ZAP’S FACTS!
TRAINS

The Eurostar travels under the sea between Britain and France.

Trains zip through the Channel Tunnel - 31 miles of train tunnels bored 250 feet below the ocean floor.

2 min read
The Eurostar travels under the sea between Britain and France.
THE FULL STORY

For centuries, the only way to cross between Britain and the European mainland was by boat or, later, by plane. Then in 1994, after seven years of digging, the Channel Tunnel opened. It connects Folkestone in England to Coquelles in France with three parallel tunnels - two for trains and a smaller service tunnel in the middle.

The tunnel is 31 miles long, and 23 of those miles run under the sea floor of the English Channel. At its deepest, it sits 250 feet below the waves. Eleven enormous boring machines chewed through chalk to make the tunnels, with British and French crews racing to meet in the middle. When they connected, workers actually shook hands underground.

Eurostar trains now whisk passengers from central London to central Paris in just over two hours at speeds up to 186 mph. The tunnel also carries car shuttles and freight trains. About 20 minutes of each trip are spent below the sea - but there are no windows looking out, just smooth dark tunnel rushing past.

The Pony Express was killed off by the telegraph after just 18 months.
DID YOU KNOW? The Pony Express was killed off by the telegraph after just 18 months. Riders galloped mail 1,900 miles across the American West in 10 days - then wires made the whole service obsolete almost overnight. 2 min read
Beijing's subway is the longest in the world - over 500 miles of track.
DID YOU KNOW? Beijing's subway is the longest in the world - over 500 miles of track. New York's has the most stations, but Beijing wins on track length, with trains running 24 hours a day in some cities. 2 min read
San Francisco's cable cars are pulled by a moving rope under the street.
DID YOU KNOW? San Francisco's cable cars are pulled by a moving rope under the street. Since 1873, the cars have rolled up the city's steep hills by gripping a cable hidden in a slot between the rails. 2 min read