National Railway Museum visual story

Before you arrive

OPENING TIMES AND TICKET BOOKING

The museum is open every day, 10.00–17.00.

Last admission is at 16.30.

To speed up your entry to the museum, it is worth booking a free ticket before visiting.

QUIET TIMES

The museum tends to be less busy on Thursday and Friday afternoons.

During school holidays or bank holidays it is busy throughout the week.

Getting here

KEY TRANSPORT ROUTES

Rail

The museum is a few minutes’ walk from York train station.

Bus

There is a bus stop outside the main entrance to the museum. The Rawcliffe Park and Ride bus (Number 2) picks up and drops off outside the museum. Number 10 bus also passes by the museum.

Car

Accessible parking for blue badge holders is free and is located in the main visitor car park. This is a short walk away from the main entrance on the other side of the road.

You can find more directions and information on the museum’s Travel information page.

When you arrive

The museum entrance is now on Leeman Road.

At busy times like school holidays or special events there may be a queue outside the entrance. If this is an issue, please speak to a member of staff who can help you get to the front.

Please note there might be some traffic noise outside the entrance.

ON ARRIVAL

When you enter the museum, staff members will welcome you at the information desk and scan your ticket.

Museum staff wear black t-shirts with green-blue lettering and green-blue lanyards with their photo ID. You can ask them any questions you might have about your visit and book any additional tickets.

At the information desk you can borrow ear defenders. These are also available inside the museum at the ticket desk and Wonderlab desk.

You can also pick up a museum map when you arrive.

At the entrance to our Great Hall gallery there is a Ticket desk where you can purchase tickets for the car park or any experiences available on the day of your visit.

Around the museum

This is an Explainer. You might see them deliver talks or activities in certain galleries across the museum. You might hear announcements throughout the day when an activity is going to happen.

You may also encounter volunteers who can show you 360-degree images of some of our locomotive cabs using an iPad.

We have lifts and stairs that you can use to get to all levels of the museum.

There is information at the lifts about what you can find.

There are currently a lot of changes going on in our museum so you may see scaffolding, hoardings and barriers used to keep our staff and visitors safe while this transformative work is taking place. You may also hear some construction noise.

Key galleries and exhibitions

Currently one museum building is open for visitors as Station Hall is closed for transformation.

GREAT HALL

In this gallery you can see some of the most famous engines in our collection including Mallard, Duchess of Hamilton, Shinkansen, InterCity 125 and others.

Due to essential maintenance works we are currently unable to offer cab access for a lot of our locomotives.

You can have a look inside Shinkansen which can be accessed via a ramp.

Self-led trails and activities are available during school holidays. These can be picked up from the information point in Great Hall.

You might see one of our Explainers switch on the Winding Engine. This will make some noise and there might be a crowd gathered to see it.

Wonderlab: The Bramall Gallery

Wonderlab is our new interactive gallery which features 18 hands-on challenges. It is a large, open area and at the back of the space you will find Play Revolution, which has lots of moveable shapes.

Find out more about Wonderlab.

INNOVATION PLATFORM

This is a temporary exhibition which showcases the latest developments in rail innovation and is located in Great Hall. It covers different topics such as Decarbonisation, Smart Cities and others. You can find out more about Innovation Platform on our website.

NORTH SHED

In North Shed you can find information about Flying Scotsman.

You can also explore thousands of smaller objects from our collection which are on display.

Some of the walkways in North Shed are narrow and can get crowded at busy times.

SEARCH ENGINE LIBRARY AND ARCHIVE CENTRE

Search Engine is open for visitors Wednesday–Saturday, 10.00-16.30.

You can browse books and magazines and use computer access for online resources without a booking but if you wish to access archive materials and/or rare books please book in advance.

Search Engine tends to be a less busy and quieter area.

Search Engine is located on the balcony in Great Hall and can be accessed via the lift or stairs next to the Information point.

 

Café and picnic areas

You can buy food and drinks at the Great Hall Café. Another café is located near Wonderlab.

During school holidays and weekends the café can get busy, and you may need to queue.

We also have picnic benches if you want to bring your own food. These are located by the Japanese Bullet train and Eurostar. Sometimes the benches are reserved by a visiting school group.

Shop

There are two shops in Great Hall. One is located near Wonderlab and another is located near the Great Hall café.

Toilets

Toilets are located at the entrance, in Great Hall and on the Highlights Gallery balcony.

Accessible toilets and baby changing facilities are also available in those locations.

The nearest Changing Places facility is at York train station.

Alarms and announcements

In the event of an evacuation, you will hear a siren and staff will show you to the nearest exit.

During your visit you might hear announcements to let you know when talks and activities are about to begin.

Closing announcements will be made every day at 16.30 and again at 16.50.