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Travelling Post Offices (TPOs) are special railway carriages fitted out as mobile sorting offices which run on overnight trains. Their prime function is to improve the quality of service to first class mail posted late in the day, and travelling long distances to their destinations. This is achieved by sorting the mail while trains are in motion .TPOs go back to 1838 when the Post Office had a horse box converted experimentally as a primitive sorting carriage, and coupled to a train on the Grand Junction Railway between Birmingham and Warrington. That same year, a second TPO began running between London and Bletchley, Buckinghamshire, and within a few months was extended to Preston, Lancashire. Apparatus which enabled mail to be picked up and dropped while the trains were in motion came into being that year, although this was only on an experimental basis. Regular use of the mail exchange apparatus while the trains were in motion came into being that year, although this was only on an experimental basis. Regular use of the mail exchange equipment began in 1852. By 1843 there were two TPOs running between Euston and Preston, and during the next few years, an intricate system of such services - running by both day and night - evolved. Early TPOs were austere in the extreme - lit by oil lamps and without heating, welfare or toilet facilities. The sealing wax pot stood over a naked flame! The names first applied to the individual TPOs were usually those of the railway companies over whose tracks they ran, so even today, services such as the Great Western, Midland and North Eastern TPOs have their origins in railway companies which ceased to exist in 1923. The more modern services are more prosaic in their titles. During both world Wars, TPOs did not run. After World War II, changes in the postal service ruled out the need for daytime TPOs, and only 46 TPOs were restored to service, but the system continued to operate with little change - although with increasing loads - until 1968, when the two-tier letter post was introduced. Since then, TPOs have carried the First Class mail only - a logical course since the slower second class mail is not designed to be delivered until the third working day after posting. The principal "down" services working out of London are intended to provide a connection with first delivery in England, Wales and, wherever possible, next day delivery in Scotland for the main London evening postings. The equivalent "up" service (from the provinces to London) are timed to connect with first delivery in London districts and many other places. Cross-country and feeder TPOs are linked with the main routs to provide countrywide TPO coverage. By the time a train arrives at its destination, all the mail handled by the TPO will have been sorted into bundles for Individual post-towns and sometimes it will have been sub-divided even further. This, of course, saves a great deal of time. The Post Office pays the railway industry to build and maintain the fleet of TPO vehicles, and also run them to schedules suitable for postal purposes. Good, reliable timekeeping is vital for the exclusive TPO services, and within the limits of practical railway operation, the Post Office's needs are generally met . A TPO officer will usually be away from home for two nights - travelling out one night, sleeping during the day at the distant point, and returning the same night on the corresponding "up" train. On shorter distances TPO staff usually work out and back the same night. At present there are 18 TPOs with a staff of 540 operating Monday to Friday. Every year the 112 specialist coaches - (74 sorting carriages and 38 stowage vehicles) travel about 5 million miles. Approximately 500 million first class letters and packages are sorted each year. Millions more bags are conveyed as stowage mail. What is thought of by some as the most colourful aspect of TPO operation, generally disliked by the staff who had to use it. But certainly the most well known - the exchange of mail by line side apparatus - no longer takes place. Due to higher train speeds, which in turn, allows more station stops, connections can be maintained without the need for such a system, and so the last mail bag apparatus was taken out of service at Penrith. On 3rd October 1971, the Up Special TPO made the last pick up, and the North West Down TPO made the last despatch. It is possible to post First Class letters on to all TPOs - posting boxes are provided on the exterior of the TPO coaches, and at some principal stations, special posting boxes are situated on the platform, or nearby. TPOs are an integral part of the new "Railnet" project, which is the most significant change to Royal Mail's rail operation for a very long time. The new train service structure focuses on dedicated overnight long distance trains, including TPOs, while mail handling operations are being containerised, and concentrated at a new purpose built road/rail distribution centre at Willesden, North West London, thereby eliminating all Royal Mail activities at all London main line stations for the first time in over 150 years. This, coupled with regional rail-linked sorting centres, will ensure that Royal Mail's massive transport operation is blended into one smooth flowing, highly efficient network. |
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For further information please contact Dave Griffiths 23 Wentworth Drive Bishops Stortford Hertfordshire CM23 2PB Phone 01279 505260 Mobile 0589849648 e.mail [email protected]
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