London Transport Museum

The London Transport Museum stands in a Victorian iron-and-glass building that once housed Covent Garden’s flower market. Designed by William Rogers in 1871, it served the market until 1971 before becoming a museum in 1980. The Covent Garden site reopened in 2007 after a £22 million refurbishment by Bryan Avery. The collection began early in the 20th century when the London General Omnibus Company started preserving retired buses. Over the decades it grew to include trams, trolleybuses and the first underground electric train from 1890. The museum’s value lies in its expanded remit under Transport for London, covering all forms of the city’s transport. It offers guided tours called Hidden London that take visitors into disused stations and wartime shelters. These tours draw on the museum’s archives and include locations such as Aldwych, Down Street and Clapham South shelter. Simulator experiences let visitors step into an Elizabeth line cab or a 1938 stock train. A children’s play-zone and interactive area provide hands-on learning for the youngest visitors. Inside the Covent Garden building, displays show buses, trams and rail vehicles from the 19th and 20th centuries. Artefacts illustrate how the transport network shaped London and its people. The Acton depot holds the majority of the collection, including a complete 1938 stock tube train and early locomotives. It provides secure storage for over 370,000 items such as posters, signs and uniforms. Visitors can book guided tours or attend special open weekends to see these larger exhibits.