The messaging industry is always growing, changing, and becoming more competitive. Retailers are always looking for the fastest and most convenient way to get their products to customers, and if you’re in the logistics industry, this could mean that your next contract involves a little train ride!

Amazon sets the benchmark

In December 2014, online retail giant Amazon caused a stir by announcing its new super-fast delivery service, Prime Now, which promises to deliver packages to shoppers in an hour or less. At the time of the announcement, Prime Now was only offered in New York City, but over the past year, the service has expanded to include many parts of the United States and the United Kingdom.

How they did it?

But how can a retailer guarantee delivery in just 60 minutes? In the case of Amazon and New York City, the couriers (working under a courier contract for their own account) making the deliveries have been using the city’s subway system to navigate the traffic on the streets. The move has couriers in Britain’s capital wondering: could it be London’s next trains and tubes?

Packages in the subway?

Some local couriers see a future for a specialist delivery service using Britain’s existing rail infrastructure. London-based international courier service ParcelHero says parcel delivery via the tube makes sense, as underground trains are often faster than using the roads above them. Additionally, ParcelHero says that underground stations are the perfect place to set up parcel lockers, which travelers can use to pick up their deliveries without making an extra trip.

Return to the future

The integration of parcel delivery service and rail isn’t exactly new to Britain. Between 1963 and 1999, it could send parcels and express registered mail via Red Star, a British rail service that used passenger trains to carry parcels across the UK. Royal Mail also used to operate Itinerant Post Offices (TPOs), mail trains on which mail was sorted en route, but those services ended in early 2004.

Although these rail delivery services no longer exist, the mainline and underground rail stations are increasingly becoming hotspots for the retail and courier industries. Amazon has parcel lockers at Finchley Central and Newbury Park tube stations, for example, and grocery stores like Waitrose have similar collection lockers at mainline and tube stations, as well as petrol stations.

Delivery is a piece of cake

In 2013, Network Rail, which runs 18 of Britain’s largest stations, partnered with British businessman and philanthropist Lloyd Dorfman to set up parcel shops at major stations across the country. The joint venture, called Doddle, has seen immense success in large urban train stations, where commuters can pick up packages on their way to or from work.

But what does this shift towards using train stations as depots for couriers making the actual delivery mean? Should they expect train station deliveries to be a regular part of their next courier contract? It’s in the cards. With convenient and accessible collection lockers at train stations, couriers can make fewer trips to the post office and more trips to major transportation hubs. Delivery drivers working under a freelance courier contract from Amazon or a similar online retailer could soon find themselves riding the subway with the crowd of nine to five passengers to deliver a package at top speed.

In an industry so connected with fast and reliable service, rail delivery could be the next big thing, and that’s only good news for the industry. Look at this space…