ABSTRACT
Although intrinsic safety was an important factor favouring the two governments' choice of a twin-bore rail tunnel for the fixed link under the Channel, the issue of safety management was first officially addressed with the signing, early in 1986, of the Treaty of Canterbury and the Concession Agreement which established an Intergovernmental Commission (IGC) charged with accepting the detailed design of the Project. The IGC could withhold acceptance of any aspect of Eurotunnel's proposals on safety, security, defence or environmental grounds, but it was the safety issue that proved to be the biggest and the most expensive.
