Rail transport in England

The U.K. government on March 9 announced a two-year delay to construction on part of the HS2 high-speed railway connecting London with cities in the north of England.

The part of the line running into central London would also be delayed, as part of cost-saving measures, Transport Minister Mark Harper said.

Britain planned to plant a nuclear bomb inside the Channel Tunnel to blow up the transport link in a desperate bid to severe ties with Europe. Previously top secret papers have revealed that officials once plotted the collapse of the tunnel between the UK and France in the event of an emergency.

Britain will contribute 10 million euros ($11.2 million) to increased French humanitarian assistance and a fast-track asylum process for thousands of migrants camped in Calais in the hope of crossing the Channel, both countries said on Aug. 20. 

Britain's government promised new measures on August 3 to crack down on illegal immigrants by making landlords evict them, as the Calais migrants crisis continued to dominate the headlines.

French riot police clashed with migrants overnight who tried to storm the fences and pass the Channel Tunnel to Britain. The migrants managed to tear down several security fences before charging the final fence before the entrance to the 50km Channel Tunnel. French Police repelled them by using spray and physical force.

Ending the crisis that has seen thousands of attempts by migrants to reach England from Calais in recent weeks is a "top priority", the interior ministers of France and Britain wrote in a joint statement August 2.

Three migrants trying to smuggle their way into the Channel Tunnel to reach Britain were burnt by an electric shock, one seriously, local French authorities said on July 14.