
Mail Rail: What is it like on the 'secret' Tube? (2014) - herendin
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-25145632
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fennecfoxen
See also: the New York pneumatic mail system (although that didn't move
people). [http://untappedcities.com/2013/03/15/nycs-pneumatic-tube-
mai...](http://untappedcities.com/2013/03/15/nycs-pneumatic-tube-mail-
network/)

(not to be confused with Beach Pneumatic Transit, although that didn't move
mail:
[http://www.columbia.edu/~brennan/beach/](http://www.columbia.edu/~brennan/beach/)
)

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teddyh
> _That year, Royal Mail said the line cost five times as much as using roads
> and the network shut down._

I wonder if that calculated cost of using roads included the externalized
costs of using roads – exhaust emissions, traffic congestions, road wear, etc.

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UVB-76
Many of those costs are internalised by vehicle taxes, which were likely taken
into account.

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teddyh
1\. Do vehicle taxes even adequately cover road maintenance costs, let alone
all the other costs I mentioned?

2\. Does the Royal Mail actually pay taxes on its vehicles?

~~~
rahimnathwani
In the UK, petrol tax is over 1 USD per litre. Tax on new cars is ~30% (10%
car tax, and 20% VAT). Plus a couple of hundred pounds per year for road tax.

