage" wagons were pretty much the same profile as the car/bus carrying wagons? But then there's no good technical information freely available on them.

 

[Schnellzug]

And why stop at the Tunnel, why not direct to the Ruhr or to the Alps to connect with the Transalpine lorry shuttles?

Is another good point; those don't need enormously expensive terminals, all they need is, as you say, a ramp to load vehicles onto the wagons. Obviously an international service, since Little England wants to avoid mixing with Foreigners are much as possible,'d need customs facilities and Security and all the rest of it, but it's only the Customs people and the Immigration people and all the rest of those organisations that have such a high opinion of their own importance that insist that they need enormously expensive facilities, whereas a portakabin would actually be quite satisfactory.

 

[jopsuk]

could even have the UK terminal facilities in Dagenham- I belive there are at least plans to freight (if not lorry-carriers) along HS1 to there; there are loops provided to allow the pathing without interfering with passenger services.

 

[kylemore]

Looks like DFDS and LD lines are going to fill the gap with a proposed two vessel Dover-Calais shuttle and are apparently recruiting now, an opportunity for redundant Seafrance staff?

 

[jopsuk]

There will be legal ways on both sides of the channel to allow them to prioritise ex SeaFrance staff; obviously numbers will be lower.

 

[WestCoast]

Looks like DFDS and LD lines are going to fill the gap with a proposed two vessel Dover-Calais shuttle and are apparently recruiting now, an opportunity for redundant Seafrance staff?

www.breakingtravelnews.com/news/article/dfds-ld-lines-eye-dover-calais-route/

According to this article, yes.

 

[kylemore]

www.breakingtravelnews.com/news/article/dfds-ld-lines-eye-dover-calais-route/

According to this article, yes.

Lets hope as many as possible of the former Seafrance staff get taken on - it's not a good time to be looking for a job.

 

[Schnellzug]

some might say it was the former Seafrance staff (or at least, the more militant of them) that were responsible for bringing SeaFrance down in the first place.

 

[kylemore]

some might say it was the former Seafrance staff (or at least, the more militant of them) that were responsible for bringing SeaFrance down in the first place.

Well yes..however the ones on this side of the water having been through the Thatcherite Mill so to speak might find it easier to find jobs!

 

[jopsuk]

Just got an LD Lines marketing email announcing the opening of bookings for the joint LD-DFDS Dover Calais route.