Another use of the underground space in cities can be the transport of goods getting in and out of the city.
These goods are normally transported by underground railways, which can carry containers, mail, urban waste, etc.
Among the first underground networks used to transport goods is the Royal mail system first envisaged as early as in 1855. In fact, works began in 1914 on the construction of an underground tunnel system for the transport of mail in London, but they were held up in 1917 with the onset of World War I.
During this time, the tunnels were used for the storage of art treasures from the Tate and National Portrait Galleries. In 1927, the Post Office Underground Railway opens, running from east to west beneath London. This system worked until 2002.
Between WWI and WWII an underground freight network has been built under Chicago, with nearly 100 km of tunnels, connecting the buildings.
Another recent example is in the swiss city of Lausanne, where a tunnel of almost 4 kilometers runs under the city to grant an underground access of urban waste from the whole canton of Vaud.
This waste is transported by the underground railway from the outskirts of the city to a new incineration plant, reducing the surface traffic of urban waste in the city to 50%.
Examples
In Amsterdam, and underground Freight system between the city and the Schiphol airport has been built.
The goal of the project is to transport flowers and other time-critical cargo through an automated underground transportation system between the flower auction in Aalsmeer, Schiphol airport and a railway station near Hoofddorp.
This would create an undisturbed link between the flower auction at Aalsmeer and Schiphol airport and the rest of Europe by means of an international network of high-speed freight trains.
The project originated because the deteriorating accessibility of this area increasingly threatened the position of the Schiphol airport and the flower auction Aalsmeer.
The OLS is regarded as a possible solution for the problem in the Schiphol area creating good connections between these two economic centers and their hinterland.
Cargo Cap