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UK Company Wants To Deliver Parcels Through Underground Tunnels

Posted by samzenpus on from the mole-mail dept.

Zothecula writes Drones flown by Amazon aren't the only way we could be getting our parcels delivered in the near future. UK firm Mole Solutions is exploring the possibility of using small robot trains running on underground tracks to manage deliveries, and it's just received funding from the British government to help test the viability of the proposal.

4 of 117 comments (clear)

  1. Pneumatic post by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Pneumatic post anyone?

  2. So sad :( by serviscope_minor · · Score: 2, Insightful

    The post office used to have an underground railway in London for shuffling things between some of the major sorting offices. It got closed down because "it was cheaper to use vans".

    It was cheaper of course if you considered the roads to be free and the extra traffic to cost nothing (which is how most people operate). Nice to see the government using its vast size to actually take a holistic view and consider all factors for once.

    But no, instead they decided it was cheaper to dump a bunch of extra traffic on an area notorious for congestion to save money. Brilliant!

    I don't even remember which government and I can't be arsed to lookit up becuse it makes no difference. Both the major parties are as dumb as each other.

    --
    SJW n. One who posts facts.
    1. Re:So sad :( by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Nice to see the government using its vast size to actually take a holistic view and consider all factors for once.

      But no, instead they decided it was cheaper to dump a bunch of extra traffic on an area notorious for congestion to save money. Brilliant!

      I don't even remember which government and I can't be arsed to lookit up becuse it makes no difference. Both the major parties are as dumb as each other.

      I know you're trying to take a swipe a government for this, but please remember that the Royal Mail has been operated as a private organisation for a long time now (even if it's only relatively recently that the government actually sold off the shares), so it wasn't a "government" decision to close thse mail tunnels; it was a private commercial decision. And frankly, as a commercial decision, it was a no-brainer -- those rail tunnels can't be cheap to operate. They also mean that you can't easily relocate your sorting offices if you wanted to.

  3. Re:Royal Mail - Doing it in London years ago by davester666 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Yes.

    If it could be done profitably, private enterprise must do it instead
    If it is done for a loss, it must be terminated
    It it breaks even, mess with it until one of the above rules can be applied.

    --
    Sleep your way to a whiter smile...date a dentist!