[2] Groupe Eurotunnel was established on 13 August 1986 to finance, build, and operate the Channel Tunnel under a concession granted by the French and British governments.

Its rail infrastructure comprises 50.45 kilometres (31.35 miles) of double track railway in the main tunnels, plus extensive surface-level terminal facilities at Folkestone in England and Calais in France.

In December 2009, Groupe Eurotunnel and SNCF acquired the French rail freight operator Veolia Cargo, gaining multiple subsidiaries in the process.

[5] Furthermore, the company employed Maître d'Oeuvre to act as a supervisory engineering body under the terms of the concession that monitored and reported on the project.

[12] On 6 May 1994, the completed tunnel was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II and President François Mitterrand, regular services commenced later that same month.

[3] In its first year of operation, Groupe Eurotunnel lost £925 million, which was attributed to disappointing revenue from both passengers and freight traffic, as well as heavy interest charges on its £8 billion of debt.

On 30 December 1999, as required by the Concession Agreement, Groupe Eurotunnel presented a road tunnel project to the British and French governments.

[24][25] The return to financial health allowed Groupe Eurotunnel to announce, on 28 October 2009, the anticipated voluntary redemption of some of its convertible debt.

[39][40] In June 2018, Getlink and auditor EY jointly presented a recent study on UK–Europe trade flows via the Channel Tunnel to the European Commission.

[citation needed] In early 2020, Getlink announced the separation of the position of chairman of the supervisory board from that of chief executive officer from July 2020; accordingly, Jacques Gounon remained President and Yann Leriche became CEO.

[44] Following the Brexit vote for the United Kingdom to leave the European Union, Getlink and subsidiary company Eurotunnel made preparations for impending border control changes.

A smart border has been developed in collaboration with Customs and a Customs-SIVEP center to carry out additional veterinary and phytosanitary controls has been built.

As of 2020[update], Eurostar is the only passenger train operator that uses the tunnel, offering services that connect the United Kingdom with France, Belgium & The Netherlands.

The company also owns the small Samphire Hoe nature reserve on the coast of Kent, England, which was created from Channel Tunnel spoil during construction in the 1980s/90s.

In August 2018, Bloomberg Businessweek reported that Getlink is interested in setting up an Ouigo-style low cost high speed rail service between London and Paris, travelling between the railway stations of Stratford International and Charles-de-Gaulle.

[52] In March 2022, Getlink was reportedly examining the prospects of establishing its own rolling stock leasing company in order to lower the costs involved in operating trains through the Channel Tunnel and launching such services.

[53] In September 2020, Getlink announces a partnership with RATP Dev to jointly bid under the "Régionéo" brand name for regional rail services in France which will gradually opened to competitive tendering.