Electric traction is proposed for the early Channel Tunnel, potentially extending along the London-Paris route. Railways are treated as prestige projects that could encourage Britain and France to compete in electrification. Nineteenth-century electric railway examples, including Volk's railway at Brighton, are used to argue that the technology was available. The anticipated trains need not be fast to establish an electrical system that influenced later locomotives and network standards.
Notable Point · 1:54:22-1:56:27
A 1905 tunnel could accelerate railway electrification
An early international electric route could encourage competing national programs and establish lasting technical standards.