Prague Pneumatic Post - History

History

The Prague pneumatic post entered public service on March 4, 1889. The first lane had been constructed as early as 1887, but at first it only served internal purposes. It ran from the main post office in Jindřišská st. (next to the Wenceslas Square) to the post bureau at Malé náměstí square (next to the Old Town Square) in the Old Town. (This bureau was situated in a corner house with Linhartská st., belonging to the V. J. Rott company, next to a house that is called 'U Rotta' today.) The first lane was later extended as far as the Prague Castle, making it over 5 km long. Prague was the fifth city in the world to receive a pneumatic post system after London, Vienna, Berlin, and Paris, which was considered a major achievement for Prague.

The system initially was employed mainly for sending telegrams. Only three stations had been connected between the Prague post and the telegraph office as of 1901.

The system was established for those desiring to send a document fast. The document would be taken to the post office and rolled up into a metal capsule. The clerk would then drop the metal capsule down a hatch leading to a predestined location. After the clerk pressed a button, the capsule would be moved by compressed air along a network of tubes beneath the pavement.

The main growth of the network dates to the economically prosperous era of 1927–1932. In those years, new lanes were constructed and tens of thousands of capsules transported per month. During the Prague Uprising the pneumatic post played a role in supplying the besieged building of the Czech radio.

In the late 1990s, the system was used by over 20 subscribers and operating at a loss, so kept rather for prestigious reasons. The traffic weakened gradually and the 2002 floods seriously damaged it, flooding 5 of the 11 underground engine rooms.