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Every year, the London Underground facilitates journeys for 1.2 billion passengers across its eleven lines, 272 stations, encompassing a total of 402 km of track. Its establishment in 1863 makes it the first train service operating underground with whom millions, globally, are familiar with. But less people know of its secretive, subterranean younger brother, The Mail Rail.
The London Mail Rail, now converted into The Postal Museum, used to operate successfully for 76 years, originally opening in 1927, and at its peak carried more than six million bags of mail below ground each year – that is four million letters every day. Royal Mail shut down its postal operations in 2003 due to economic considerations, leaving the rail unused until in 2017 when it reopened as a tourist attraction.
As the Museum’s website describes, its mission and vision are that:
“We tell the story of postal communication and its impact on a global society. We use our collection to explore stories around communication, and to inspire everyone to make richer and more meaningful connections in their lives.”
The Mail Rail spanning 10.5 km, used to run between the Paddington Sorting Office in West London to the Sorting Office at Whitechapel in East London and was comprised of eight stations in total. Although the automated, electronic railway system was completely shut down in 2003 and has since not been reinstated, visitors of the museum can still discover these underground passages.
The Museum offers tunnel walks for £58 per person, but what it perhaps is most known for: its mail ride. The mail ride is a 15-minute ride in one of the postal carriages that once used to transport parcels and letters. Although fairly small and inaccessible to some, the adventure of uncovering the tunnels beneath London’s streets, left barren for 14 years, is included with the museum ticket.
A recent visitor of the Museum expressed their enjoyment of the time they spent there upon interview, “Visiting The Postal Museum with my daughter was a wonderful afternoon spent amidst London’s dreary weather! The thoughtful exhibitions and mail ride were insightful and fun ways to educate ourselves about London’s history.”
However, the closed underground postal system is not only an educational insight into an often-forgotten part of London’s history, but is also symbolic of the new, changing modern era.
This sentiment aligns with recent decisions by the Royal Mail to permanently suspend the delivery of mail by most freight channels, consequently moving the transportation of those goods primarily up to road delivery services. According to a Railvolution article published on the 14th of August, “In early July 2024, Royal Mail has announced it is to make its final delivery by the railway in October, bringing almost two centuries of mail rail to an end.” It signals, at this point, what appears to be the end of for major freight postal operations for Royal Mail.
However, despite the fleet of Royal Mail trains being decommissioned and ending their partnership with freight operator DB Cargo, as of now, the Campaign for Better Transport appears to have responded. As per their article on the 6th of November, thousands of their supporters signed a postcard petition urging the collaboration of Royal Mail and DB Cargo to continue.
It states,” An incredible 3,650 of you signed our postcard, urging Royal Mail to work with the government and freight operator DB Cargo to find a way for mail to stay on rail. The relationship between Royal Mail and rail is a long one, a 200 year one, that shouldn’t be ended during the time at which we need rail freight the most.”
Therefore, it may be worth to spend an afternoon at The Postal Museum whether one is a train enthusiast, or just a person hoping to learn about this emblem of London’s postal history.
