Museum wins share of £250m Government investment

York’s National Railway Museum will receive £18.5m as part of a £250m Government fund for the culture and creative sector.

The cash will kick-start the transformation of the National Railway Museum, including new gallery and exhibition spaces, improved accessibility and the restoration of heritage buildings.

The museum will become the cultural hub of York Central – the redevelopment of the largest city centre brownfield site in Europe –  projected to include 6,500 high-value jobs, and up to 2,500 new homes.

The overall funding scheme was announced by the Culture Secretary Nicky Morgan, who said: “Creative and cultural institutions are at the heart of our communities.

“The Cultural Investment Fund (CIF) is the Government’s biggest ever single investment in cultural infrastructure, local museums and neighbourhood libraries and will benefit communities across the country. This will help drive growth, rejuvenate high streets and attract tourists to our world-class cultural attractions.”

Judith McNicol, director of the National Railway Museum, said: “This is wonderful news for the National Railway Museum – and for the City of York.

“This investment by the Government is an extremely significant milestone in realising our £55m Vision 2025 campaign to turn our museum into a truly world-class attraction.

“It is the springboard for unlocking our role as the cultural heartbeat of York Central – one of the most ambitious regeneration projects in Europe.”

As reported last month, The National Railway Museum has launched a competition to find the architect who will design a £16.5m building to showcase the future of rail engineering and to link the museum site for the first time.

Part of the National Railway Museum’s £55m Vision 2025 Masterplan, the 4,500 sq m Central Hall will connect the existing Great Hall and Station Hall buildings and provide additional capacity to welcome up to 1.2m visitors annually.

The museum is one of the most visited museums in the North of England, welcoming 782,000 visitors in 2018-19,

The overall £250m CIF investment will be delivered by Department for Culture Media and Sport, with Arts Council England (ACE) having a key role in distributing the fund.

Both the National Lottery Heritage Fund and Historic England will also play important roles, particularly in the delivery of the museums maintenance fund.