Getlink (formerly Eurotunnel) is preparing to blow up Channel Tunnel traffic jams

Hard Brexit or not, it’s already a race against time for freight trucks in the Coquelles car park, at the Eurotunnel terminal in Pas-de-Calais. Lined up in rows of ten on Wednesday, September 30, they are waiting, engines running, for the green light from the agents of the Channel Tunnel operator responsible for checking their administrative documents. There was no question of being in their way when the barriers were lifted: with a roar, they set off with a bang to gain the first places aboard the shuttles located a few hundred meters away.

Czechs, Poles, Germans or Spaniards, all of Europe parades here every day. Ten thousand daily trucks (in both directions) and € 138 billion worth of goods annually pass through the tunnel between the UK and the continent. No wonder this cross-Channel link mobilizes so many politicians and business leaders. In the management offices, the official photos are reminiscent of those of a diplomatic representation: even the former Prime Minister Theresa May had split from a visit to the terminal, discovering that the passengers were not the alone to travel under the Channel!

Concerns about the outcome of the negotiations between Brussels and London? “We are at least at