Part 3. Cross the channel.
Keywords.

scheme, tunnel, passenger, freight.
Vocabulary.

submerge, tram track, claustrophobic, EuroRoute, Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, Channel Expressway, Flexilink, Scandinavia.
A. In this section, you're going to hear about three schemes proposed on how to cross the English Channel.
They are the Channel Expressway, EuroRoute and Flexilink. Listen carefully and match the pictures blew to the schemes you hear about.
1. EuroRoute is a scheme that operates at much lower running costs than the Channel Tunnel.
Er...What happens is this: Motorway bridges go from each coast, er, 10 kilometers out from the coast and connect up with a 20 kilometer submerged concrete tube tunnel made on two man-made islands in the English Channel.
Er, the roadways spiral gently down to the level of the tunnel.
It's the same principle as the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel in the USA.
And it...it's well researched technology. The thinking ahead to the 21st century,
I believe that people will prefer, will want to drive across, not queue up waiting for trains.
And finally, there are also two seperate supplementary rail-only tunnels, and they can take up to 30 high speed passenger and freight trains in each direction per hour.
2. The Channel Expressway is a scheme consisting of two tunnels which carry both road and train traffic.
The rails are laid flush with the road surface like tram tracks in the fast lane which is closed to traffic once every half hour for the trains to pass through.
Er, really, both the passenger trains and the freight trains are able to use the tunnel, but the freight trains will mostly run during the night when there is less road traffic.
There will be special pumps at regular intervals along the tunnel to clean the air and remove the exhaust fumes from it.
3. Flexilink is the cheapest and most reliable scheme of them all, really.
Ferries, especially the new giant super-ferries are more economical, safe and a lot more flexible than building a tunnel, and they are also friendlier to the environment.
For the motorist and the lorry driver, the pleasurable experience of strolling on the deck with time to enjoy a meal and take a relaxing break during the journey is much pleasant than the claustrophobic sensation of being underground for an hour, and the idea of, you know, being trapped.
Time saved for cars and road freight by building the Channel Tunnel is less than an hour: insignificant saving on journeys of 12 hours or more.
There is no doubt that ferries will continue operating in competition with the Tunnel, both on the short Channel crossing and on the longer Channel crossing from southern England to France and England to Holland, Belgium, Germany and Scandinavia.