The P.R.D.C now serves the whole country by rail and the south of England by road. As well as 7 platforms the hub has 40 road vehicle loading bays and can accommodate 34 trains and 400 vehicles per day. Taking the services away from the mainline stations to centralised hubs is the way forward for Royal Mail. With new hubs already open at Newcastle (Lowfell RMT), Warrington (RMT), Glasgow (Shieldmu
ir RMT), and Doncaster (RMT) the project is well under way, and when the new hubs are open at Bristol, Peterborough, and Stafford, the Railnet Project will be complete. On completion Railnet will provide Royal Mail with a faster and more efficient system of moving mail as well as much better security and safer working conditions for their staff, using new techniques and modern new equipment. The new fleet of trains that Royal Mail have had built are class 325 EMU's built by ABB Derby. They are multi-purpose and flexible and can run on both electrified and non-electrified lines. The 325's allow triple operation - overhead electric, third rail electric and can also be hauled by a locomotive. The new trains can travel at 100mph and are very reliable.
