The Post Office Railway, rebranded as Mail Rail in 1987, was a subterranean narrow-gauge line running 6.5 miles under London. It operated from 1927 to 2003, connecting eight sorting offices between Paddington and Whitechapel. The system was built to bypass road congestion, inspired by a similar railway in Chicago. At its peak, tiny driverless carriages transported millions of letters and packages daily.
Why Mail Rail Was Abandoned
By 2003, only three sorting offices remained on the line. The Post Office stated that the service had become several times more expensive than road delivery via vans. The railway closed in May 2003 after 76 years of operation. The network then sat unused for over a decade.
Reopening as a Museum Attraction
In 2017, a section of the route under Mount Pleasant was reopened for passenger use as part of the Postal Museum. The museum, located on Phoenix Place, offers rides on the historic railway and exhibits covering 500 years of British postal history. According to the museum's website, the collection includes "vehicles, uniforms, pillar boxes and stamps to a 100-year-old postal railway and incredible stories of innovation, engineering, design and social history."
