LONDON TRANSPORT MUSEUM |
Showcases
all aspects of transportation within the city and a chance to put
yourself in the driver’s seat of a tube train or London bus
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Highlights |
Victorian Transport
World's 1st Underground
Steam Engine No.23
1920's Buses and Trams
Red Routemaster Bus
Iconic Signs
Visitor Information |
The museum is open daily 10am to 6pm (late night Friday). Entry costs £10 for adults, £6 for students.
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The London Transport Museum
showcases all aspects of transportation within the city. The museum's
main facility is located in a Victorian iron and glass building. It
originally formed part of the Covent Garden vegetable, fruit and flower
market, designed as a dedicated flower market by William Rogers in
1871. The market moved out in 1971, and the building was first occupied
by the London Transport Museum in 1980, having moved from a garden
pavilion at Syan House in south-west London. The museum closed in 2005
for a major refurbishment to enable the expansion of the display
collection. It reopened in 2007 and the entrance to the museum is from
the Covent Garden Piazza, with its many tourist attractions, and within
easy walking distance of Covent Garden tube station.
Inside the Museum
The
first parts of the collection were brought together at the beginning of
the 20th century by the London General Omnibus Company when it began to
preserve buses being retired from service. The collection was expanded
by the London Electric Railway to include rail vehicles. The collection
now contains many examples of buses, trams, trolleybuses, trains and
rail carriages, dating from the 19th and 20th centuries. Highlights
include a Stephenson horse tram from 1884, a B-type motor bus from 1911
and a Leyland K2 class trolleybus from 1939.
London General Omnibus Company
Did You Know?
The first section of Underground Railway opened from Paddington to
Farringdon in 1863. A second line began operating five years later and
the two were eventually linked to create the Circle Line in 1884. The
early underground was a huge engineering achievement but had one big
disadvantage - its steam locomotives created a permanent sulphurous fog
in the stations and tunnels. The only surviving steam engine from the
1860s, Metropolitan number 23, is on display in the Museum.
Old Tube Carriage
The museum is a great place for visiting with children as it features many hands-on
exhibits and these include the chance for children to put themselves in
the driver’s seat of a tube train or London bus. The museum has
artefacts and exhibits relating to the operation and marketing of
passenger services and the impact that the developing transport network
has had on the city and its population.
Red Routmaster London Bus
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