AP / Wideworld Chunnel link in Europe suffers second fire in 12 years and may need repairs.

A major fire in the Channel tunnel closed the Anglo-French rail link on the afternoon of Sept. 11. Thirty-two passengers were evacuated from a burning truck shuttle train, some suffering smoke inhalation. The fire, located 11 kilometers from the French portal in the north tunnel, was reported at 4 p.m. local time and continued well into Friday.

Over 150 firefighters from both France and England fought the flames in the French-bound train, thought to have started in a truck. At ENR press time, limited train service was moving through the unaffected south tunnel.

In a similar fire 12 years ago, some 500 meters of tunnel was damaged, requiring a four-month investigation and a repair program costing roughly $70 million.

That fire, also caused by a truck, occurred on a U.K.-bound shuttle 19 km from France. In the most damaged 50-m section, up to half the thickness of the 40-cm-thick segmental lining was destroyed. Around 1,800-sq-m of this area was repaired with layers of sprayed fiber-reinforced concrete. Fixed equipment throughout some 300 m of tunnel also was destroyed.

Opened in 1995, the crossing includes twin 7.6-m-dia bored tunnels, 30 m apart. A 4.8-m-dia service tunnel be-tween them provides emergency access. The tunnels are linked with cross passages every 375 m. The route is operated by the Anglo-French company Eurotunnel, which is nearly 90% owned by the banks that provided loans for the project’s $15-billion construction.