Getlink, formerly Groupe Eurotunnel, is a European public company based in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

that manages and operates the infrastructure of the

Channel Tunnel The Channel Tunnel (), sometimes referred to by the Portmanteau, portmanteau Chunnel, is a undersea railway tunnel, opened in 1994, that connects Folkestone (Kent, England) with Coquelles (Pas-de-Calais, France) beneath the English Channel at ...

between

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, operates the LeShuttle railway service, and earns revenue on other trains that operate through the tunnel (

Eurostar Eurostar is an international high-speed rail service in Western Europe, connecting Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. The service is operated by the Eurostar Group which was formed from the merger of Eurostar, ...

passenger and DB Schenker freight). Groupe Eurotunnel was established on 13 August 1986 to finance, build, and operate the Channel Tunnel under a concession granted by the French and British governments. The tunnel was constructed between 1988 and 1994 by TransManche Link (TML) under a contract issued by Groupe Eurotunnel; construction costs would overrun considerably, from TML's original estimate of £4.7 billion to the final cost of £9.5 billion. On 6 May 1994, the completed tunnel was officially opened. Its rail infrastructure comprises of

double track A double-track railway usually involves running one track in each direction, compared to a single-track railway where trains in both directions share the same track. Overview In the earliest days of railways in the United Kingdom, most li ...

railway in the main tunnels, plus extensive surface-level terminal facilities at

Folkestone Folkestone ( ) is a coastal town on the English Channel, in Kent, south-east England. The town lies on the southern edge of the North Downs at a valley between two cliffs. It was an important harbour, shipping port, and fashionable coastal res ...

in England and

Calais Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a French port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Calais is the largest city in Pas-de-Calais. The population of the city proper is 67,544; that of the urban area is 144,6 ...

in France. The rail network for operation of the Eurotunnel Shuttle train services is entirely self-contained, with connections near the two terminals to the respective national railway networks. Signalling and electric traction supply are also under Getlink control. In 1995, a loss of £925 million was reported by Groupe Eurotunnel; this was partly due to many of the planned services to use the tunnel not yet being permitted. On 2 August 2006, following failed

debt restructuring Debt restructuring is a process that allows a private or public company or a sovereign entity facing cash flow problems and financial distress to reduce and renegotiate its delinquent debts to improve or restore liquidity so that it can continu ...

plans, Groupe Eurotunnel was placed into

bankruptcy protection Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the deb ...

; a restructuring plan that involved a £2.8 billion funding arrangement and a debt-for-equity swap was approved by shareholders in May 2007. That same year, it reported a net profit of €1 million, the company's first profitable year. In December 2009, Groupe Eurotunnel and

SNCF The Société nationale des chemins de fer français (, , SNCF ) is France's national State-owned enterprise, state-owned railway company. Founded in 1938, it operates the Rail transport in France, country's national rail traffic along with th ...

acquired the French rail freight operator

Veolia Cargo Veolia Cargo was a European rail freight transportation company that operated mainly in France and Germany. On 2 September 2009, the company was acquired by Eurotunnel and SNCF, the deal being finalised on 1 December 2009. History Prior to the ...

, gaining multiple subsidiaries in the process. In June 2010, the company acquired British rail freight company First GBRf for £31 million from

FirstGroup FirstGroup plc is a British multi-national transport group, based in Aberdeen, Scotland.SeaFrance ferry service, establishing MyFerryLink to operate them, although this was discontinued due to

monopoly A monopoly (from Greek language, Greek and ) is a market in which one person or company is the only supplier of a particular good or service. A monopoly is characterized by a lack of economic Competition (economics), competition to produce ...

allegations after a brief period. On 20 November 2017, Groupe Eurotunnel changed its name to Getlink. In March 2018, the Italian

holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the Security (finance), securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own Share ...

Atlantia acquired the 15.49% stake of

Goldman Sachs The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered in Lower Manhattan in New York City, with regional headquarters in many internationa ...

in Getlink, for roughly €1 billion.

History

Foundation and early activity

Getlink's origins can be traced to the formation of ''Groupe Eurotunnel'' on 13 August 1986; it was established in accordance with the Concession Agreement of 1986 between the governments of France and the United Kingdom with the goal of financing, building and operation of a

tunnel A tunnel is an underground or undersea passageway. It is dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, or laid under water, and is usually completely enclosed except for the two portals common at each end, though there may be access and ve ...

between England and France. Groupe Eurotunnel awarded a contract for the tunnel's construction to the bi-national project organisation TransManche Link (TML).Wilson 1194, pp. 14–21. Furthermore, the company employed ''Maître d'Œuvre'' to act as a supervisory engineering body under the terms of the concession that monitored and reported on the project.Kirkland pp. 10–11. While TML designed and built the tunnel, financing was handled by Groupe Eurotunnel; however, the British and French governments controlled final engineering and safety decisions, later formalised through the Channel Tunnel Safety Authority. The British and French governments gave Eurotunnel a 55-year operating concession, originally running from 1987; this was extended by 10 years to 65 years in 1993. Private funding for such a complex infrastructure project was of unprecedented scale. An initial equity of £45 million was raised, then increased by £206 million private institutional placement, £770 million was raised in a public share offer that included press and television advertisements, a syndicated bank loan and

letter of credit A letter of credit (LC), also known as a documentary credit or bankers commercial credit, or letter of undertaking (LoU), is a payment mechanism used in international trade to provide an economic guarantee from a creditworthy bank to an exp ...

arranged £5 billion. The final cost for the tunnel's construction came to around £9.5 billion, roughly double TML's original estimate of £4.7 billion.Flyvbjerg et al. 2003, p. 12. This overrun has been attributed, in part, as a response to enhanced safety, security, and environmental demands.Flyvbjerg et al. 2003, pp. 96–97. Financing costs were 140% higher than forecast.Flyvbjerg et al. 2003, p. 3. Construction of the tunnel took place between 1988 and 1994; at the peak of construction activity, roughly 15,000 people were employed while in excess of £3 million was being expended each day.Anderson 1994, pp. xvi–xvii. On 6 May 1994, the completed tunnel was officially opened by

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

and President

François Mitterrand François Maurice Adrien Marie Mitterrand (26 October 19168 January 1996) was a French politician and statesman who served as President of France from 1981 to 1995, the longest holder of that position in the history of France. As a former First ...

, regular services commenced later that same month. In its first year of operation, Groupe Eurotunnel lost £925 million, which was attributed to disappointing revenue from both passengers and freight traffic, as well as heavy interest charges on its £8 billion of debt. The poor fiscal performance can also be partially attributed to the phased opening of the tunnel; various services awaited approval from the Channel Tunnel Safety Authority, some of which did not receive permission to commence until over a year after the tunnel's official opening date. On 10 July 1997, a financial restructuring plan was approved by Groupe Eurotunnel's shareholders. On 19 December, both the British and French governments officially agreed to extend its concession to 2086. On 7 April 1998, the financial restructuring process was officially completed. On 30 December 1999, as required by the Concession Agreement, Groupe Eurotunnel presented a road tunnel project to the British and French governments.

2000s

On 13 February 2004, Groupe Eurotunnel was granted a rail operator's licence in France, becoming the first company ever to possess such status. In April 2004, a dissident shareholder group led by Nicolas Miguet succeeded in taking control of Groupe Eurotunnel's board. However, during February 2005, Jean-Louis Raymond, the

Chief Executive A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

appointed as a consequence of the boardroom coup, resigned and Jacques Gounon took complete control, becoming both

Chairman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...

and Chief Executive. During July 2006, shareholders voted on a deal that would have seen half the debt, by then reduced to £6.2 billion, exchanged for 87% of the equity. However, this plan failed, and on 2 August 2006, Groupe Eurotunnel was placed into

by a French court for six months. In May 2007, a restructuring plan was approved by shareholders, whereby

Deutsche Bank Deutsche Bank AG (, ) is a Germany, German multinational Investment banking, investment bank and financial services company headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, and dual-listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange. ...

, and

Citigroup Citigroup Inc. or Citi (Style (visual arts), stylized as citi) is an American multinational investment banking, investment bank and financial services company based in New York City. The company was formed in 1998 by the merger of Citicorp, t ...

agreed to provide £2.8 billion of long-term funding and the balance of the debt being exchanged for equity, and the shareholders agreed to waive numerous perks, such as unlimited free travel, that they had previously been entitled to. During June 2007, the company entered into a partnership through subsidiary ''Europorte 2'' with the Port of Dunkirk relating to rail freight traffic. Under this partnership, Groupe Eurotunnel was to operate trains from Dunkirk to the Delta 3 logistics terminal at Dourges, and collaborate on container shipments to the United Kingdom, using the port of Dunkirk via the tunnel. Following the restructuring, Groupe Eurotunnel was able to announce a small net profit of €1 million in 2007, reportedly for the first time in the company's existence. Half-year earnings for 2008 rose to €26 million (£20.6 million), while net profit was €40 million, despite the costs associated with traffic loss from September 2008 to February 2009 following a fire in the tunnel; this allowed Eurotunnel to issue its first-ever dividend of €0.04 per euro value. The return to financial health allowed Groupe Eurotunnel to announce, on 28 October 2009, the anticipated voluntary redemption of some of its convertible debt. By anticipating to November 2009 the reimbursement of debt due in July 2010, it aimed to issue up to 119.4 million new ordinary shares, and thus shore up its capital while reducing its debt load. In December 2009, Groupe Eurotunnel and the French state railway operator

acquired the French rail freight operator

, splitting the business between them. The company took over French operations: ''Veolia Cargo France'', ''Veolia Cargo Link,'' and ''CFTA Cargo'' are expected to be rebranded ''Europorte France'', ''Europorte Link'' and ''Europorte proximity'' and become part of its Europorte freight business. ''Socorail'' has not been announced as being rebranded.

2010s

In January 2010, the Port of Dunkirk awarded Eurotunnel a seven-year concession to operate its railway system. In June 2010, the company acquired British railfreight company First GBRf for £31 million from

FirstGroup FirstGroup plc is a British multi-national transport group, based in Aberdeen, Scotland.Europorte subsidiary. It was rebranded

GB Railfreight GB Railfreight (GBRf) is a rail freight company in the United Kingdom. As of 2022, it is owned by the global investment company Infracapital, itself a subsidiary of M&G plc, a UK investment group. GB Railfreight was established in April 1999 ...

. On 11 June 2012, a bid by Groupe Eurotunnel for three Channel ferries belonging to former operator SeaFrance (in

liquidation Liquidation is the process in accounting by which a Company (law), company is brought to an end. The assets and property of the business are redistributed. When a firm has been liquidated, it is sometimes referred to as :wikt:wind up#Noun, w ...

) for lease to another operator was accepted, and Eurotunnel acquired the SeaFrance ferries ''Berlioz'', ''Rodin'' and ''Nord Pas-de-Calais''. Eurotunnel was chartered to start the MyFerryLink ferry company on 20 August 2012. After years of legal fights over accusations that Eurotunnel operating a ferry line was uncompetitive, the company stopped operating MyFerryLink on 1 July 2015. Groupe Eurotunnel transferred its listing from the

London Stock Exchange The London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange based in London, England. the total market value of all companies trading on the LSE stood at US$3.42 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Paul's Cath ...

Euronext Euronext N.V. (short for European New Exchange Technology) is a European bourse that provides trading and post-trade services for a range of financial instruments. Traded assets include regulated equities, exchange-traded funds (ETF), warrant ...

London on 19 July 2012. For the year 2015, statistics estimated that over 10.5 million passengers travelled on the Eurotunnel with 2,556,585 cars, 58,387 coaches and 1,483,741 goods vehicles. On 20 November 2017, Groupe Eurotunnel changed its name to Getlink. In March 2018, the Italian

Atlantia acquired the 15.49% stake of

in Getlink and its 26.66% voting rights, for around €1 billion. In June 2018, Getlink and auditor EY jointly presented a recent study on UK–Europe trade flows via the Channel Tunnel to the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...

. Findings of this study included that, in 2016, the Channel Tunnel facilitated €138 billion of trade, believed to be roughly 26% of the total trade flows between Britain and continental Europe with an equal balance of imports and exports. In May 2019, Getlink celebrated 25 years of operation of the Channel Tunnel with the creation of a monumental fresco by street-art artist YZ on the Tunnel's French-side entrance.

2020s

In early 2020, Getlink announced the separation of the position of chairman of the supervisory board from that of chief executive officer from July 2020; accordingly, Jacques Gounon remained President and Yann Leriche became CEO. In June 2020, the company dropped its listing on the London stock exchange; it remains listed on the

Euronext Paris Euronext Paris, formerly known as the Paris Bourse (), is a regulated securities trading venue in France. It is Europe's second largest stock exchange by market capitalization, behind the London Stock Exchange, as of December 2023. As of 2022, th ...

market. Following the

Brexit Brexit (, a portmanteau of "Britain" and "Exit") was the Withdrawal from the European Union, withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU). Brexit officially took place at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February ...

vote for the

to leave the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

, Getlink and subsidiary company Eurotunnel made preparations for impending border control changes. Accordingly, an additional 290 truck parking spaces at the Coquelles terminal were constructed, while all the truck controls have been grouped into a single point, the Pit-Stop. Three additional border control lanes at the Coquelles terminal and two lanes at the Folkestone were created. A smart border has been developed in collaboration with Customs and a Customs-SIVEP center to carry out additional veterinary and phytosanitary controls has been built. SAS PARAFE, for the identity check of coach passengers, were installed on the two terminals in 2019; furthermore, 300 French and English staff were trained in administrative and customs formalities, veterinary and phytosanitary procedures, checks and document scanning, support and information for customers. Throughout the early 21st century, French construction company Eiffage has progressively increased its stake in Getlink. During October 2022, it was announced that Eiffage has become the largest shareholder of GetLink by increasing its stake in the firm to 20.76 percent.

Operations and services

Vehicle shuttle trains

Getlink operates two types of shuttle trains that transport vehicles through the Channel Tunnel along with two terminals to support the operation of the trains. LeShuttle trains transport personal vehicles and coaches, while LeShuttle Freight transports large trucks. Operations of the LeShuttle services comprise nearly 70% of Getlink's revenue.

Freight train services

Europorte operates cross channel freight trains and freight trains within France. The company was formed by the merger of Europorte 2 and

's French operations in September 2009.

Passenger services

Getlink hosts, but does not operate, passenger train services through the Channel Tunnel. ,

is the only passenger train operator that uses the tunnel, offering services that connect the United Kingdom with France, Belgium & The Netherlands. Eurostar trains are operated by Eurostar International Limited, whose majority owner is

, the national railway of France. Eurostar International is the largest customer of Getlink, which levies charges (currently £25 per passenger per return journey) for use of the tunnel.

Electrical interconnector

ElecLink is a 1,000 MW

high-voltage direct current A high-voltage direct current (HVDC) electric power transmission system uses direct current (DC) for electric power transmission, in contrast with the more common alternating current (AC) transmission systems. Most HVDC links use voltages betwe ...

electrical

interconnector An interconnector (also known as a DC tie in the USA) is a structure which enables high-voltage DC electricity to flow between electrical grids, connecting separate AC networks, or linking synchronous grids. It may be formed of submarine power ...

between the UK and France, passing through the Channel Tunnel. The cable runs via the Channel Tunnel between converter stations at Peuplingues in France and Folkestone in the UK, with an additional of underground AC cable on the English side to a substation and on the French side to a substation. ElecLink commenced operations on 25 May 2022.

Samphire Hoe

The company also owns the small Samphire Hoe nature reserve on the coast of

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

, England, which was created from Channel Tunnel spoil during construction in the 1980s/90s. The road tunnel down, the ventilation area and the reserve itself are all owned by Eurotunnel.

Future operations

Low cost passenger train service

In August 2018,

Bloomberg Businessweek ''Bloomberg Businessweek'', previously known as ''BusinessWeek'' (and before that ''Business Week'' and ''The Business Week''), is an American monthly business magazine published 12 times a year. The magazine debuted in New York City in Septembe ...

reported that Getlink is interested in setting up an Ouigo-style low cost high speed rail service between London and Paris, travelling between the railway stations of Stratford International and Charles-de-Gaulle. In March 2022, Getlink was reportedly examining the prospects of establishing its own rolling stock leasing company in order to lower the costs involved in operating trains through the Channel Tunnel and launching such services.

Regional rail

In September 2020, Getlink announces a partnership with RATP Dev to jointly bid under the "Régionéo" brand name for regional rail services in France which will gradually opened to competitive tendering.

Rolling stock

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * *

External links

* {{Authority control, state=expanded Companies based in Paris Companies formerly listed on the London Stock Exchange Companies listed on Euronext Paris Channel Tunnel Railway companies established in 1986 Railway companies of France Railway companies of the United Kingdom 1986 establishments in France Railway infrastructure managers Societas Europaea companies Former dual-listed companies