Tools, programmes and budgets for Tunnel and Shuttle maintenance

A factor in reliability and a measure of availability and safety, maintenance of rolling stock and equipment for the Tunnel and terminals at Coquelles and Folkestone is a greater priority than ever for Eurotunnel. To address this vital technical issue - and ultimately commercial -, the company is modernising its equipment and intensifying its repair and investment programme: the relevant budgets will double by 2009. 

Eurotunnel’s rail network operates under unique conditions, in terms of frequency of use, loads carried and space restrictions.
Every day, on average, more than 300 rail convoys made up of Passenger Shuttles, Truck Shuttles, freight trains and Eurostar, cross the Channel Tunnel. At peak times, this heavy traffic is equivalent to a train every three minutes. The Shuttles are 800 metres long and run at 140 kph, with some of the trains weighing 2,500 tonnes. Channel Tunnel track carries an estimated 110 to 120 million tonnes a year. These operating conditions constitute a real challenge for both rolling stock and infrastructure. In order to anticipate the ageing of some of its equipment now in service since 1994, Eurotunnel launched a series of large-scale maintenance programmes (LSM). These differ from the normal scheduled light or heavy maintenance that run every three weeks or two years, depending on the work performed.

Exceptional programmes

These are comprehensive programmes, designed to return equipment to its full potential and extend its lifetime. Specifically, this can entail, for example, replacing hydraulic and pneumatic lines, renewing cabling, enhancing the reliability of electric converters on the Shuttles or changing selected points. Eurotunnel’s successful fi nancial restructuring, along with its commercial success, have allowed the company to invest more freely – yet prudently – in its maintenance programmes. Non-recurring maintenance expenditure and gross repair costs are set to double, from €20m in 2007 to over €30m in 2008 and more than €40m in 2009, before returning to a normal level. This expenditure will successfully limit the effects of ageing on the Shuttles and allow investment in new equipment.

New efficient organisation

Implemented in 2007, the Harmony programme has reorganised work cycles in the Tunnel to increase transport availability on Friday evenings to the Continent and on Monday mornings to the UK, in order to better meet the requirements of European road hauli-ers. The quality and fl exibility of its maintenance teams have allowed Eurotunnel to continue providing an exemplary level of reliability and safety. The availability of the Tunnel was maintained at 99.25% (a level of disruption at just 0.75% – less than 6 hours per month).

The industrialisation of infrastructure maintenance, launched in 2007, should allow Eurotunnel to keep to this performance level. Already applied in 2006 to rolling stock maintenance, this innovative management procedure improves how work is organised as well as productivity through the exchange of information, and has produced substantial savings. Although there were fewer technical malfunctions in 2007 than 2006, the heavier traffi c meant that potentially more customers were affected. To address this issue, in October 2007 Eurotunnel launched the Concerto initiative, which aims to limit the commercial impact of any incident by helping the operating and maintenance teams work more closely together.
Eurotunnel is also working to redesign the information system for its entire maintenance activity. The new system is closer to the model used in aeronautics than in rail systems and provides key information to track the realtime cost of maintenance per equip-ment.

Along with these changes, major projects continued into 2007, with 33 kms of track replaced in the Tunnel and 3.6 kms on the terminals. By autumn 2008, the rail replacement programme will have seen the entire 130 kms Eurotunnel network completely replaced for the second time, plus 29.6 kms of track grinding to optimise rail-wheel contact, while reducing wear-related faults.



¹ By comparison, the Paris RER can run trains every two minutes, but they are only 225 metres long, weigh only about 200 tonnes, and have a top speed of 100 kph.