London Post Office Railway

The line ran from Paddington Head District Sorting Office in the west to the Eastern Head District Sorting Office at Whitechapel in the east, a distance of {{convert|6.5|mi|km}}. It had eight stations, the largest of which was underneath Mount Pleasant, but by 2003 only three stations remained in use because the sorting offices above the other stations had been relocated.{{Cite journal|last=Pelling|first=Andrew|date=April 2003|title=The Future of Mail Rail: A Report by the London Assembly's Public Services Committee|url=https://www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/files/gla_migrate_files_destination/archives/assembly-reports-pubserv-mailrail.pdf|journal=Greater London Authority|isbn=1-85261-469-2|via=www.london.gov.uk}}

{{London Post Office Railway}}

In 1911, a plan evolved to build an underground railway {{convert|6+1/2|mi|km}} longRomance of London's Underground, Ayer Publishing from Paddington to Whitechapel serving the main sorting offices along the route; road traffic congestion was causing unacceptable delays. The contract to build the tunnels was won by John Mowlem and Co.{{cite web|url=http://www.time-capsules.co.uk/picture/number2132.asp|title=Sign in to Photo Forums|website=www.time-capsules.co.uk}} Construction of the tunnels started in February 1915 from a series of shafts. Most of the line was constructed using the Greathead shield system, with limited amounts of hand-mining for connecting tunnels at stations.

The main line has a single {{convert|9|ft|adj=on}} diameter tube with two tracks. Just before stations, tunnels diverge into two single-track {{convert|7|ft|adj=on}} diameter tunnels leading to two parallel {{convert|25|ft|adj=on}} diameter station tunnels. The main tube is at a depth of around {{convert|70|ft}}.{{cite magazine| title=London's Post-Office Railway| date = March 1952| page =164|volume= 97| number= 3| issn = 0032-4558|magazine = Popular Mechanics| publisher =Hearst Magazines|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yNwDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA164}} Stations are at a much shallower depth, with a 1-in-20 gradient into the stations. The gradients assist in slowing the trains when approaching stations, and accelerating them away. There is also less distance to lift mail from the stations to the surface. At Oxford Circus the tunnel runs close to the Bakerloo line tunnel of the London Underground. The tunnel also runs under Selfridges as the recent 2018 refurbishment of the building revealed.{{cite web | url=https://www.ajbuildingslibrary.co.uk/projects/display/id/8258 | title=Selfridges London | AJ Buildings Library }}

File:London Post Office Railway Map.jpg

During 1917, work was suspended due to the shortage of labour and materials. By June 1924, track laying had started. In February 1927, the first section, between Paddington and the West Central District Office, was made available for training. The line became available for the Christmas parcel post in 1927 and letters were carried from February 1928.

In 1954, plans were developed for a new Western District Office at Rathbone Place, which required a diversion, opening in 1958.New Tunnels for Post Office Railway Railway Gazette 25 April 1958 page 495{{Cite journal | last1 = Blackford | first1 = S. | last2 = Cuthbert | first2 = E. W. | doi = 10.1680/iicep.1960.11893 | title = Underground Station for Western District Post Office, London. (Includes Plate) | journal = ICE Proceedings | volume = 15 | issue = 2 | pages = 81 | year = 1960 }}{{Cite journal | last1 = Collingridge | first1 = V. H. | last2 = Tuckwell | first2 = R. E. | doi = 10.1680/iicep.1960.11897 | title = Underground Station for Western District Post Office, London. (Includes Plates) | journal = ICE Proceedings | volume = 15 | issue = 2 | pages = 95 | year = 1960 }} It was not until 3 August 1965 that the new station and office were opened by the Postmaster General, Tony Benn. The disused section was used as a store tunnel; some parts of it still have the track in place.

In 1987, the railway changed its name to Mail Rail in celebration of its 60th anniversary, and some trains were rebuilt with more aerodynamic casings.

A Royal Mail press release in April 2003 said that the railway would be closed and mothballed at the end of May that year. Royal Mail had earlier stated that using the railway was five times more expensive than using road transport for the same task. The Communication Workers Union claimed the actual figure was closer to three times more expensive but argued that this was the result of a deliberate policy of running the railway down and using it at only one-third of its capacity. A local governmental report by the Greater London Authority stated that the "line carries an average of four million letters and parcels per day" and was in support of continued use and criticized the increase of lorries on local roads, estimated to be 80 more truck loads per week.{{Cite web|url=https://www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/files/gla_migrate_files_destination/archives/assembly-reports-pubserv-mailrail.pdf|title=The future of Mail Rail|author=London Assembly's Public Services Committee|website=Greater London Assembly}} The railway was closed on 31 May 2003.End of the line for Mail Rail Entrain issue 19 July 2003 page 12

In April 2011, an urban exploration group called the "Consolidation Crew" published accounts of illicit access to the tunnels. Detailed photography and text revealed that the railway is still largely in good condition, despite some natural decay.{{cite web |url=http://www.placehacking.co.uk/2011/04/24/security-breach-london-mail-rail/ |title=Security-Breach: London Mail Rail|publisher=placehacking.co.uk |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110429171845if_/http://www.placehacking.co.uk/2011/04/24/security-breach-london-mail-rail/ |archive-date=2011-04-29 |access-date=2021-04-25 }}{{cite web |url=http://www.silentuk.com/?p=2792 |title=The Post Office Railway (Mail Rail)|publisher=silentuk.com |archive-date=23 April 2011|url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110423152336/http://www.silentuk.com/?p=2792|access-date=20 April 2011|date=18 April 2011 }} More recently, media have been admitted to the tunnels as part of the pre-launch publicity for the Postal Museum. Photographs show much of the infrastructure in place.{{cite web|title=Eight storeys down on abandoned tracks|url=http://leftoverlondoner.tumblr.com/post/160455903728/eight-storeys-down-on-abandoned-tracks|website=Leftover London|access-date=10 May 2017}}

A team from the University of Cambridge has taken over a short, double track section of unused Post Office tunnel near Liverpool Street Station, where a newly built tunnel for Crossrail is situated some two metres beneath. The study is to establish how the original cast-iron lining sections, which are similar to those used for many miles of railway under London, resist possible deformation and soil movement caused by the new works. Digital cameras, fibre optic deformation sensors, laser scanners and other low-cost instruments, reporting in real time, have been installed in the vacated tunnel. As well as providing information about the behaviour of the old construction materials, the scheme can also provide an early warning if the new tunnel bores are creating dangerous soil movement.{{cite web|title=Bridging the Knowledge Gap in London's 'Secret Tube'|url=http://www-smartinfrastructure.eng.cam.ac.uk/news/20140613BCIawardshortlist|publisher=Cambridge Centre for Smart Infrastructure & Construction|access-date=16 June 2014}}

File:All Aboard the Mail Rail (44303391761).jpg

In October 2013, the British Postal Museum & Archive announced that it intended opening part of the network to the public.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-25918218|publisher=BBC News|title=Mail Rail: The hidden trains under London's streets}}{{cite web|url=http://postalmuseum.org/mail-rail|publisher=British Postal Museum & Archive|title=Mail Rail}} After approval was granted by Islington Council, work on the new museum and the railway began in 2014.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2014-03/14/mail-rail|title=Ride London's abandoned underground 'Mail Rail'|last=Solon|first=Olivia|date=14 March 2014|magazine=Wired UK|access-date=8 June 2014}} Special tourist trains were installed in late 2016. It was planned to open a circular route, running beneath the depot at Mount Pleasant with a journey time of around 15 minutes, by mid-2017.{{cite web|url=https://www.postalmuseum.org/discover/attractions/mail-rail-ride/|title=Ride Mail Rail - The Postal Museum -}}{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2017/jul/28/mail-rail-underground-london-postal-museum|title=Mail Rail delivers an underground history lesson at London's new Postal Museum|first=Priya|last=Khaira-Hanks|date=28 July 2017|work=The Guardian}}{{Cite news|url=https://postalmuseum.org/discover/attractions/|title=Attractions {{!}} The Postal Museum {{!}} Opening July 2017|work=The Postal Museum|access-date=2017-04-24|language=en-US}} The museum opened on 5 September.{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/sep/02/engineer-lends-voice-to-mail-rail-tours-as-secret-world-opens-to-public|title=Engineer lends voice to Mail Rail tours as secret world opens to public|last=Kennedy|first=Maev|date=2017-09-02|work=The Guardian|access-date=2017-09-06|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}

In its first year of operation (2017–2018), the trains performed 9,000 trips totalling {{convert|6213|mi|-1}}, with the railway and museum hosting over 198,000 visitors.{{cite magazine |editor1-last=Milner |editor1-first=Chris |title=Rail Mail's first year of success |magazine=The Railway Magazine |date=October 2018 |volume=164 |issue=1,411 |page=10 |publisher=Mortons Media |location=Horncastle |issn=0033-8923}}

The first stock was delivered in 1926 with the opening of the system. All stock used was electrically powered.

File:London Post Office Railway 1930 Stock.jpg]]

• Original 1926 electric locomotives

• 1927 Stock — Original stock
• 1930 & 1936 Stock — Replacement stock for 1927 Stock
• 1962 Stock — Prototype stock
• 1980 Stock — Replacement stock

Some trains have been preserved at the Launceston Steam Railway.{{cite web|url=http://www.launcestonsr.co.uk/|title=Launceston Steam Railway|website=www.launcestonsr.co.uk}}

• The railway features in the novel The Horn of Mortal Danger by Lawrence Leonard in which there is a connecting tunnel to a secret railway to the North London network. The only other known connection is in the disused tunnel between Highgate and the disused Cranley Gardens.
• A version of the railway is featured in the novel The Great Game by Lavie Tidhar. It takes mail to Buckingham Palace, and is run by the book's featured Simulacra.
• The railway appears in the film Hudson Hawk as 'Poste Vaticane' in the Vatican City. Bruce Willis (as Hawk) stows away in one of the mail containers.
• A mail train system closely based on the railway is in Charlie Higson's third Young Bond book, Double or Die.
• The railway is prominent in Oliver Harris's 2014 book Deep Shelter.{{citation needed|date=November 2017}}
• The railway features in Mark Leggatt's 2016 novel The London Cage, as a means for Connor Montrose to move about London. The International Thriller, a follow-up to Names of the Dead,{{Cite web|url=https://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/usreviews/books/fledglingdead.html|title=Names of the Dead by Mark Leggatt: Undiscovered Scotland Book Review|last=By|first=Undiscovered Scotland|website=www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk|language=en-GB|access-date=2017-12-19}} was published by Scottish-based publisher Fledgling Press in June 2016.{{Cite web|url=http://crimereview.co.uk/page.php/review/3900|title=The London Cage Review|website=crimereview.co.uk|access-date=2017-12-19}}
• The railways make an appearance in Adrian Tchaikovsky's 2020 novel The Doors of Eden as Khan and Lee are being led by Stig towards a door to escape from pursuit by Rove's henchmen.

A pneumatic underground railway{{cite book |last= Martin |first= Andrew|date= 10 January 2013|title= Underground Overground|publisher= Profile Books |isbn=978-1846684784}} was used by the Post Office in London between 1863 and 1874 using individual wheeled capsules, operated by the London Pneumatic Despatch Company.

In 1910, a {{convert|450|m|adj=on}} tunnel railway opened in Munich, Germany between München Hauptbahnhof and the nearby Post office. The tunnels were damaged in World War II, restored in 1948 and partially rebuilt in 1966 to allow for the first Munich S-Bahn tunnel. Operations ceased in 1988.{{cite web| url = http://www.merte.de/BE/archiv/80335-01.htm | title = Deutsche Bundespost, Bahnpostamt, 80335 München | language = de | work = Bahn-Express | access-date = 12 December 2013}}

Postal Telegraph and Telephone (Switzerland) opened the {{convert|340|m|adj=on}} Post-U-Bahn (underground railway) in Zürich in 1938. It ran between Zürich Hauptbahnhof and the {{ill|Sihlpost|de}}, Zürich's main post office. The track gauge was 60 cm, and the small electric railcar, which could carry 250 kg of mail, collected power from wires between the tracks. Operations ceased on 11 October 1980 when a rubber-tired system replaced the train.Hans Waldburger: Zürichs Post-U-Bahn ist nicht mehr. In: Schweizer Eisenbahn-Revue 4/1980, page 133 (in German)

The Chicago Tunnel Company, in operation between 1906 and 1959, delivered freight, parcels, and coal, and disposed of ash and excavation debris. It operated an elaborate network of {{RailGauge|2ft}} narrow-gauge track in {{convert|2.29|x|1.83|m|ftin|order=flip|abbr=on|adj=ri1}} tunnels running under the streets throughout the central business district including and surrounding the "Loop".

• Subterranean London
• List of British heritage and private railways
• Travelling Post Office
• London Underground
• Royal Mail

{{Reflist|30em}}

{{Refbegin}}

• {{cite book|author=Bayliss, Derek A.|title=The Post Office Railway London|year=1978|publisher=Turntable Publications|location=Sheffield|isbn=0-902844-43-1}}
• {{cite web|url=http://postalmuseum.org/mail-rail|publisher=British Postal Museum & Archive|title=Post Office Underground Railway (Mail Rail)}}
• Bradley Garrett (2013). "Explore Everything: Place-Hacking the City". Verso Books, London. {{ISBN|978-1781681299}}
• {{cite journal|title=The Post Office (London) Railway|journal=The Post Office Electrical Engineers' Journal|volume=21|issue=2|date=July 1928|pages=147–154}}
• {{cite journal | author=Mackay, A.C. | title=The New Post Office Railway Station at the New Western District Office | journal=The Post Office Electrical Engineers' Journal |date=April 1966 | issue=1 | volume=59 | page=12}}
• {{cite journal | author1=Finden, R.E. | author2=Piqué, P. | author3=Kettridge, K. | title=New Transformer/Rectifier Units for the Post Office Railway | journal=British Telecommunications Engineering | volume=2 | issue=4 |date=January 1984 | page=256}}
• {{Cite journal | last1 = Mew | first1 = G. M. | title = Paper 3: The Post Office Railway | doi = 10.1243/PIME_CONF_1964_179_009_02 | journal = Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Conference Proceedings | volume = 179 | issue = 1964 | pages = 39–56 | year = 1964 }}
• {{cite journal | url=https://archive.org/details/poeej198110/page/n145/mode/2up | last1=Berg | first1=I. W. S. | title=The Post Office Railway | journal=The Post Office Electrical Engineers' Journal | date=October 1981 | access-date=27 February 2021 | pages=280–281 | volume=74 | issue=3 }}

{{Refend}}

• {{cite magazine|title=Going underground to avoid the jam|magazine=Rail|issue=334|publisher=EMAP Apex Publications|date=1–14 July 1998|pages=36–41|issn=0953-4563|oclc=49953699}}

{{Commons category|London Post Office Railway|
London Post Office Railway}}

• [http://www.postalheritage.org.uk The British Postal Museum & Archive]
• [http://www.placehacking.co.uk/2011/04/24/security-breach-london-mail-rail/ Place Hacking] A collective report of the trespass into the network by urban explorers in 2011.
• [https://www.theguardian.com/uk_news/story/0,3604,940742,00.html Guardian article] on proposed mothballing.
• [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-25918218 BBC article] A video from the mothballed railway, detailing plans for future use.
• [http://www.openstreetmap.org/way/146237290 Mail rail in openstreetmap.org]

{{Heritage railways in England}}

{{Authority control}}

{{Coord|51.5240|-0.1126|display=title}}

Category:Electric railways in the United Kingdom

Category:Industrial railways in England

Category:2 ft gauge railways in England

Category:Subterranean London

Category:History of rail transport in London

Category:Postal history of the United Kingdom

Category:Railway lines opened in 1927

Category:Railway lines closed in 2003

Category:Postal infrastructure in the United Kingdom

Category:Tunnels completed in 1927

Category:Tunnels in London

Category:1927 establishments in England

Category:2003 disestablishments in England