London Pneumatic Despatch Company

London Pneumatic Despatch Company

Company type	Private company
Industry	Postal transport, Railway
Founded	June 30, 1859 (1859-06-30)
Founder	Thomas Webster Rammell, Josiah Latimer Clark
Defunct	1875 (1875)
Fate	Wound up
Headquarters	London , United Kingdom
Products	Pneumatic tube railway system for mail, parcels, and light freight transport

The London Pneumatic Despatch Company—also referred to as the London Pneumatic Dispatch Company—was founded on 30 June 1859 with the objective of designing, constructing, and managing an underground railway system dedicated to transporting mail, parcels, and light freight throughout London. This system was operational from 1863 until 1874.

Background

In 1855–56, Sir Rowland Hill of the General Post Office commissioned a team of engineers to evaluate the feasibility of a pneumatic tube connecting the General Post Office with the West District Central Post Office. Despite positive assessments, the project was halted due to prohibitive costs.

Later, in 1859, Thomas Webster Rammell and Josiah Latimer Clark proposed developing an underground pneumatic tube network within central London aimed at accelerating parcel dispatch.

Established under the Pneumatic Dispatch Company's Act 1859, the company sought to raise £150,000 by issuing 15,000 shares priced at £10 each. The board of directors featured prominent figures such as chairman Richard Temple-Grenville, 3rd Duke of Buckingham and Chandos, deputy chairman Mark Huish, Thomas Brassey, Edwin Clark, among others.

An initial capital injection of £25,000 facilitated experimentation with the technology and enabled construction of a demonstration route at the Soho Foundry operated by Boulton and Watt in Birmingham. The first large-scale trial took place in summer 1861 at Battersea, featuring a single pneumatic tube stretching 452 yards with curves having a minimum radius of and gradients reaching 1 in 22. Inside this tube, a narrow gauge track was embedded. Capsules equipped with vulcanised rubber flaps ensured airtight seals. Propulsion was powered by a 30 hp steam engine linked to a Waddle fan measuring in diameter. These capsules weighed as much as three tonnes and could travel at velocities up to 40 mph (60 km/h).

Operation

A permanent narrow gauge pneumatic line was constructed connecting Euston railway station to the North West District Post Office located on Eversholt Street—a distance of approximately one-third of a mile. Testing commenced on 15 January 1863, with commercial operations beginning on 20 February. Capsules capable of carrying up to 35 mail bags completed this route within one minute. Thirteen daily journeys were made at a cost totaling £1 4s 5d (£ in today’s money). The Post Office paid a nominal charge to promote usage.

Contemporary accounts described the pneumatic propulsion mechanism as involving a large rotating wheel that generated air pressure to propel capsules through the tube at speeds reaching twenty miles per hour.

The company aimed to expand its network by raising an additional £125,000 (£ million in current terms), proposing new routes linking major London locations, including a connection between Camden Town and Euston stations.

Construction began in September 1863 on a narrow gauge line extending from Euston to Holborn. The tubes were produced by the Staveley Coal and Iron Company. The inaugural runs took place on 10 October 1865, highlighted by chairman Richard Temple-Grenville’s journey from Holborn to Euston.

Another authorized segment connecting Holborn to Gresham Street via the General Post Office at St Martin's le Grand was under construction by 1865 as per the Pneumatic Despatch Company's Act 1864. By the financial crisis triggered in 1866 following Overend, Gurney and Company's failure, a pneumatic tube had been completed from Holborn to Hatton Garden. Total investment had reached £150,000 (£ million adjusted).

Work resumed in 1868 and the line was finalized up to St Martin's le Grand (General Post Office) by 1869. Capsules achieved speeds up to 60 mph and traveled from Holborn to Newgate Street within seventeen minutes.

An additional legislative act dated 6 August 1872—the Pneumatic Despatch Company Act 1872—permitted further extensions of the system.

Despite trials conducted by the Post Office, minimal time savings led to discontinuation of services by 1874; subsequently, the company was wound up in 1875. Reports from an Edinburgh newspaper attributed failure partly to frequent capsule blockages.

In late 1921, remaining infrastructure assets were sold by the company to the Postmaster General for £7,500 (£ today). This transaction acknowledged both disuse and unauthorized breaches within the tubes. The transfer was formalized through the Post Office (Pneumatic Tubes Acquisition) Act 1922, which repealed prior authorizations granted in acts from 1859, 1864, and 1872.

Artefacts

Two of the original vehicles have been preserved, both retrieved in 1930. One is exhibited at the Museum of London, while the other is part of the collection at the National Railway Museum in York.

See also

• London Post Office Railway

External links

• London’s Lost Pneumatic Railway: The World’s 2nd Oldest Underground
• London's Victorian Hyperloop
• "The Suction Post" A contemporary account from Once a Week
• "The Suction Post" Firsthand narrative of a trip through the tube (also featured in Once a Week)