28.07.17
Londoners given peek at abandoned Mail Rail Underground line
Londoners will soon be able to enjoy a unique rail experience – by riding a train going along the disused Mail Rail line.
The 6.5-mile track runs deep under the capital, criss-crossing Tube lines and formerly linking six sorting offices with mainline stations at Liverpool Street and Paddington. At most, the small, electric and driverless trains operated for 22 hours a day, employing 220 staff and carrying more than four million letters every day.
But in 2003, trains stopped running on the line as Royal Mail decided the system had become too expensive for the organisation to run.
Yet now, thanks to London’s Postal Museum, rail enthusiasts will be able to take a ride on the tracks and experience a part of the Underground that was previously hidden away from the view of the public.
Visitors will start their tour at the Mount Pleasant sorting office, home to a former engineering depot, before riding on a miniature train that has been adapted to carry people rather than its original cargo of hundreds of letters.
During the ride, passengers will also be told real-life stories about the people who worked on the line, as well as have access to an interactive exhibition where guests can race pneumatic cars.
The exhibition will open to the public on September 4. General admission tickets, which cost £14.50 for adults or £16 with a donation, can be booked here.