Eurotunnel Delays Start of Service

The Anglo-French company announced that it will miss another opening deadline but admitted that this time there was nobody to blame but itself. The company said it will be unable to meet the March 7 start of freight service and might even have to delay the May 8 start of passenger service because its testing program is taking longer than planned. But co-Chairman Andre Benard told French radio that he still hopes freight services can start in March. The official state opening on May 6 of the $14.82-billion project will go on as planned, and Eurotunnel said it is working to start up services soon after that deadline. The English Channel tunnel project, more than 30 miles long, has been dogged by delays.