PM announces £3m extra funding for railway museum

Sir Keir Starmer has announced £3m in additional funding for York's National Railway Museum (NRM) during a visit to the city.

The funding will ensure progress on construction work in the Central Hall, a project planned to increase visitors to the museum.

Starmer said the funding recognised the importance of the museum's plans as part of the wider York Central regeneration project.

NRM director Chris Bentley said the money would help "drive growth and opportunity for the city".

"The National Railway Museum is a fantastic museum," the prime minister said.

"It's a great set up and part of who we are as a country.

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

The investment builds on £15m in support given to the project by the previous Conservative government in 2024 and confirmed by the present government last year.

It aims to address increased costs stemming from the complexities of "stopping-up" Leeman Road, which ran through the museum, splitting the site.

NRM 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."

He said the project would "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."

The NRM said the project would place the NRM at the "cultural heart" of York Central, a 45-hectare brownfield regeneration scheme.

The £2bn scheme involves transforming underused railway land adjacent to the NRM into a new city quarter with residential neighbourhoods, civic spaces, and commercial real estate.

Sir Tim Laurence, who chairs the Science Museum Group of which the NRM is a part, said they were "hugely grateful" for the "timely announcement".

"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."

The NRM opened in York in 1975 and was the first national museum outside London.

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