LONDON, March 7 — London’s ‘Mail Rail,’ a relic of life in early 20th century England, is scheduled to be re-invented as a tourist ride by 2020.

The underground rail line came into existence in the early decades of the 20th century, a time when London’s streets had become excessively crowded with both horse-drawn and ‘horseless’ carriages. The busy streets began slowing the delivery of mail.

The British Parliament’s solution was to pass an act in 1913 ordering the construction of a dedicated underground rail line that connected major postal hubs.

The construction of the tunnels was put on hold during WWI, when artworks were stored in the still-under-construction system to protect them from bombing raids carried out by German Zeppelin airships.

The think tank's chief executive claimed that Britain's economy would grow even faster if it left the European Union. — AFP pic

Construction on the line restarted in 1924, and the train, dubbed the “Mail Rail,” was completed in time for the 1927 Christmas holiday season and went on to carry as many as 12 million letters and parcels below the city streets each day for decades.

The train ran at speeds of up to 60 kph along over 30 kilometres of tracks. Feeder buses ferried mail to and from the mail rail stations, each of which had a system of conveyor belts and lifts to get the mail up and down from the train line.

As London joined the world in entering the digital age, postal volumes decreased and the system was mothballed in 2003.

In early 2014 the BBC reported that the ‘mail rail’ is scheduled to be turned into a tourist ride by 2020, during which visitors can learn more about 400 years of UK postal history and the unique ‘mail rail’ train line. — Reuters