The London Transport Museum Depot in Acton Town, west London, which is rarely open to the public, will open its doors for a special 10-day summer family fun season for the first time between Wednesday 19 and Sunday 23 August and between Wednesday 26 and Sunday 30 August from 11:00 to 18:00 each day. Pre-booking will be essential and tickets will be for timed visits to maintain social distancing.
The Depot houses most of London Transport Museum’s extensive collection – over 320,000 artefacts from the UK capital’s transport history. The new summer season has been designed especially for families, giving them the chance to explore this rarely seen transport treasure trove during the summer holidays after months in lockdown.
A special family-friendly trail will take people on a journey through the Depot to discover the stories of historic vehicles which served passengers over the past 200 years, including a yellow Victorian horse drawn ‘garden seat’ bus dating from 1881 to a red 1938 Stock Tube train filled with stylish Art Deco touches. Buses stored there include rear-engined Routemaster FRM1, prototype Routemasters RM1 and RM2, Daimler Fleetline DMS1 and Guy Special rural bus GS64.
Children will receive a special, sealed pack which will include a fun craft kit to make during the visit and a take-home activity to support their learning in fun and curious ways.
The London Transport Museum Depot will open to the public with the Visit Britain’s We’re Good to Go standard and will have new social distancing and safety measures in place. These include, one-way routes, enhanced cleaning regimes using anti-viral disinfectant, pre-visit guidance to help people prepare for their visit as well as personal protective equipment and updated training for staff.
Each day during the new summer family fun season, the London Transport Museum Depot shop will be open offering exclusive transport themed toys, games, posters and gifts. Tea, coffee and light refreshments will also be available to purchase.
Tickets and time slots can be booked between 11:00 and 18:00 each day with last entry at 16:00. Adult tickets cost £15 and are £7.50 for children aged 4 to 17. Children under 3 go free. Timed tickets must be booked in advance online.
Local residents in Ealing, Hillingdon and Hounslow will enjoy a one third off (£10 for adults and £5 for children aged 4-17) when booking their timed tickets and families are encouraged to walk where possible. Visitors who already own an annual pass for London Transport Museum in Covent Garden will also receive one third
off when booking timed tickets too.
The London Transport Miniature Railway will be open for service, with passengers able to travel on replica models of vintage London Underground trains used on the Metropolitan line between the 1920s and 1960s. Tickets to ride on the Miniature Railway will be available to purchase separately on the day using contactless payments.
Museum director Sam Mullins says: ‘Our Depot is one of the capital’s hidden gems and we’re excited to be throwing open its doors for families to enjoy a behind the scenes look at rarely seen Aladdin’s cave of transport treasures. Opening our Depot for a summer season is unprecedented for us, but when we started thinking about reopening, we wanted to try something new by offering families a safe, local, fun day out during the summer holidays. With social distancing and new safety measures in place, we can’t wait to welcome people back to experience the Depot.’
Timed tickets for the London Transport Museum Depot summer family fun season can be booked online:https://www.ltmuseum.co.uk/whats-on/depot-summer
London Transport Museum in Covent Garden – including its popular Hidden London exhibition in the Global Gallery – will reopen to visitors in the autumn.
People can donate to support London Transport Museum as it reopens following the Covid-19 lockdown by visiting:www.ltmuseum.co.uk/support
