An All-Red Route was, originally, a
steamship route used by
Royal Mail Ship
Royal Mail Ship (sometimes Steam-ship or Steamer), usually seen in its abbreviated form RMS, is the ship prefix used for seagoing vessels that carry mail under contract to the British Royal Mail. The designation dates back to 1840. Any vessel d ...
s during the heyday of the
British Empire
The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading post ...
. The name derives from the common practice of colouring the territory of the British Empire red or pink on political maps. It denoted a long-distance route where all the ports of call were in British territories or colonies, emphasising not only the usefulness of the route as a means of connecting the British
metropole
A metropole (from the Greek ''metropolis'' for "mother city") is the homeland, central territory or the state exercising power over a colonial empire.
From the 19th century, the English term ''metropole'' was mainly used in the scope of ...
with the worldwide empire but also the strategic security of being able to connect (and travel between) possessions on the other side of the globe without having to rely on making stops in, or passing through, the territory of another nation.
Initially the term was used to apply only to steamship routes (as these were the only practical way of carrying communications between Great Britain and the rest of the Empire), particularly to
India
India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...
via the
Suez Canal—a route sometimes referred to as the British Imperial Lifeline. Rail transport was used across France and Italy to the Mediterranean. From 1868 to 1871 the
Mont Cenis Pass Railway
The Mont Cenis Pass Railway operated from 1868 to 1871 (with some interruptions) during the construction of the Fréjus Rail Tunnel through the Alps between southeast France and northwest Italy. It was designed by John Barraclough Fell and h ...
, a temporary mountain railway line over the Mont Cenis Pass was used for mail.
After use of steamships became widespread at sea, strategically placed
coaling station
Fuelling stations, also known as coaling stations, are repositories of fuel (initially coal and later oil) that have been located to service commercial and naval vessels. Today, the term "coaling station" can also refer to coal storage and feedi ...
s were acquired to guar