[1] As part of the Channel Tunnel project, the plan for services included the use of dedicated shuttle trains that would carry both passenger and freight vehicles between Britain and France, which would compete with the cross-channel ferries.

In order to accommodate these services, it was planned to build a brand new vehicle terminal on each side of the tunnel that would allow cars and lorries to be loaded quickly onto the trains.

[2] As a consequence, 12,000,000 cubic metres (420,000,000 cu ft) of material had to be removed to provide solid foundations, before work could begin on building the actual facility.

The tunnel was officially opened on 6 May 1994, with services between Cheriton and Coquelles beginning in July the same year, when the first freight shuttles started running.

The terminal has a larger loading gauge than the rest of the French network owing to the oversized trailers used to carry the road going vehicles.