London Transport Museum facts for kids
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| Established | 1980 |
|---|---|
| Location | Covent Garden London, WC2 |
| Type | Transport museum |
| Visitors | 411,766 (2019) |
| Owner | Transport for London |
| Public transit access |
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The London Transport Museum (LTM) is a cool place in Covent Garden, London. It's all about the amazing history of London's transport. Think buses, trains, and more!
The museum collects and shares stories about how people have moved around London for ages. Most of its awesome exhibits came from the old London Transport collection. But now, it covers all kinds of transport in the city.
The museum has two main spots in London. The main one is in Covent Garden. It's open almost every day! The other spot is the London Transport Museum Depot in Acton. This is where they store bigger, older items. You can visit it on special days throughout the year.
The museum also offers special tours called Hidden London. These tours let you explore parts of the London Underground that are usually secret. You can see old, unused stations and even wartime shelters!
The museum was once called "London's Transport Museum." But it changed back to its original name in 2007 when the Covent Garden site reopened.
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The Main Museum in Covent Garden
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The main museum building is super old and interesting. It's a Victorian building made of iron and glass. It used to be a flower market back in 1871! The market moved out in 1971. Then, on March 28, 1980, it reopened as the London Transport Museum.
Before Covent Garden, the collection was at Syon Park since 1973. Even before that, it was part of the British Transport Museum in Clapham.
In 2005, the museum closed for a big makeover. It cost £22 million! This was to make space for even more exhibits. It also helped create better learning areas for visitors. The museum reopened its doors on November 22, 2007.
You can find the museum's entrance in the busy Covent Garden Piazza. It's easy to get to from Covent Garden Underground station or Charing Cross railway station.
Amazing Collections
The museum's collection started way back in the early 1900s. The London General Omnibus Company (LGOC) began saving old buses when they stopped using them. Later, the collection grew to include trains too. It kept getting bigger as different transport groups took over. Now, Transport for London (TfL) looks after it.
The collection has moved around a few times. From 1963 to 1972, it was in an old tram depot in Clapham. Then, from 1973 to 1977, it was at Syon Park in Brentford. Finally, it moved to Covent Garden in 1980. Many other exhibits went to York to become part of the National Railway Museum in 1975.
At the Covent Garden museum, you can see many types of buses, trams, trolleybuses, and trains from the 1800s and 1900s. There are also cool items showing how transport worked. You can even see the very first underground electric train from 1890!
Larger items are kept at the Acton depot. These include a whole 1938 tube train. You can also see early locomotives from London's first underground lines there.
Hidden London Tours
In 2015, the museum started its special tour program called Hidden London. The museum had actually been doing tours of unused stations since the 1990s!
These tours give you special access to parts of the London Underground that are usually closed. They teach you about London's history through its underground network. The tours are based on amazing facts found in the museum's huge collection of old documents and items.
You can explore cool places like the old Aldwych and Down Street stations. You might also see secret parts of busy stations like Piccadilly Circus, Charing Cross, and Euston. There's even a wartime deep level shelter in Clapham South!
In 2023, a tour of Baker Street underground station was added. This celebrated the 160th birthday of the London Underground! The newest tour, "Holborn: The Secret Platforms," was announced in 2024.
There are also virtual tours you can take from home. Plus, a walking tour explores the area around the museum. All the money from Hidden London tours helps the museum with its important work.
Other Fun Attractions
The museum has some cool simulator experiences! You can try out an Elizabeth Line train simulator. There's also a smaller, stand-up version. Plus, you can try a 1938 tube train simulator, complete with a special "deadman's handle."
An exhibition called Hidden London ran until July 2023. It had a smaller, walk-through copy of the Aldwych Ticket Hall. It also showed the Down Street Blitz Shelter, which Winston Churchill used during World War II. The exhibition told stories of London's abandoned stations and hidden transport spots.
There's also a children's interactive area. It has an Optare bus and an "All Aboard" play-zone for kids aged 0-7.
Museum Shop
The museum shop is a great place to find gifts! It sells books, cool posters, models, and souvenirs. You can buy things at the museum in Covent Garden or online. All the money from sales helps support the museum's activities.
Museum Depot in Acton
The Museum Depot is in Acton, west London. It opened in October 1999. This depot holds most of the museum's collections that aren't on display in Covent Garden. It's where the museum's experts work to care for and study the items. It also shows off items that are too big for the main museum.
The depot has a huge storage space, about 6,000 square meters! It keeps over 370,000 items safe. These include original artworks for posters, signs, models, photos, drawings, and uniforms. The building can be reached by road and has a train connection to the London Underground. This means they can store and show many buses, trams, trolleybuses, and trains.
The depot isn't open to everyone all the time. But it's ready for visitors! It has a ticket office, a shop, and even a miniature railway with stations called Depot Approach and Ealing End. It opens for pre-booked tours on certain dates each month. It also has special open weekends, usually three times a year. You can easily walk there from Acton Town Underground station.
Getting There
| London Buses | Aldwych 11, 15, 26, 76, 172 Aldwych 243, 341 |
| London Underground | Covent Garden Template:Piccadilly line roundel (no text).svg (4 min walk)
Leicester Square Template:Piccadilly line roundel (no text).svg Template:Northern line roundel (no text).svg (7 min walk) |
| National Rail | Charing Cross Template:National Rail logo.svg (7 min walk) |
See Also
- List of transport museums (around the world)
Other Museums with London Transport Items
- London Bus Museum, Brooklands
- National Railway Museum – York
- National Tramway Museum – Crich
Other Cool Transport Museums in London
Other Major Transport Museums in the UK
- Black Country Living Museum
- Brooklands Museum
- Riverside Museum, Glasgow
- Coventry Transport Museum
