Red Star Parcels
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| Fate | Acquired by LYNX Express |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1963 |
| Defunct | 1999 |
| Parent | British Rail |
Red Star Parcels was a service which used passenger trains for transporting parcels between passenger railway stations throughout the United Kingdom, owned and operated by British Rail. It was introduced experimentally on 1 April 1963. Senders could despatch their consignments to selected stations at which the parcels were collected by the recipient. The service used scheduled trains and as such was one of the fastest methods of transporting a package long distances around the country.
Red Star Parcels no longer trades although signage bearing the Red Star logo can be seen at railway stations across the UK including Bradford Interchange, Bournemouth Central, Birmingham New Street, Brighton, Littlehampton, London Euston, York, Derby, Stoke-On-Trent, Stafford, Southend Victoria, Great Yarmouth and more.
In 1963 British Rail set up an express registered parcel deliver service to compete against the General Post Office; the service was known as "Red Star".
In 1969 City Link Transport Services Limited (a private company) was established in order to offer a transfer service between London termini. Shortly thereafter City Link introduced the concept of same and next day delivery throughout the UK, utilising the Red Star parcels service to transport its packages from station-to-station where City Link agents (later to become franchisees) would collect and deliver the final mile. So successful was the service that City Link promoted it as "Red Star Parcels Door-to-Door". The concept was also promoted widely by British Rail's own freight sales force, which later helped City Link to become the largest single user of Red Star.
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