100-year-old post train that kids can ride deep below London is given glow-up for Christmas

TOURISTS will be able to travel back in time this Christmas after a 100-year-old postal train underwent a festive makeover.

London's Postal Museum has been transformed into a "magical" Christmas attraction.

Among the interactive sessions and storytelling workshops, visitors will also be able to ride the museum's underground train, which has been given a festive twist.

The Mail Rail is an underground train line, which was built 94 years ago to transport letters and parcels across London.

The line opened in 1927, and it became the first driverless electric railway in the world.

At peak times, the tiny trains would run every five minutes - ferrying up to 4 million parcels and letters across the English capital.

Despite closing 75 years after it first opened, the Mail Rail opened to the public in 2017, as part of the Postal Museum.

After visitors have toured the Postal Museum, they will be able to descend into the old engineering deport where they can board the miniature train.

The tiny train is designed to transport up to 30 people through its narrow tunnels.

While it operates all year round, this winter it's been given a festive makeover.

On the train, visitors will be able to listen to a recording of the first King’s Speech that was broadcast on the BBC, while audio messages from wartime wives wishing their husbands Merry Christmas will also be played.

The underground tunnels will also be open for a festive walk - although a separate ticket will be required.

There will be other Christmas attractions inside the museum too, including a collection of letters to Father Christmas sent by multiple generations of the same family, and the first-ever Christmas card will also be on display.

Meanwhile, author and artist Ella Phillips will run interactive storytelling sessions on November 18 and December 16, 2023, to promote her new book, My Grandma’s Magic Recipes: Winter Warmth.

Other festive attractions include creative crafts like making Christmas cards and recipe books.

The Postal Museum also gets rave reviews on TripAdvisor too, with a 4.5/5 star rating on the platform.

One person wrote: "The Mail Rail is a gem hidden underneath London."

Another added: "The museum itself was much more interesting than I expected, and I thought that would probably have been enough, but the real highlight was the Mail Rail."