opening of the tunnel, ascribing these to the tunnel in a period which has seen many
other changes in the economy is more difficult. Since the commencement of
construction in 1987 we have witnessed the moves to complete the Single European
Market by the removal of remaining barriers to trade, but also of duty-free sales on
intra-EU movements, as well as the opening up of the EU to the east following the
collapse of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the enlargement of the EU in May 2004. The
introduction of the Euro for 12 of the EU member states has also had an impact on the
development of trade. However, the economies of the EU did not continue to grow as
was expected in 1987. Changing policies towards transport, with the privatisation of
the rail network in the UK, the growth of low-cost airlines and moves towards a wider
introduction of road user charging, especially for trucks, have also had impacts on the
growth and pattern of traffic.
We have established a broad methodology to identify and classify the various impacts
of the Tunnel on the Kent economy, but most of the report concentrates on the
documentation of changes in the Kent economy since the mid-1980s. In order to
document this more effectively most of the work so far has concentrated on the
Channel Corridor (Shepway, Ashford and Maidstone) and Dover where we would
expect to find most of the impacts (Fig. 1), but we are also monitoring changes in
Kent and Medway as a whole and, for reference, with the South East England region.
Figure 1. Administrative Districts of Kent and Medway
2.2 Methodology
In seeking to model the effects of the Channel Tunnel the first task has been to define
the nature and extent of the project itself. Although the project can be defined
narrowly as the Tunnel system itself and its terminals at Cheriton and Fréthun, the
Tunnel is part of both the road and rail networks linking the UK, France and Belgium.
Thus there is a broader possible definition which encompasses the complementary rail