London Post Office Underground Railway

From 1927 until 2003 the Mount Pleasant sorting office was connected to other major Royal Mail offices and railways stations in London via the London Post Office Railway. By the 1914, 5.9 billion items were being passed through the sorting office and to avoid using London’s congested streets the Post Office constructed an underground railway. The railway was built 70 meters below ground and had 23 miles of tracks running from Paddington station to Whitechapel delivery office. The trains which ran on the tracks were electric. There were no drivers and the trains were controlled by switchboards at each station. This photograph was taken by Henry Grant on a visit to the Mount Pleasant sorting office organised by the National Association of Youth Clubs.