That was probably when the high speed line between London and Eurotunnel hadn't been completed. But then again I don't ever recall the train running at 50kph round bends.
High speed lines have very few bends indeed for obvious reasons.
By the way one of my duties was also to be able to drive the train in an emergency. Obviously we then had to do all the training for that and take regular assessments.
We...
more... also had to be able to communicate in English and French.