Le Shuttle celebrates cargo milestone

When a lorry owned by Nordfrost, the biggest German frozen and chilled food transporter to the UK, crossed the Channel aboard Eurotunnel Le Shuttle Freight this month, it was the 33 millionth truck to make the journey since the service was launched in 1994.

More than 700million tonnes of goods have been transported via the tunnel aboard one of the 15 Truck Shuttles, each 800 metres long and carrying up to 32 trucks while travelling at a speed of 140km/h for a 35-minute journey.

According to its owners, Eurotunnel Le Shuttle Freight now carries 25% of the goods entering the UK.

Christian Dufermont, Freight Commercial Director at Eurotunnel, said: “Since 1994, we have seen a growing appetite for our service and are always looking at ways we continually improve efficiency and speed. It is incredible we have already hit a 33 million milestone and we are looking forward to celebrating our next”.

He highlighted the growing popularity of the Eurotunnel Border Pass service with more than 40% of the service’s clients using it.

The digital wallet, which won the Best Innovation award during Transport and Logistics Innovation Week 2021, makes it possible to exchange information necessary for the passage of goods from the carrier, via digital communications to the authorities of both countries, in a rapid and secure manner.

Mr Dufermont also mentioned a recent study which showed that a lorry on a Shuttle is responsible for 12 times fewer emissions than one using a ferry to cross the Channel.

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