Transport: The Channel Tunnel at 20

Eurotunnel on Friday accused Eurostar staff of not following safety rules when evacuating passengers from high speed trains that broke down in the tunnel under the Channel last weekend.The tunnel operator strongly rejected suggestions that it contributed to the chaos when 2,000 passengers were trapped for a night in five trains that broke down in the tunnel between Britain and France on December 18."We have, here and there, been unjustly suspected of not acting as we should have done" after the breakdown, Eurotunnel said in a statement.

Looking for some good news amid all the doom and gloom? Here's some, from a most unexpected quarter. Eurotunnel, the infamously troubled company that operates the rail tunnel between Britain and France, has declared the first quarterly dividend in its 23-year history.

AP - Eurotunnel SA, the operator of the English Channel tunnel, on Tuesday blamed a fire last year in the undersea route between France and Britain for nearly wiping out its profit in 2009.

PARIS (AP) -- Eurotunnel SA, the operator of the English Channel tunnel, on Tuesday blamed a fire last year in the undersea route between France and Britain for nearly wiping out its profit in 2009....

Eurotunnel announced on Wednesday it will pay its first dividend since the company was created in 1986. A four euro cents per share dividend was announced after the Channel tunnel operator reported a 2008 net profit of 40 million euros.

Rivals to high-speed Eurostar trains could also use the Channel tunnel between France and Britain for the London Olympics in 2012, Eurotunnel head Jacques Gounon said on Friday in an interview."If countries advance quickly on the access conditions file, it could be possible," Gounon told the German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung."But we had better not waste any time," he warned.

Channel tunnel rail services between Britain and continental Europe resumed on Saturday following a smoke alert on a train, operators said, though delays are expected.Freight and passenger services through the under-sea link were halted shortly after 0600 GMT Saturday following a problem on a Eurotunnel shuttle going through the south tunnel."There was some smoke emanating from a shuttle transporting trucks. Within 10 minutes all passengers were evacuated into the service tunnel," a Eurotunnel spokeswoman told AFP.

Eurostar and Eurotunnel, the operators of rail services through the Channel Tunnel, did not provide enough information to travellers during this week's service shutdown, officials said Thursday.The verdict came from the Channel Tunnel Intergovernmental Commission (IGC), the Franco-British body that supervises traffic through the tunnel and which met Wednesday to discuss the chaotic events of recent days.