Channel Tunnel Rail Link section 2: designing a safe, high-speed railway

Safety has been at the heart of the design of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link project – now know as High Speed 1 – but perhaps nowhere more so than in the complex section 2 of the route, more than half of which is in tunnel. This paper describes how the design and layout of the 39 km second section was heavily influenced by safety considerations, particularly the design and spacing of the cross-passages between running tunnels, the tunnel ventilation systems and the emergency response procedures.