The Paralympic Flame will pass through the Channel Tunnel - a vital link between Great Britain and France
On 25 August 2024, the Channel Tunnel will host the Paris 2024 Paralympic Flame. Departing from Stoke Mandeville in Buckinghamshire, birthplace of the Paralympic Games, the Flame will then be carried through the Tunnel by 24 British athletes to its middle junction, where they will hand over the Flame to 24 French athletes for the remainder of the journey.
"In 2024, the Channel Tunnel will celebrate its thirtieth anniversary. It is an honour and a source of pride to welcome the Paralympic Flame to this legendary work of art, a symbol of the vital link that unites Great Britain and the European continent. The Channel Tunnel has shown that it is possible to push back frontiers through a collective feat, in the spirit of the Paralympic values of surpassing oneself," said Yann Leriche, Getlink's Chief Executive Officer.
The Channel Tunnel - a pioneering feat of engineering and a human adventure.
The Channel Tunnel is an unrivalled feat of engineering. Made up of three tunnels, each 50 km long, 38 km of which is under the sea, it is the longest underwater rail tunnel in the world. The two rail tunnels, North and South, are linked by the service tunnel through which the Paralympic Flame will pass on 25 August 2024.
It was inaugurated almost 30 years ago, on 6 May 1994, by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and the President of the French Republic, François Mitterrand.
In 2012, the Olympic Flame passed through the Channel Tunnel, on its way to the Olympic Games held in London that year.
Today, Eurotunnel’s 2,600 staff work around the clock, every day, to keep this unrivalled structure running smoothly. The Tunnel and the rail networks that connect to it welcome more than 16 million passengers every year.
The Channel Tunnel remains the fastest, most reliable, most environmentally friendly way to cross the Short Straits. Getlink, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Eurotunnel, is the sole manager of this infrastructure.
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About Getlink
Getlink SE (Euronext Paris: GET), through its subsidiary Eurotunnel, is the concession holder until 2086 for the Channel Tunnel infrastructure and operates Truck and Passenger Shuttle services (cars and coaches) between Folkestone (UK) and Calais (France). Since 31 December 2020 Eurotunnel has been developing the smart border to ensure that the Tunnel remains the fastest, most reliable, simplest, and most environmentally friendly way to cross the Channel. Since it opened in 1994, almost 490 million people and 101 million vehicles have travelled through the Channel Tunnel. This unique land link, which carries 25% of trade between the Continent and the UK, has become a vital link, reinforced by the ElecLink electricity interconnector installed in the Tunnel, which helps to balance the energy needs between France and the UK. Getlink completes its sustainable mobility services with its rail freight subsidiary Europorte. Committed to "low-carbon" services that control their impact on the environment (through its activities, the Group avoids the equivalent of 1.4 million tonnes of CO2 per year), Getlink has made the place of people, nature and territories a central concern.
