The Postal Museum

Sebastian Anthony

Sebastian Anthony





Sebastian Anthony

Sebastian Anthony

Sebastian Anthony

Sebastian Anthony

Sebastian Anthony

Sebastian Anthony

Sebastian Anthony

Sebastian Anthony

Sebastian Anthony

Sebastian Anthony

Sebastian Anthony

For almost 80 years, starting way back in 1927, a fleet of driverless electric trains traversed 6.5 miles of narrow gauge rail deep below central London. At its peak, the London Post Office Railway operated for 22 hours per day, hauling tons of mail between the Paddington sorting office in the west, Mount Pleasant sorting office and depot in the middle, and the Whitechapel eastern delivery office, with a few smaller stops in between.

Royal Mail eventually closed the system in 2003, stating that operational costs were five times higher than using road transport for the same task—which is beautifully ironic, as the London Post Office Railway was originally built because of massive road traffic congestion in the early 1900s.

From September 2017, the Mail Rail, as it later became known, will ride again—but it'll carry people rather than post. You should book now. Like, right now, before you finish reading the story. Tickets are selling very quickly, and the train line's throughput is very low.

The Mail Rail's most recent rolling stock was built way back in 1980; it didn't have any seats, nor was it really rated for human transportation through some rather rough-looking tunnels. So, the Postal Museum—the charity that now operates the railway—commissioned some brand-new trains from Severn Lamb in Stratford-upon-Avon.

The trains are formed of three carriages, with a locomotive unit at each end. There is a total of eight passenger pods that are each theoretically capable of carrying four people, but only if you're okay with a stranger sitting on your lap. I was seated in a pod with just one other person and it already felt really cramped—but four children, or perhaps two adults and two kids, would probably be okay. Likewise, if you're over six foot, your head will hit the clear plastic panels that form the roof of each carriage.

While the original Mail Rail locomotives were powered by an electrified third rail, the new trains are battery powered. Somewhat oddly, the batteries were right there in the middle of the train for me to gawk at. I wasn't allowed to poke around too much (dead journalists are bad for PR), but they looked like 12 normal car batteries in series. Sadly, by the time the Mail Rail opens to the public in September, I suspect the health-and-safety inspector will have ordered the batteries to be covered up.

The ride itself lasts for about 15 minutes, which is probably about as long as you want to be cooped up in a dark, tiny enclosure deep underground. A narrator tells you some interesting things about the Mail Rail as you slowly rumble along the tracks. The train stops twice at some smaller stations, where some fancy projectors treat you to a multimedia experience. There are so many weird signs and junctions and side tunnels and things that it's quite tough to take it all in. Most of the tunnels are wide enough for two trains, and some of the stations feel big enough that you could almost be on the London Underground, but there's at least one stretch of single-track tunnel that is super-narrow and claustrophobic.

In a word, Mail Rail is awesome, and if you're at all interested in trains, history, London, or just cool stuff, you should check it out. My only misgiving is that the ride itself could do with a bit more detail. The video presentations are clearly designed for kids and generic tourists; the narrator provides some flavour, but there's so much more to be learned.

Listing image by The Postal Museum