The Channel Tunnel linking Britain with France is one of the seven wonders of the modern world but what did it take to build the longest undersea tunnel ever constructed? We hear from the men and women, who built this engineering marvel. Massive tunnel boring machines gnawed their way through rock and chalk, digging not one tunnel but three; two rail tunnels and a service tunnel. This was a project that would be privately financed; not a penny of public money would be spent on the tunnel. Business would have to put up all the money and take all the risks. This was also a project that was blighted by flood, fire, tragic loss of life and financial bust ups. Today, it stands as an engineering triumph and a testament to what can be achieved when two nations, Britain and France put aside their historic differences and work together.

Few projects have stirred the imagination as much as the building of the Channel Tunnel. The sheer scale of the enterprise and the immense effort involved in creating the Tunnel, can only be admired. Aware of the historic significance of the project, Eurotunnel employed camera crews to film every stage of the work as it progressed. It is from this vast and hitherto largely unseen Eurotunnel archive that much of this programme has been made. Beginning with a brief historical survey of previous efforts to construct a fixed link across the Channel, the programme concentrates on the railway aspects of the project. The story of the construction of the Tunnel is interwoven with the vital role that railways played in its execution. The large narrow gauge railway network built to service the construction work is explored as is the building and testing of the locomotives and rolling stock which were to be used on Eurotunnel s Le Shuttle service.