ABSTRACT
A decade after opening, the annual gross tonnage carried in each direction through the Tunnel, according to design assumptions, may exceed 100 million tonnes per annum. The only known railways with this tonnage elsewhere in the world are heavy-haul lines in the USA, such as Powder River basin in Wyoming and the Union Pacific Railroad of Nebraska. However, the ultimate traffic level forecast is 240 million tonnes per annum in each direction, which is probably the highest load imposed on any track since railways began!
