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The Post Office Railway, also known as Mail Rail, was a narrow gauge driverless private underground railway in London built by the Post Office to move mail between sorting offices. Inspired by the Chicago Tunnel Company, it was in operation from 1927 until 2003. Narrow-gauge railways are railroads (railways) with track spaced at less than the standard gauge of 4 ft 8 in (1. ...
A rapid transit, underground, subway, tube, elevated, or metro(politan) system is a railway — usually in an urban area — with a high capacity and frequency of service, and grade separation from other traffic. ...
London (pronounced ) is the capital city of the United Kingdom and the largest city of England (strangely, England has no constitutional existence within the United Kingdom, and therefore cannot be said to have a capital). ...
The Post Office in Oxford. ...
Pre-1910 photograph of the Chicago Freight Subway The Chicago Freight Subway was a unique freight tunnel network under the downtown of the city of Chicago. ...
1927 (MCMXXVII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ...
2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
It ran east-west from Paddington Head District Sorting Office in the west to the Eastern Head District Sorting Office at Whitechapel in the east, a distance of 6.5 miles (10.5 km). It had eight stations, but by 2003 only three stations remained in use because the sorting offices above the other stations had been relocated. Paddington is an area in the west of London in the City of Westminster. ...
The system of London postal districts predate the introduction of postcodes throughout the United Kingdom in the 1960s and have been adapted over time. ...
The system of London postal districts predate the introduction of postcodes throughout the United Kingdom in the 1960s and have been adapted over time. ...
Whitechapel is a place in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, United Kingdom. ...
A mile is a unit of length, usually used to measure distance, in a number of different systems, including Imperial units, United States customary units and Norwegian/Swedish mil. ...
km redirects here. ...
A Royal Mail press release in April 2003 revealed that the system would be closed and "mothballed" (i.e. removed from active service) at the end of May that year. Royal Mail had earlier stated that using the Post Office 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 system down and using it at only one-third of its capacity. Despite a report by the Greater London Authority in support of the continued use of Mail Rail, the system was taken out of use in the early hours of 31 May 2003. Mothballs are small balls of chemical pesticide and deodorant used when storing clothing and other articles susceptible to damage from mold or moth larvae. ...
Royal Mails logo Royal Mail is the national postal service of the United Kingdom. ...
The Communication Workers Union is the main trade union in the United Kingdom for people working for telephone, cable and postal delivery companies, with 300,000 members. ...
The Greater London Authority (GLA) administers the 1579 km² (610 sq. ...
May 31 is the 151st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (152nd in leap years), with 214 days remaining. ...
2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
Some of the former Mail Rail trains have now taken up residence at the Launceston Steam Railway [1]. The Launceston Steam Railway in Cornwall operates for 2 miles, on a 2ft (600mm) gauge. ...
Rolling stock
The London Post Office Railway used various types of rolling stock during its history. The first stock was delivered in 1926 with the opening of the system. All stock used has been electrically powered. Rolling Stock banner Rolling Stock was a newspaper of ideas and a chronicle of the 1980s published in Boulder, Colorado by Ed Dorn and Jennifer Dunbar Dorn. ...
Year 1926 (MCMXXVI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar). ...
Electric locomotives - 1926 Electric Locomotives — Original locomotives
Electric units The London Post Office Railway 1927 Stock was built by English Electric in 1927. ...
The London Post Office Railway 1930 Stock and 1936 Stock was built by English Electric. ...
The London Post Office Railway 1962 Stock was built by English Electric in 1962. ...
The London Post Office Railway 1980 Stock was built by Hunslet in Leeds between 1980 and 1982. ...
See also The metropolis of London has been occupied for many centuries, and has acquired a number of subterranean landmarks. ...
This list of British heritage and private railways is intended as a list of railways (railroads) in Britain. ...
Pre-1910 photograph of the Chicago Freight Subway The Chicago Freight Subway was a unique freight tunnel network under the downtown of the city of Chicago. ...
In fiction The Post Office Railway features in the novel The Horn of Mortal Danger (1980). In it, there is a connecting tunnel between the Railway and the secret railway of the North London System. The only other known connection is in the disused tunnel between Highgate and the disused Cranley Gardens. The Horn of Mortal Danger is a 1980 novel by British musician Lawrence Leonard. ...
1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday. ...
Highgate tube station is a London Underground station on Archway Road, Highgate, not far from Highgate Village in north London. ...
Cranley Gardens railway station is a disused station in the Muswell Hill area of north London. ...
External links - Enthusiast Website Unofficial MailRail Web Page
- Alternative link London Post Office Railway
- Detailed information on construction and operation.
- The British Postal Museum & Archive
- Guardian article on proposed mothballing.
- GLA report on the closure in PDF format.
- This is Local London news report on the closure.
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