Karl Bushby Seeks Tunnel Access for 36,000-Mile Walk
karl bushby is asking for permission to walk through the Channel Tunnel after a 36,000-mile trek from Patagonia brought him to the final stretch of a journey that began in 1998. MPs are urging France to make an exception so the British Army veteran can reach his childhood home in Hull, East Yorks, by Christmas.
His route is now less than 500 miles from home, and he reached the German-Belgian border on his most recent leg in June. Bushby and his supporters wrote to the French firm Getlink for permission to use the tunnel’s service tunnel, which runs roughly 30 miles between the railway lines 148 feet under the seabed of the English Channel.
Getlink and the Channel Tunnel
Walking the tunnel without special dispensation is illegal and punishable with a prison sentence. That leaves Bushby’s request dependent on a rare exception rather than a straightforward travel decision.
Bushby said, “It's been radio silence for a while from the tunnel, a month ago I sent another email chasing, and my father has been involved as well to see if we can get someone's attention.” He also said previously, “It would be pretty miserable if it were a no, even if the Russians let me through (their country), despite world tensions.”
Sir David Davis and Cam Thomas
Sir David Davis, the Conservative MP, called Bushby’s “27-year journey across multiple continents” “a triumph of human endurance.” He also said, “Having braved the world's most hostile environments to walk 36,000 miles home, it would be an absolute absurdity if this epic feat were derailed at the final hurdle by simple bureaucratic red tape.”
Cam Thomas, the Lib Dem MP for Tewkesbury and former Royal Air Force Flight Lieutenant, said, “Speaking as a retired RAF Police Officer, Karl is neither the first nor last Para to make an extraordinary decision in the bar. I salute his tenacity,” and added, “In 1944, the British 6th Airborne Division dropped to liberate France. I will write to the French Ambassador, to request our allies facilitate this veteran's return to his mum.”
Channel Tunnel precedent
The tunnel has been crossed before in unusual circumstances. In 1994, more than 100 people walked it led by Daley Thompson and raised more than £1million for charity. In 2016, two Iranian men were jailed for crossing under the Channel via the route, and another man from Sudan was found inside the structure and later pleaded guilty to obstruction.
For Bushby, the immediate issue is whether French authorities will allow a one-off crossing that keeps him moving toward Hull without forcing a far less practical alternative at the end of a 27-year journey.
