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Radio France Internationale
Radio France Internationale
National
Jessica Phelan

The Channel Tunnel, from pipe dream to European reality

François Mitterrand Channel the Channel Tunnel France Europe United Kingdom Napoleon Bonaparte Britain Queen Elizabeth II
Construction workers celebrate the joining of the French and British sides of the north tunnel under the English Channel, on 22 May 1991. © AFP - PIERRE VERDY

This Monday marks 30 years since France and the United Kingdom officially opened the Channel Tunnel. It was the culmination of two centuries of dreaming about linking the two neighbours by land.

"England is no longer an island," French newscasters solemnly announced in their evening bulletins of 6 May 1994 (conveniently forgetting that it never had been).

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