The London Post Office Railway carried mail from the sorting office in Paddington to the Eastern sorting office in Whitechapel from February 1927.
The six and a half mile (10.5 km) long route is 70 feet (21 meters) below the streets of London and trains travelled the entire length of the line, stopping at every station, in 25 minutes. It ran 19 hours a day.
At the time many new stations were planned and loudly publicised but they were never built.
Strangely, despite being built and maintained in fine and expensive working order, the railway began to be used less and less.
Why?
Because it was five times more expensive to use that particular railway than it was to use the road transport system nearby. So the contents of the trains ended up on the road network and the railway line was only used to transport the occasional VIP about.
The line eventually closed for good in May 2003 having been a drain on the business for quite some time.
I wonder if ‘HS2′ will last 76 years? I greatly doubt it.
‘All Aboard for Birmingham and Beyond!’
