What if the Channel Tunnel opened in 1980?

[Sm5]

France would have supplied the TGV and we would have supplied a dual voltage class 313.
Class 74’s would have been converted to 25kv and 750vdc, class 24’s as rescue locos.

 

[AY1975]

Remember there was no HS1 or LGV Nord at this time, so travel time would have been slower either side of the tunnel - which itself has a 160km/h limit.

I imagine that the Night Ferry would have not been axed and instead diverted through the tunnel, almost certainly with a somewhat shortened runtime. New stock would have been ordered as the Type Fs were getting rather old - and their stoves would have been a safety hazard.

According to the Wikipedia entry on the Night Ferry, they did consider keeping some Mark 1 sleepers and using them as a replacement for the Type Fs, although I would guess that that was only after the 1970s Channel Tunnel project was abandoned. That would have kept the Night Ferry going for a few more years at least, but they would have needed a number of modifications to enable them to run on SNCF and SNCB metals including fitting retractable steps for the lower platforms in France and Belgium.

I suppose that might have happened if it weren't for the 1978 Taunton sleeper train fire, but sooner or later they'd have come up against the deadline for getting rid of stock that had asbestos. Also, I don't know if they would ever have been allowed to run through the Tunnel without Central Door Locking and with non-retention toilets (and with each compartment having a chamber pot that emptied onto the track when you put it away), although I believe that some Eastern Region Mark 1 sleepers latterly had a kind of controlled emission toilet system that only deposited liquid onto the track. Even that probably wouldn't have been considered acceptable in the Tunnel, though.

 

[Ken H]

According to the Wikipedia entry on the Night Ferry, they did consider keeping some Mark 1 sleepers and using them as a replacement for the Type Fs, although I would guess that that was only after the 1970s Channel Tunnel project was abandoned. That would have kept the Night Ferry going for a few more years at least, but they would have needed a number of modifications to enable them to run on SNCF and SNCB metals including fitting retractable steps for the lower platforms in France and Belgium.

I suppose that might have happened if it weren't for the 1978 Taunton sleeper train fire, but sooner or later they'd have come up against the deadline for getting rid of stock that had asbestos. Also, I don't know if they would ever have been allowed to run through the Tunnel without Central Door Locking and with non-retention toilets (and with each compartment having a chamber pot that emptied onto the track when you put it away), although I believe that some Eastern Region Mark 1 sleepers latterly had a kind of controlled emission toilet system that only deposited liquid onto the track. Even that probably wouldn't have been considered acceptable in the Tunnel, though.

One wonders what the French and Belgians would have made of the potty that was kept in a cupboard, that when you shut the door, it tipped the contents on the track! That was BR Mk 1's

 

[AY1975]

One wonders what the French and Belgians would have made of the potty that was kept in a cupboard, that when you shut the door, it tipped the contents on the track! That was BR Mk 1's

Many older continental sleeping cars (including the Night Ferry stock) also had that facility.