Hovercraft Or “Chunnel”

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31071, 28 May 1966, Page 13

Hovercraft Or “Chunnel”

It:-/ JOHN FAIRFAX in the Sydney Morning Herald ”> | HAVE just travelled oil a “bus” whose speed and versatility might permanently pigeon-hole British and French plans for a tunnel beneath the English Channel. The “bus” is one of two Swedish-operated 36-seat hovercraft, which is transporting passengers on a cushion of air between France and England in just 40 minutes. The craft are seen as the forerunners to a revolutionary form of surface crossing which will cut the time by more than half. Hovercraft passengers pay

i £4 10s for a return ticket the same as the slower ferries. In 'the first two weeks of the craft going into operation, 3000 passengers have been transported between the two countries. A passenger on the hovercraft is ushered aboard at Ramsgate, Kent, by a smiling [“hoverette” to find the inside i similar to a London bus — j except that an ominous brown j paper bag is in easy reach, : and beneath the seat is a life ; jacket, ! In the bow, partitioned-off Ifrom the passengers, but j clearly visible, is a navigator I glued to a radar screen and a I pilot who faces a series of dials and instruments similar I to a light aircraft. 1 The engine roars and the craft lifts gently on to its

magical cushion of air. From its landing alongside the terminal building, the pilot slides his vessel on to the water amid a cloud of foam and spray. He makes the journey to Calais uninterrupted at about 45 m.p.h. in good weather. Unlike normal ferries, the hovercraft has the advantage of being able to skim unimpeded across the formidable Goodwin Sands in mid-Channel. merely avoiding a few disastrous wrecks.

Bigger Craft | Shortly, another hovercraft will run between Dover and I Calais. But the company which operates from Ramsgate : Hoverlloyd Ltd., says it is ; “getting people acquainted j with hovercraft travel.” It ■ hopes to extend its service to ' many ports in Europe and by 1968 should have two much larger hovercraft operating between Britain and France—each vessel being capable of carrying 250 people and 30 cars in almost any seas. The present two hovercraft, while they are considerably more stable on water than con- | ventional craft, are limited by weather. They cannot operate comfortably in seas of more than four feet. But it is these hovercraft and their succesI sors that could finally lead to I the scrapping of plans to build ■ an England-France tunnel beneath the sea-bed. The construction cost of such a tunnel is now estimated at about £2OO million, and is continually rising as the ultimate decision is postponed. President de Gaulle is reported to want a tunnel between the two countries. But because the tunnel would begin south of Calais, he faces strong pressure from his brother-in-law and Mayor of Calais, M. Vendroux. The town would stand to lose millions of francs from tourist trade. One private ferry group which has been hesitant about expansion in view of the possible Channel tunnel decision is now showing interest in ordering the large SRN4 hovercraft. And the British j Railways have decided to go'

[in for the same craft for their ferry routes by 1968. All cross-Channel ferry services have become increasingly' competitive in recent months. So far, 14 foreign shipping lines have announced new car-ferry services from Britain to the Continent in the next two years. And there are now 50 different ferry services operating from Britain—most of them the roll-on, roll-off type. The progress and development of ferry services between Britain and the Continent looks like being a sad omen for the Channel tunnel. Three years ago a Government White Paper, favouring the building of what has now become termed a “chunnel,” dismissed the prospect for hovercraft in this single paragraph: “Large hovercraft have not yet been developed and there is at present no commercially valid experience even with smaller types.”

State Participation Both the French and British Governments have given their approval in principle to the tunnel project, but a final thumbs-up is restricted by the method of financing. Mr Leo d'Erlanger, chairman of the Channel Tunnel Study Group, said he thought the best way would be a combination of the “power of the State and the resourcefulness and commercial acumen of private enterprise.” London observers suggest that a final compromise will be a long drawn-out affair. It could be several years before a decision is reached, by which time shipping companies would be operating their hovercraft on a large and efficient scale.

With a distinct possibility of the country’s entry into the Common Market, many people still see an invaluable future for a “chunnel.” But while the surface vessels are offering a faster and more efficient service, the British and French Governments will have to look at the question in a new light.