Yep, all safety related. I guess the atmospheric pressure thing is all in case of a fire. A big difference in pressure at each end of the tunnel could have an effect on a fire if one started. Since incidents such as the fires in the Mont Blanc, Gotthard and Frejus tunnels, along with a couple of incidents in tunnels in Austria, more and more regulations regarding travelling in all tunnels in Europe have been brought in.
Slightly related, almost.
I have just read a sad story about the guy who rescued 15 people from the Blanc fire on his motorcycle. He was a scout working for the italian side and his job was to ride through the tunnel to check for debris or breakdowns.
When the fire took hold, he went into the tunnel again and again bringing people out on his pillion. his last attempt was trying to save an injured driver but couldnt get him onto the bike so he took refuge in one of the shelters as his bike melted into the pavement.
His body was found some days later but these shelters were only designed for periods of 20 minutes in case of fire. The heat in the tunnel reached over 1000’c and lasted 4 days
very sad.
and the fire was just a jinx accident.
i havnt been through th blanc or frejus in 10 yrs maybe more.
i do remember the blanc was very narow without the wider fridges.
i had me mirrors clipped a few time while going through.
i used to like using frejus,better scenery,and a way wider tunnel.
what happens now about haz.
is it still allowed through frejus.
do you still use tunnel-du-chat en route,or is it all motorways now.
how much do the tolls amount to now,from calais to milan and return including tunnel.
can you still use the old nationals[hochi minn]
joigney/chalon nord etc.
is there any fun on the job now?
carisio.
is mama still alive.
coffee you have the answers.
you missed the tag at the start 
…Denis F[/i]
didnt work.
will try again
Has anyone driven over the top at frejus? Will be going down to monza in june so there hopefully will be no snow. Just fancy it to see what it is like plus we carry gas on the trucks which they might be quite tetchy about. Will be doing it in a 12 tonne 230bhp Iveco cargo rigid it i do.
it did work after all.
anyone remember this sight,on the way down from the blanc.
i got the photo on this site about 2 yrs ago.
i thought it was a brilliant photo.
brings back memories
greg50:
i used to like using frejus,better scenery,and a way wider tunnel.
what happens now about haz.
is it still allowed through frejus.
do you still use tunnel-du-chat en route,or is it all motorways now.
how much do the tolls amount to now,from calais to milan and return including tunnel.
can you still use the old nationals[hochi minn]joigney/chalon nord etc.
is there any fun on the job now?
carisio.
is mama still alive.
coffee you have the answers.
You cant use the Tunnel du Chat any more, they have put a 7.5 tonne limit on the roads to and from it. Usualy we use motorway all the way now, you can do Calais to Milan in well under 2 days legal driving.
Here is a link to the French Autoroute route planner. It will give you routes with tolls, all through France and the rest of Europe. There doesn’t seem to be a way of putting via points in though, so you will have to do your route in stages to get the standard trucking routes.
The job isn’t as much fun as you probably remember, time scales have reduced and competition has made the profit margins tight, so the bosses expect fast trips and turn-arounds. There are still characters on the job though, so there are still fun times, just not as much time to have fun.
Carisio is still going strong, in fact they have just built a big extension and tarmacked the lorry park. I’m afraid I’m not running down to Italy any more, so I can’t tell you about Mama. I think that the place changed hands about 18 months ago, so she’s probably not there. I seem to remember that the daughter(?) was still in charge of the till though.
I have been through the Frejus with Haz’, but not recently so again I am not sure. There have been quite a few changes in the last year or so.
One of my former motors was going through the tunnel last year.
Air-con on, windows up.
The pressure must have found a weak spot in the glass because the n/s door window blew out - and it was outwards.
No other explanation for it, pressure.
Always wise to have a window open an inch in a long tunnel.
thks for the tip denis.
id love a trip to italy.
i used to work for shanahan from dublin.im sure you will remember them.
he want down,but i was talking to the people who took over on mon.
they wont do italy anymore because of the expense.
i suppose they cant be blamed,even expensive going through swiss now as well.
at the time i was with shanahan,he was the main company in ireland doing italy even subbing out backloads to both irish and english companies.
its a pity.
so anyone out there who wants a week off,i will do the trip for you to italy.