Eurotunnel undersea clip goes viral

A viral clip of cars riding inside the Channel Tunnel is spreading because most travelers never see the crossing this way: from inside the shuttle, not from a train seat or ferry deck. (x.com) The service in the video is LeShuttle, the vehicle train run by Getlink between Folkestone in Kent and Coquelles near Calais. Getlink says the crossing takes 35 minutes and carries cars, motorbikes, coaches and motorhomes. (leshuttle.com) (getlinkgroup.com) Drivers do not steer through the tunnel itself. They check in at the terminal, clear border controls before boarding, then drive onto a rail shuttle and stay with their vehicle during the trip. (leshuttle.com) (honestjohn.co.uk) The tunnel under the English Channel is a railway tunnel, not a road tunnel. Getlink says it is made up of three bores, each about 50 kilometers long, with a 37 kilometer undersea section linking southeast England and northern France. (getlinkgroup.com) That setup is why the video looks unusual to many viewers. People often know the Channel Tunnel as the route used by Eurostar passenger trains, but the same fixed link also carries vehicle shuttles and freight trains in separate running tunnels. (getlinkgroup.com) The Channel Tunnel opened on May 6, 1994, after digging from both sides of the Strait of Dover was completed in 1991. Encyclopaedia Britannica says the later opening of High Speed 1 in 2007 improved the London connection for international passenger rail. (britannica.com) Getlink said for the tunnel’s 30th anniversary in 2024 that nearly 500 million people and more than 102 million vehicles had traveled through it since opening. The company also said its shuttle operation runs with roughly four to five departures per hour. (press.getlinkgroup.com) The operator’s latest group profile says LeShuttle carried 2.234 million passenger vehicles and 8.3 million passengers in 2025. Its website also says the service handled 59.9 percent of short-straits car traffic in the first half of 2025. (getlinkgroup.com) (leshuttle.com) For travelers, the routine is closer to boarding a train with your car than taking a ferry. LeShuttle says most passengers should check in at least one hour before departure, then remain in or near their vehicle during the 35-minute crossing. (leshuttle.com 1) (leshuttle.com 2) That is the part the viral clip captures: not an underwater road, but a moving train full of road vehicles sealed inside one of Europe’s busiest rail links. (getlinkgroup.com) (x.com)