Royal stamp of approval at special opening for Mail Rail

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THE Princess Royal toured the Postal Museum and Mail Rail for its ceremonial opening on June 13.

Mail Rail, the former Post Office railway, opens to the public on July 28.

The museum is located in Phoenix Place, near the Mount Pleasant mail centre in Clerkenwell, where the main attraction will be the railway.

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HRH The Princess Royal takes a ride on Mail Rail at The Postal Museum PICTURE: Miles Willis/Getty Images for The Postal Museum

When built, it was 6½ miles in length, running between Paddington District Sorting Office to the Eastern District Sorting Office at Whitechapel.

It opened in late-1927 using electrically powered driverless trains. However, changes in postal distribution, cost cutting and the advent of email saw the railway closed and abandoned in May 2003.

However, in October 2013 the British Postal Museum & Archive unveiled reopening plans for part of the railway network using special passenger vehicles that will give visitors a 15-minute journey.

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The postal museum opens the same day, along with a specially created corporate and private party venue underground.

More about the railway will appear in a future issue.

Read more News and Features in the July 2017 issue of The RM – on sale now!

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