First look at new designs for National Railway Museum’s £10.5m ‘transformation’

Details of the new permanent exhibition planned for the National Railway Museum’s Station Hall, including concept designs for York’s former goods station have been released.

Created by exhibition designers Drinkall Dean, the images provide an early view of how Station Hall’s new exhibition will look once it opens to the public in 2024. The new exhibition will transform and enhance the visitor experience with new stories, objects and interpretation while also retaining many of the hall’s much-loved features and atmosphere.

The exhibition has four main themes which guide visitors through the space. ‘The Station is a World In Itself’ will explore the unique landscape, rules and experiences of the station. In this theme the museum’s Waterloo Station WHSmith book stall kiosk will be displayed for the first time, following an extensive restoration process.

The second theme ‘Innovation, Influence and Inspiration’ will display the museum’s collection of six royal carriages alongside new interpretation and imagery to tell the stories of the impact of royals travelling by rail.

‘Work and Play’ will show visitors how stations became the starting point for journeys that transformed the way people work, play and live today as rail travel became widespread and more affordable. This will include the museum’s LMS sleeper carriage, Midland Railway dining carriage and reproductions from the museum’s collection of railway travel posters.

The final theme ‘The Goods Life’ will reference Station Hall’s past working life as a busy freight station and will focus on the often-hidden elements of the railways that helped shape modern life.

Objects in this section will include a fish van, a banana van, and a prosthetic leg issued by the Great Western Railway to Harold Jarvis, a member of staff who was injured in a shunting accident.

Joe Randall, interpretation developer at the National Railway Museum, commented: “Station Hall will immerse visitors in an historic railway landscape, surrounded by the diverse, inspiring and powerful stories of real people and the tangible assets that illustrate them.

“We want to keep the atmosphere of the station that people love but enhance the experience with more stories and collection items. The new themes and stories will give context to the space and help visitors to explore our unique collection for themselves.”

Alongside Station Hall’s exhibition, the Grade II-listed building is also receiving a £10.5m programme of conservation and repair works which includes replacing the roof. Funded by DCMS from the Public Bodies Infrastructure Fund, the National Railway Museum has recently appointed John Graham Construction Ltd as principal contractor to work with conservation architects Buttress to deliver the programme of works.

By Matthew Neville – Senior Correspondent, Bdaily

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