Mail Rail Tunnels: Explore one of London’s best kept secrets
Explore one of London’s best kept secrets on a walking tour of the historic Mail Rail Tunnels.
The Postal Museum in Phoenix Place, Farringdon, is inviting visitors on a night time adventure through 1.2km of the railway, platforms and tunnels out of hours.
Throughout the Tunnel Walk, expert guides offer in-depth insight into London’s 100-year-old postal railway, including stories about the staff who built, operated and maintained the underground railway which transported mail across London from 1927 to 2003.
Open on select Tuesday, Friday and Saturday evenings each month, a Tunnel Walk offers a unique midweek or weekend activity for those who want to get up close and personal with one of London’s best-kept, subterranean secrets.
The Post Office Underground Railway, later rebranded as Mail Rail, was created to ease congestion on London’s roads and speed up mail deliveries across the capital and the UK.
Construction of the tunnels began in 1914 and opened on December 5, 1927, becoming the World’s first driverless, electric railway.
The railway consisted of six and a half miles of tunnels, measuring just 80cm at their narrowest, which connected Paddington in the West to Whitechapel in the East.
Letters and parcels were transported via eight different stations and sorting offices, running 22 hours a day. At its peak, 4million letters were transported underground every day, with many Londoners completely unaware of the sheer scale of mail moved below their feet.
Mail Rail was closed in 2003, with the tunnels, platforms and sorting offices left completely untouched for over a decade before The Postal Museum reopened a small section of track near Mount Pleasant for tours and train rides in 2017.
Advanced booking is required with tickets priced at £58 each. The Postal Museum’s Tunnel Walks are for ages 12 and over only.
To book and to view safety and access information visit: www.postalmuseum.org/event/tunnel-walks/
Pictured top: A walk from Mount Pleasant Mail Rail station to Liverpool Street station via King Edward station (Picture: The Postal Museum)