Keir Starmer Announces £3m For National Railway Museum Transformation

Prime Minister Keir Starmer has announced a further £3 million of Government funding for the National Railway Museum’s Central Hall project in York.

The additional money is intended to help move the flagship scheme into its next stage, allowing the museum to sign the main construction contract within days and begin main construction work next month.

The National Railway Museum, which is part of the Science Museum Group, said the funding will help address increased costs linked to the complex process of stopping-up Leeman Road. The road previously ran through the museum site, dividing it in two.

The latest investment builds on support announced by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport in 2019 and is designed to unlock progress on one of the museum’s most important redevelopment projects.

Central Hall will sit at the centre of the redesigned National Railway Museum site and will act as a new gateway into the transformed visitor attraction. The building is expected to support visitor growth while helping tell the story of the railways’ past, present and future.

The new structure has been designed by Feilden Fowles, the award-winning architects known for sustainable design. The museum said Central Hall will set a new sustainability benchmark for the site and provide level access across the museum for the first time.

Its circular design will reference historic locomotive roundhouses, creating a new arrival point for visitors.

Inside, Central Hall will include new interpretive spaces, including Railway Futures: The Porterbrook Gallery. The gallery will look at innovation in the rail sector and invite visitors to explore how emerging technology could shape the future of train travel.

The project forms part of the wider transformation of the National Railway Museum, which is set to become the cultural centrepiece of York Central.

York Central is a 45-hectare brownfield regeneration scheme that will turn former railway land into a new city quarter, with homes, civic spaces and commercial development planned in one of the UK’s most historic cities.

Sir Keir Starmer, Prime Minister said:

“I’m really pleased we’ve been able to put forward this money—and I look forward visiting myself but also thinking about all of the people who will be visiting in the future and the experiences they will have."

Sir Tim Laurence, Chair of the Science Museum Group said:

“We are hugely grateful for this timely announcement by the Prime Minister. It represents a strong vote of confidence in the National Railway Museum’s contribution to the York Central project, which will deliver lasting change for the people of York and the millions who visit this great city each year.”

Director Craig Bentley said:

“Thanks to the Prime Minister’s announcement today we can look forward to signing the contract for our ambitious Central Hall project within days, with construction beginning next month. By investing in the museum’s transformation, the Government is not only supporting changes that will engage hundreds of thousands more visitors with Britain’s railway heritage, it is also driving growth and opportunity for the city of York and the wider region.”

Image: National Railway Museum