Conditions of entry
Children under 12 must be accompanied by an adult (over 18 years old).
While you are at the museum, please take care of your own health and safety and our collections. In order to ensure a safe and enjoyable experience for everyone, please do not:
• Disregard alarms, signs or directions given by staff
• Run within the museum, particularly in the galleries or on staircases
• Leave personal property unattended
• Bring in to the museum any restricted item (see below)
• Cross barriers, cordons or protective spaces in front of objects on open display
• Touch objects on open display unless invited to do so by our staff, for example at an object handling session
• Climb on any part of the collection, or the fabric of the building including walls, barriers, and columns
• Affix items (anything from stickers to people) to any part of the collection, or fabric of the building
• Block or obstruct entrance/exit doors or steps in any way
• Eat and drink other than in designated areas
• Smoke in the museum (including electronic cigarettes and vaping products)
• Fundraise, demonstrate or distribute campaigning material, without prior agreement
• Exhibit behaviour which is considered antisocial or disruptive by the Duty Manager
• Use any laser pointer or laser pen for any purpose within the museum
• Ride bicycles or scooters
• Leave any children in your care unattended or allow them to behave antisocially
Remain fully clothed while in the museum, including the wearing of footwear and tops at all times.
If you do not comply with any part of these regulations, you may be asked to leave the museum.
Other age restrictions may apply for particular experiences in the museum.
For Education groups, separate advice and guidance on supervision of children is available in the Learning section.
The Science Museum Group (SMG) reserves the right, at the sole discretion of the Duty Manager. to refuse admission or order the immediate removal without entitlement to a refund of any person who fails to act in accordance with the conditions of entry.
Working guide and assistance animals are welcome at the museum.
They should be appropriately trained, supervised and kept with you at all times, ideally on a leash. Where possible, dog owners should bring their Assistance Dogs UK (ADUK) identification book and animals should wear the appropriate tabards or harness, but this is not a requirement for entry.
Unfortunately, we cannot admit pets to our museums.
Visitors are permitted to use hand-held cameras in the museum for private and non-commercial purposes, but must not:
- Use cameras in any areas where video or photography is restricted—this will always be clearly indicated
- Make any recording or take any photograph of any person without the authorisation of that person
Non-private or commercial use of cameras/recording devices and the use of tripods or lighting is only allowed by prior arrangement.
WiFi is available throughout the museum—look for the network 'Free Museum Wi-Fi'.
Please look after your personal property while at the museum. Any property left unattended may be removed from the museum floor. If you lose any item during your
visit, please speak to a member of staff.
Please do not bring the following on to museum premises:
- Alcohol. Alcohol may only be consumed, if purchased on site, in a designated area
- Clothing with offensive signage or logos
- Animals, with exception of working guide and assistance animals
- Potentially dangerous items such as fireworks or knives. Knives which are carried for religious or cultural observance (such as the Kirpan) are normally exempt from this policy
- Any clothing or item worn deliberately to obscure the face, but with the exception of items worn for religious or cultural observance such as a Niqab or Burkha
- Balloons, as these can interfere with our alarm systems if they float away
- Privately owned e-scooters and e-bikes. These cannot be used on our sites, must not be charged on our sites and cannot be stored inside any of our buildings
We will sometimes conduct bag searches on arrival at the museum. The searches look for restricted items and any other material that might be considered a risk to our
collection, or to the health and safety and enjoyment of our visitors.
Any items found will be removed at the bag-searching point will be recorded and returned to the visitor on departure. If our staff finds anything they consider to be illegal, they will confiscate it and contact the Police.
Our visitors are welcome to breastfeed anywhere on site.
All our staff are identifiable from their National Railway Museum passes. There is a Duty Manager on site whenever we are open to the public, to ensure that you have a safe and enjoyable visit.
If our staff think you may be causing unreasonable offence to other visitors, or are endangering yourself, others, our property or our collections, they will ask you to stop. Our staff have the authority to escort you from the museum if necessary.
We will not tolerate abuse or violence towards any visitor, contractor or member of staff.
CCTV is in use throughout the museum; images are recorded for the purpose of public safety and crime prevention, in line with Data Protection legislation.
We work closely with North Yorkshire Police’s specially trained Project Servator officers.
Together we use a range of security tactics to help keep people safe and allow everyone to enjoy visiting our museum.
The officers pop up unpredictably in and around the museum, but this is nothing to worry about. Feel free to talk to them if you want to find out more.
You can also play a vital role in helping to keep the museum safe by reporting anything suspicious to either a member of our staff or the police.
