More tunnel services resume

More Channel Tunnel services have been able to run after a section of track closed after this month's fire was re-opened.

Tunnel operator Eurotunnel said services were running well after the reopening of the 10.5-mile stretch of track in the north tunnel.

About half the number of trains which would normally run are now operating and Eurotunnel hopes to re-open a second section of the north tunnel shortly.

Eurotunnel spokesman John Keefe said: "We re-opened the first 17km (10.6 mile) stretch of smoke-damaged track in the north tunnel this morning and things are running smoothly with no reported problems.

"We are now running almost 170 trains a day - including 44 Eurostars, 90 truck shuttles and 29 passenger shuttles from Folkestone.

"We hope to increase this capacity further when we re-open the second 17km interval shortly."

Meanwhile, the Port of Dover said it had benefited from "a massive increase in traffic volumes" in its first full week of operation after the fire on September 11.

In the seven days since September 15, the port had a 34 per cent increase in freight vehicles to more than 55,286 and a 62 per cent rise in the number of coaches to 2,657 compared with the week before the tunnel fire.

Passenger numbers rose to more than a third of a million last week, an increase of 25 per cent from the week before the fire.

The port's chief executive Bob Goldfield said: "We are experiencing unprecedented increases in volumes."

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