The Americas



Amazon has gone underground to ensure its new ultra-fast deliveries arrive on time. Tired of becoming snarled up in gridlocked streets in New York, the on-line delivery company has taken to the New York subway system so that couriers can meet their destination times.

Amazon has taken to the New York subway to get its Prime Time deliveries to their customers on time

Amazon has taken to the New York subway to get its Prime Now deliveries to their customers on time Image by relux. / CC BY 2.0

The subway trains have become the preferred city transport method since Amazon launched its premium service named Prime Now which pledges that a number of essentials and gifts will arrive within an hour when ordered from their shopping website at a charge of $7.99. The company has other items which they promise to deliver within two hours of ordering.

The Prime Now service is also delivering in Miami and Dallas – two cities with considerably less congestion than New York.

However prospects of extending similar delivery plan for London have received a less than enthusiastic reception because of fears that the parcels and boxes would clog tube trains during rush hour periods.

Amazon found getting parcels to Big Apple customers on the subway rather than by road or rail was cheaper and faster for its couriers.

A company spokesman told the Financial Times that in Manhattan their workers used bikes or walked, but also took public transportation. He added that they only drove a van now if it was to deliver a large item like a flat-screen television.