Britain’s commercial backbone railway is carrying everything vital to the continued economic activity of the UK. That includes the Royal Mail.
With greatly reduced passenger services now running, freight has become far more visible on the rail of the United Kingdom. Something approaching 200,000 tonnes daily is being moved on the WCML. Network Rail, the national infrastructure agency, puts the figure at in excess of one million tonnes per week.
That manifest includes heavy bulks like steel – vital for food canning and preservation – to fuel supplies for power stations and distribution centres to keep the lights on and the supply network operating. However, the specialist postal trains have been in evidence, especially as much of the airborne fleet is now grounded.
Please Mr Postman
In years gone by, the mail train was a common sight on Britain’s railways. However, many flows have been superseded by road transport. For long distance, aircraft have been used on routes where speed is essential to maintain the UK standard of next day delivery for mail. However, the passenger aircraft used for that service, usually overnight, are now being progressively grounded.
This is the Night Mail
The key rail flow is from the vast sorting office at Wembley in north west London, to the equally busy Shieldmuir postal centre in Glasgow. Postal packets account for some of the 20000 tonnes of goods that pass through the now almost empty passenger platforms at Preston, a key junction on the line.