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The Channel Tunnel terminals sites are at Cheriton (Folkestone in the United Kingdom) and Coquelles (Calais in France). The terminals are unique facilities designed to transfer vehicles from the motorway onto trains at a rate of 700 cars and 113 heavy vehicles per hour. Cheriton uses the M20 motorway and High Speed Link. The terminals are organised with the frontier controls juxtaposed with the entry to the system to allow travellers to go onto the motorway at the destination country immediately after leaving the shuttle. The area of the UK site was severely constrained and the design was challenging. To achieve design output, the shuttles accept cars on double-decks; for flexibility, ramps were placed inside the shuttles to provide access to the top decks. At Folkestone, there are 20 kilometres (12 mi) of mainline track and 45 turnouts with eight platforms. At the terminals, the shuttle trains traverse a figure eight, before loading again, to reduce uneven wear on the wheels.
See Link for more details on the construction and development of the tunnel and rail link.

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