Eurotunnel maintained a high service level through Paralympics
With continuing high traffic levels throughout the summer, Eurotunnel has maintained the excellent quality of service, which it offered to its customers during the Olympics, through the period of the Paralympic Games in London as well.
On 25 August, Eurotunnel carried a specially modified Eurostar train transporting the 170 athletes from the French Paralympic team to the London Games. Eurotunnel provided extra folding wheelchairs and changed the timetable to enable the passage of this special train.
During the period of the Paralympic Games, more than 4,200 athletes converged on London to take part in 21 different sports, over 11 days, between 29 August and 9 September.
In Support of this phenomenal event, the Terminal Control Centre at Folkestone, from which all road and rail movements inside the system are managed, has proudly carried a 41x6m depiction of the Paralympics logo, the Agitos, and pictograms of the 21 individual paralympic sports (one of six sites around Britain to display the Agitos on such a scale (Tower Bridge, Trafalgar Square, Kew Gardens, The Mound, in Edinburgh, and City Hall in Cardiff).
Thousands of spectators have made their way to Great Britain via the Channel Tunnel for the Games, particularly from Germany and the Netherlands. On top of this, many thousands of British residents returned, via Le Shuttle, from their holidays on the continent at the same time. The first of September, 9,743 passenger vehicles travelled between Coquelles in the Pas-de-Calais and Folkestone, making it a record day for traffic in the history of the Channel Tunnel.
For Eurotunnel, able and disabled passengers experience exactly the same service, the step free access being an advantage to all. Eurotunnel’s Shuttle transport system means that passengers can stay in their vehicles at all times – number plate recognition means hassle free check-in and access to the shuttles is drive on, with passengers remaining with their vehicles throughout the 30 minute crossing. The only difference is that disabled drivers are given priority boarding on each departure.
Eurotunnel is proud to have met the needs of so many passengers travelling to London for this exceptional summer of sport and inclusiveness.
