Third rail or overhead wires for an early Channel Tunnel?

Would a Channel Tunnel completed in 1905 use third-rail electrification?

Possibly: the initial overhead-wire preference is challenged by period practice, and both cost and conductor protection affect the choice.

The initial preference is for overhead wires, especially outside the tunnel. Another participant points to the contemporary preference for third rail, and Clarke accepts it as a possible choice while retaining his preference for overhead on longer routes. Cost, legal liability, and the design of protective shrouding enter the comparison. Keeping people or livestock from forming a path to ground would protect both life and the continuity of service. Either system remains possible under the assumed construction date around 1900.