In a proposal that might seem ‘blue sky,’ or perhaps ‘blue sea,’ a campaign is on to link the Channel Islands of Jersey and Guernsey with mainland France by a set of tunnels that would carry trains from St Peter Port on Jersey through Saint Helier on Guernsey and on to France.
Proponents of the plan, mostly islanders, say the tunnel would take about ten years to build and would cost several billion Euros, but would “provide a fixed link between the Channel Islands and France for the long-term economic, environmental and social future of the region.”
Fans of the plan, calling itself Connect 3 Million, believe about 8,000 travelers a day would use the system, and that it would make transport of goods and food more secure, as well as possibly relieving a housing crisis by allowing more people to commute from the islands to jobs in France.
Inspiration for the project has been drawn in part by projects that have used undersea tunnels to link several of the Faroe Islands north of Scotland.
