UK rebukes French tunnel security

French rail operator SNCF has suspended freight surfaces

LONDON, England -- France has been told it must act quickly to tighten security at the Channel Tunnel so rail freight services can resume, a British transport minister has warned.

The French rail company SNCF suspended freight train movements indefinitely last week because of the number of refugees who have tried to get to Britain through the cross-channel link.

In some cases, refugees have been caught walking through the tunnel.

Eurotunnel, the company that operates the tunnel, has blamed the disruption on the proximity of a refugee camp at Sangatte, which is within two kilometers of the freight train terminal at Coquelles.

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British Transport Minister John Spellar said on Saturday that the UK government was "not satisfied" with French efforts to secure the freight terminal and said rail freight companies could suffer irreparable damage to business because of the suspension.

"I have been saying to my French opposite number that once firms have decided to make a shift from rail back to road, it is going to be difficult to move them again, particularly as they will have had to sign contracts," Spellar told the BBC.

"We have not been happy with the speed with which things have been done there," he said.

"Right up to the prime minister, we have been raising this very vigorously with the French government."

Britain's main rail freight operator EWS said it was losing customers "in droves" after five months of regular cancellations of freight services by SNCF, leading up to the latest suspension.

SNCF imposed the suspension after asylum seekers continued to target its freight depot at Frethun, near Calais.

SNCF said up to 50 would-be immigrants invaded the site whenever a new train was about to depart.

It tried to get four trains through the tunnel last on Tuesday, but only one managed to reach the entrance because asylum seekers were swarming over them, an SNCF spokeswoman said.

Spellar said problems at the freight terminal were partly due to the successful tightening of security at Eurostar passenger train terminals in Paris and Calais.

The cancellations have resulted in more than 50,000 lorries returning to the road network in Britain to cover the 800 km (500 miles) by road from Dover to Glasgow.

Julia Clarke, the Strategic Rail Authority's head of freight, said: "In order to persuade people who are moving cargos domestically and internationally that they should look at rail, we really need a sensible Channel Tunnel service to draw them in.

"So (the suspension) has got knock-on effects on the wider moves to get freight on rail. It is that important."

Eurostar and Shuttle services, which also carry freight lorries, are unaffected.