Letter: Too many eggs in the tunnel

Too many eggs

in the tunnel

Sir: Richard Hope writes (letter, 2 December) that it is "laughable" to argue that airlines could not switch capacity to meet demand should the Channel Tunnel be put out of action.

I have before me forecasts, published by Eurotunnel, of passenger rail traffic through the tunnel in the year 2040, with and without the high- speed link. Without the link, through rail services alone are expected to carry 22.5 million passengers a year, and with it 45 million.

Last year, international traffic through Heathrow was 44 million passengers. The question posed by the proposed high-speed link is: how many eggs should be placed in one basket?

JOHN ADAMS

Geography Department

University College London

London WC1