London's hidden underground mail rail to open to visitors
10 photos: London's mail rail
Festive visits – At Christmas they took groups of children to visit Santa through tunnels painted snow white and bearing festive murals.
Hide Caption
6 of 10
10 photos: London's mail rail
Starring role – The network doubled as a rail track beneath the Vatican for the 1991 Bruce Willis action movie "Hudson Hawk." This engine was painted yellow for its starring role.
Hide Caption
7 of 10
10 photos: London's mail rail
Heavy traffic – At the height of operations, the fully automated service was carrying four million letters each day.
Hide Caption
8 of 10
10 photos: London's mail rail
Deep beneath the streets – The rail tunnels, 70 feet (21 meters) below the streets of London, resemble miniature versions of London's Underground passenger network.
Hide Caption
9 of 10
10 photos: London's mail rail
New beginnings – Some of the existing engines will be converted to carry passengers on a short stretch of track when the Mail Rail opens to the public.
Hide Caption
10 of 10
10 photos: London's mail rail
London's Mail Rail – It's been announced that London's Mail Rail -- once used to transport post beneath the capital -- will open to the public in 2017.
Hide Caption
1 of 10
10 photos: London's mail rail
78 years of service – Operated by the UK's Royal Mail postal service, the service opened in 1927. It ran until 2005.
Hide Caption
2 of 10
10 photos: London's mail rail
Hidden world – A sign displays the network of Mail Rail stations beneath the city. These were situated beneath the city's main postal sorting depots.
Hide Caption
3 of 10
10 photos: London's mail rail
Mail map – A map shows the layout of some of the network, which stretched 23 miles from east to west across the city.
Hide Caption
4 of 10
10 photos: London's mail rail
Abandoned carriages – Although the service was abandoned, mail workers still hosted occasional visitors, giving them rides in converted carriages.
Hide Caption
5 of 10
10 photos: London's mail rail
Festive visits – At Christmas they took groups of children to visit Santa through tunnels painted snow white and bearing festive murals.
Hide Caption
6 of 10
10 photos: London's mail rail
Starring role – The network doubled as a rail track beneath the Vatican for the 1991 Bruce Willis action movie "Hudson Hawk." This engine was painted yellow for its starring role.
Hide Caption
7 of 10
10 photos: London's mail rail
Heavy traffic – At the height of operations, the fully automated service was carrying four million letters each day.
Hide Caption
8 of 10
10 photos: London's mail rail
Deep beneath the streets – The rail tunnels, 70 feet (21 meters) below the streets of London, resemble miniature versions of London's Underground passenger network.
Hide Caption
9 of 10
10 photos: London's mail rail
New beginnings – Some of the existing engines will be converted to carry passengers on a short stretch of track when the Mail Rail opens to the public.
Hide Caption
10 of 10
10 photos: London's mail rail
London's Mail Rail – It's been announced that London's Mail Rail -- once used to transport post beneath the capital -- will open to the public in 2017.
Hide Caption
1 of 10
10 photos: London's mail rail
78 years of service – Operated by the UK's Royal Mail postal service, the service opened in 1927. It ran until 2005.
Hide Caption
2 of 10
10 photos: London's mail rail
Hidden world – A sign displays the network of Mail Rail stations beneath the city. These were situated beneath the city's main postal sorting depots.
Hide Caption
3 of 10
10 photos: London's mail rail
Mail map – A map shows the layout of some of the network, which stretched 23 miles from east to west across the city.
Hide Caption
4 of 10
10 photos: London's mail rail
Abandoned carriages – Although the service was abandoned, mail workers still hosted occasional visitors, giving them rides in converted carriages.
Hide Caption
5 of 10
(CNN)The mysterious world of subterranean London looks set to give up one of its secrets next year as a previously hidden underground railroad opens to the public.
The Mail Rail is a 23-mile network once used by the UK's Royal Mail postal service to transport letters and parcels beneath the city.
Its small electric engines entered service in 1927, shuttling between eight main sorting depots, including Paddington in the west and Liverpool Street in the east.
The line, a miniature version of the city's own Underground public transport system, closed 11 years ago when some depots were shuttered and sold off.
Now it's been announced that a section of the line will reopen as a visitor attraction in early 2017.
Much of the line has changed little since its closure, with old engines and equipment sitting parked in stations.
In recent years, mail workers have operated subterranean trips for young children at Christmas, painting festive murals on tunnel walls.
When it opens to the public, the remaining trains will be converted to allow visitors to take a short ride beneath the Mount Pleasant Post Office in the city's Clerkenwell district.
No comments:
Post a Comment