The Channel Tunnel .was opened.. in May 1994 with a
big formal ceremony. It … took.. 13,000 engineers and 170 million hours to
construct it. It ..cost.. about 21 billion dollars to build it. The history of
the Channel Tunnel .began.. in 1802 when Albert Mathieu, a French engineer, .told..
Napoleon about his idea of an underwater channel. Seventy-three years .later..
the Channel Tunnel Company Limited began .digging.. near Dover in England but
in 1882 the work .was stopped.. as the British were afraid of a foreign attack
through the tunnel. In 1986 the French and the UK agreed . continuing.. the
project, and a few years .later.. the first trains .run.. along the tunnel.
After all these years it is quite clear that the tunnel is a success. Europe is
.closer.. than ever to the British Isles. It takes .less.. than three hours .to
travel.. from London to Paris by train.