Breaking ground in Mail Rail

Today we introduced The Postal Museum and Mail Rail to the world, allowing a lucky few – including guest of honour Dan Snow – down into our tunnels for a taste of their exciting future.

Dan Snow explains why Mail Rail is important to him

We announced the scale of our ambitions for Mail Rail: it will open in 2017 as a brand new and truly unique attraction, with an immersive ride and extraordinary interactive exhibitions. Visitors will be transported back in time through the disused miniature tunnels of the world’s first driverless, electric railway.

Photo of Mail Rail during our brand launch event

Mail Rail forms a part of The Postal Museum, our new home just across the road in Clerkenwell, London. Through exciting and interactive galleries, The Postal Museum will reveal stories from five centuries of Britain’s remarkable social and communications history through the eyes of one of its most iconic services. It will boast a dedicated learning space, a family play zone, and a purpose-built archive facility.

Visualisation of how the Postal Museum facade might look

Dan Snow gave an impassioned speech about the value of The Postal Museum in opening up its collections and revealing Mail Rail to visitors, describing it as ‘a stunning piece of our industrial heritage’. Then, wielding a sledgehammer, he marked a milestone on site by striking the first blow to the Manager’s Office, which will be stripped back to how it was originally built.

Dan Snow gets to work in Mail Rail with a sledgehammer

National and international media have taken a great interest in the project and our stories, the news generating excitement in outlets around the world, including these and many more: