It is the longest undersea tunnel in the world - providing
passage for 45,000 passengers and 51,000 tonnes of goods every day.
The
Eurotunnel - the fixed link between France and the United Kingdom is made up of
twin railway tunnels and a central service tunnel for maintenance and evacuation
under the sea bed in the English Channel. The tunnel is accessed from two
terminals, at Coquelles, in the Nord Pas-de-Calais and Folkestone, in Kent.
ISS France has provided services to the Eurotunnel for the past ten
years. The efficient work of the 220 ISS employees working at the site has been
recognized in the form of a renewed and expanded contract.
"First we
were chosen to clean the shuttle trains and service buildings in 1997, then to
manage the floor blocking of heavy goods vehicles on the shuttle trains in 1999,
and then to clean access roads and to handle refuse collection in 2001. This
year, Eurotunnel launched a new invitation to tender. The result was that we won
three more contracts in addition to a renewal of our existing contracts,"
explained Ghislaine Mesmacque, Exploitation Assistant in ISS France.
The
three new contracts with Eurotunnel imply that now ISS also cleans and maintains
the technical systems in the maintenance workshops. Furthermore, ISS takes care
of cleaning and anti-corrosion treatment underneath the shuttle trains.
Cars, coaches and trucks are loaded on a fleet of 25 shuttle trains.
This tremendous underwater structure also provides passage for traditional
passenger trains and freight trains. Eurotunnel is one of the busiest railways
in the world with a train crossing every four minutes on average.