The abandoned London Underground tunnels you can now walk through

There was once a time when the London Underground was used for more than just passengers travelling from A to B across the capital.

In fact, it’s had many alternative uses throughout history, including being an air raid shelter during the war and a place that many people who came to the UK on Empire Windrush stayed temporarily when they first arrived in London.

It also used to be used to transport mail around.

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Mail Rail, formerly the Post Office Railway, operated from 1927 until 2003 to move mail around between postal sorting offices. It was like the London Underground but for envelopes rather than people.

Mail Rail’s line ran from Paddington Head District Sorting Office to the Eastern Head Sorting Office in Whitechapel, a distance of 6.5 miles.

It originally had eight stations, the largest of which was underneath Mount Pleasant sorting office, on the boundary between the boroughs of Islington and Camden.

The line was first used for Christmas parcels in 1927 and letters were carried on it from February 1928.

Many years passed but, as time went on, sorting offices were relocated, so there were only a few stations left by the time the line was nearing closure.

Then in April 2003, Royal Mail sent out a press release saying the railway would be closed at the end of May that year. It had previously been reported that using the line was five times more expensive than using road transport for the same task.

As well as the generic Mail Rail experience open to the public to experience this fascinating history there’s an extra special chance for those interested to see even more of this historical system.

It’s worth noting that the Mail Rail experience has been closed during the coronavirus pandemic, but with any luck it will reopen soon.

If you were lucky enough to get involved in the Sponsor a Sleeper program, you get the chance to explore these incredible tunnels and go and see the sleeper you sponsored three times over the course of five years.

Included in the price is three visits for you and a guest to the tunnels. You also get a ride on the Mail Rail each time you go.

Then again, you’d expect plenty of benefits when sponsors had to pay £300 for a sleeper.

So if you didn’t manage to do the sponsoring, in which the sponsor gets their own plaque attached to the train they’re sponsoring, you’ll have to find someone who was successful and ask them if you can be their guest.

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