The government says work on the Blue Bell Hill tunnel – the first stage of the Channel tunnel rail link near Chatham, Kent – is on schedule and well within budget.
Deputy prime minister John Prescott looked on as construction workers digging from both end of the two-mile tunnel met in the middle.
Completion of the first stage of the £4.2bn tunnel is planned for 2003.
Financial Times 09/06/00 page 4
