<P> There is a need for full passport controls, since this is the border between the Schengen Area and the Common Travel Area . There are juxtaposed controls, meaning that passports are checked before boarding first by officials belonging to departing country and then officials of the destination country . These are only placed at the main Eurostar stations: French officials operate at London St Pancras, Ebbsfleet International and Ashford International, while British officials operate at Calais - Fréthun, Lille - Europe, Brussels - South and Paris - Gare du Nord . There are security checks before boarding as well . For the shuttle road - vehicle trains, there are juxtaposed passport controls before boarding the trains . </P> <P> For Eurostar trains travelling from places south of Paris, there is no passport and security check before departure, and those trains must stop in Lille at least 30 minutes to allow all passengers to be checked . No checks are done on board . There have been plans for services from Amsterdam, Frankfurt and Cologne to London, but a major reason to cancel them was the need for a stop in Lille . </P> <P> The reason for juxtaposed controls is a wish to prevent illegal immigration before reaching British soil, and because a check of all passengers on a train can take 30 minutes, which creates long queues if done at arrival . </P> <P> The terminals' sites are at Cheriton (near Folkestone in the United Kingdom) and Coquelles (near Calais in France). The terminals are designed to transfer vehicles from the motorway onto trains at a rate of 700 cars and 113 heavy vehicles per hour . The UK site uses the M20 motorway for access . The terminals are organised with the frontier controls juxtaposed with the entry to the system to allow travellers to go onto the motorway at the destination country immediately after leaving the shuttle . The area of the UK site was severely constrained and the design was challenging . </P>

How much is the tunnel from england to france