The London Post Office Railway (known as Mail Rail after 1987) was an electric railway which ran underneath London from 1927 [1] to 2003 transferring mail between Post Office sorting offices and railway stations such as
London Paddington. In 2017 the Post Office Museum opened at Mount Pleasant which included the "Mail Rail" tourist attraction running on tracks around the former Mount Pleasant Sorting Office station.
 |
| The Red Train arrives back after a trip around Mount Pleasant |
| Information |
| Number built: |
2 |
| Built: |
2016 |
| Builder: |
Severn Lamb |
| Motor: |
Battery electric |
| Power: |
32 hp (24 kW) |
Two battery-electric trains were built by Severn Lamb for the Mail Rail attraction. Each train (one is red and the other green - the traditional colours of the Mail Rail and Post Office Railway trains respectively) consists of three cars, the centre car containing the rechargable gel cell battery pack. Up to twelve passengers can be carried in the two outer cars which have a cab at the end. The battery car can carry up to eight passengers [2]. All four bogies on the train are powered.
Due to the narrow tunnels (and narrow gauge, the railway uses 610mm gauge) the trains are small. Being only 946mm wide and 1, 492mm tall. The passenger compartments are fully enclosed and have alarms to stop the train if the doors are opened in transit.
 |
| The Green Train at Mount Pleasant |
 |
| View of one of the cabs |
 |
| The Red Train at the loading station under the museum, the former depot of Mail Rail |
 |
| Inside the train |
 |
| The Green Train is dwarfed by the station! |
[1] Peter Johnson, Mail by Rail (Ian Allan, 1995) p. 115
[2] Mike Sullivan, Mail Rail from Beginning to End (Redshank, 2019) p. 65
