Basis the below Case study " Discuss the issues that would make you believe that the project has been a success or a failure. "

Case Study : The Channel Tunnel Project

Several years late and coming in at double the initial budget (around £ 10 billion as opposed to the estimated £ 5 billion) set for the project, the channel tunnel was opened to passenger and freight traffic during 1994. At several times during the work, the company which was funding the tunneling work (Eurotunnel) itself ran out of money and had to return to the stock market and its banking financiers to seek new funds. The openings of the various services, attended by the world’s press, were not without hitch either. Trains ‘failed to proceed at the times indicated, and had to be replaced, and there were well publicized lapses in security arrangements by the operation staff. Tales were recounted of how the tunnel, dug simultaneously from the French and English sides, was intended to meet in the middle, but did not. Add to this the loss of life during the project (ten people were killed during the tunnel construction), and the ongoing debate as to the desirability of the high-speed rail-link through Kent (trains are environmentally friendly until they are routed through your back garden), and the general public would be forgiven for thinking that the project was very badly managed. They have short memories, however, and the media focus has shifted to the way in which the business of transporting people, vehicles and freight is run.

The station at waterloo, the terminal in Kent and the French stations have had to be constructed too, but have gained for less publicity. The waterloo Eurostar station has won various awards for its architecture as well as praise from users who are more used to the draughty, dingy stations of the UK-rail network.

By the start of 1995, the service being provided was getting good press reports, and the passenger transport side of the business was running ahead of predictions. Many of the earlier operating problems appear to have been rectified through when one train was cancelled and the passengers offered alternative transport on the ferries, the tannoy announcement by the caption of the ship taking them did have more than a little of sense of gloating about it! The air lines and ferry companies have not been slow to respond – the entrance of another player into a highly competitive market has been unwelcome to the industry, though not unbeneficial to the customers.

Then arose a strong competition following the construction of the Euro Tunnel by air carriers and ferry operators due to cross elasticity between the alternative sources of the same transport services which was so strong that Euro tunnel found it difficult and was at its wits end to make it commercially successful.

The Trains

The Eurostar service is the passenger carrier, with each of the high-tech trains carrying more than the equivalent of two jumbo-jet loads of passengers at one time (over 800). It is owned by a consortium of British, Belgian and French railways. The trains themselves, over a quarter of a mile long, are fitted out so that they resemble the interior of an aircraft rather then a train. The chairs are reclining and individual reading lights are provided.

The train can travel at 186 mph (289 kph) on specially adapted tracks in northern France and around 100 mph through Kent. The engines for the trains were specially developed by GEC-Alsthom, an Anglo-French company, and can run on the four different power systems. That the train will come across-French, Belgian, British and the tunnel itself. Much of the rest of the train design comes from the highly successful French traines-the TGV (Train a grande vitesse).

Le shuttle is the part of the service for cars, caravans and coaches-the box like carriages transport the vehicles with their occupants remaining within the vicinity of their vehicles during the journey, currently from foucestone to Calais. The competition for the ferries is that this service is virtually weather proof and only takes 35 minutes from platform to platform.

The safety systems against one of the greatest fears of all-five-are where the greatest application of technology has occurred. The five breaks, detection systems and procedures for dealing with an outbreak are way in excess of anything previously related to a train. The freight service for taking lorries and containers through the tunnel runs on different trains to the above services.

The Tunnel

At the outset of the project, the technology involved and the sheer scale of the tunnel digging meant that it would not be possible for it to be undertaken by one company. A consortium of ten companies (5 French and 5 British) was formed and had to co-ordinate the digging of 3 tunnels (one each way and one service tunnel) as well as the 1200 suppliers of 3 tunnels (one each way and one service tunnel) l as well as the 1200 suppliers and 15000 workers. Once this had been achieved, the tracks (over 130 miles in total) were laid, and the control system for the running of the trains installed. From an engineering point of view, the sheer scale of the project and the fact that it has been achieved at all shows the project to be an immense success.

The project appears to have achieved what is set out to achieve-there is now a fixed transport link between the UK and the rest of Europe, one that it is hoped will encourage the kind of union that many feel is needed. If Europe is to continue its economic growth. Case Discussion:

The case above had its own range of inherent risks, some of which are clearly visible and others blatantly invisible which requires further reading in to its history. What according to your analysis are the pre-completion phase risks, post completion phase risks and risks common to both the two phases. What according to you are the suitable risk mitigation strategies?

Answer rating: 100% (QA)

a The issues that would make you believe that the project has been a failure are a The channel tunnel was opened to passenger and freight traffic during 1994 several years late and coming in at double ... View the full answer