The British Railway Mail Service

Far reaching as are the statutory powers of the postmaster general with regard to the railways, in practice they are never invoked, and the details of the postal service are settled by con tracts negotiated with the various railway companies. Under existing legislation any difference in regard to remuneration which cannot be settled amicably can be referred to the Railway and Canal Commissioners, but this power has not been exercised for many years. The main requirement of the post office in the contract is the running of trains at times convenient to the mail service, which cannot be altered without the consent of the post master general. Although separate contracts must be made with the individual companies the railway services are naturally cor related for the country as a whole, and Great Britain is now covered by an intricate network of mail trains providing com plete and direct communication between the different systems, and between all parts of the country, the speed of which is equal to, or in some cases, better than that of the best passenger trains. On the west coast line to Scotland, on which, as above mentioned, the first travelling post office was established 90 years ago, there is now a special train devoted entirely to the post office, running nightly in each direction between London and Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen. This is the trunk main line mail service of Great Britain and as many as 5o post office employees are engaged in each train. A similar special train runs in each direction between London and Penzance. In all other cases the mail trains convey passengers as well as mails.

A special feature of the English mail train service is what is known as the mail bag apparatus, an efficient mechanical con trivance by which mail bags can be despatched from and received in travelling post offices while the train is travelling at full speed. This enables an extremely good service to be afforded to all places along the main lines of railway, and in sparsely populated dis tricts, such as in the north of Scotland and parts of Wales it enables the post office to deliver correspondence at least a day earlier than would be possible by any other means.

The Parcel Post.

An international parcel post was established at the Postal Union Congress in Paris in 1878. Great Britain at that time had no such service, but the question of establishing one was immediately put in hand, and after prolonged negotia tions with the railway companies the Post Office Parcels Act of 1882 was passed, establishing an inland parcel service which came into operation in the following year. The maximum weight of parcels was fixed at 7 lb., with a scale of postage varying from 3d. to Is., according to weight. No individual contracts were made with the separate railway companies, but the post office paid to the Railway Clearing House 55% of the postage received on all parcels conveyed by railway, the distribution 01 the sums thus received among the railway companies being undertaken by the clearing house. This arrangement enabled the post office

to maintain the principle of a flat rate of postage for the whole country in contradistinction to the railway companies' parcel tariffs which were based on zones of distance.

It soon became evident, however, that for short distances it was possible to convey parcels by road at a considerably lower cost than the payment to the railway companies provided under the act, and very shortly after the establishment of the parcel post parcel coaches were established by the post office. These road services took on a new development with the coming of the internal combustion engine. The higher speed and greater capacity of the motor van made a large extension of the coach system practicable, and at the outbreak of the World War it had reached very considerable dimensions, parcels being carried by road dur ing the night between large towns up to a distance of 120 miles. After the war, however, fresh negotiations were entered into with the railway companies, and by the Post Office Parcels Act of 1922 it was enacted that the percentage of the postage payable to the railway companies should be reduced from 55% to 4o%, the post office on its part agreeing that the railway companies should be entitled to claim a revision of their remuneration if the number of parcels conveyed otherwise than by railway exceeded I 0% of the total number transmitted by post.

Since the establishment of the service, the maximum weight has been raised from 7 to I I lb., and the postage rates have been varied from time to time. The minimum rate is now 6d. for a parcel not exceeding 2 lb., and the maximum I s. 3d. for a parcel of I I lb. The number of parcels posted annually is approximately 140,000,000, and the payment to the Railway Companies over L2,000,000 per annum.

The total earnings of the railway companies for letters and parcels are thus over £4,000,000 a year, and the post office is by far their greatest single customer, contributing no less than 2% of their total revenue.

The latest development of co-operation between the post office and the railways is the extension of the cash-on-delivery service to cover consignments despatched by railway as well as by post. The sender of the goods forwards to the consignee as a cash-on-delivery letter a document which entitles him to take delivery of a consignment despatched by railway. The sender's charges are paid by the consignee on receipt of the cash-on delivery letter, the money is forwarded at once to the sender by the post office, and the consignee presents his document and re Ceives the goods from the company.