London Transport Museum is opening the doors of its Museum Depot in Acton Town, west London, from Friday 25 to Sunday 27 September 2026. The Depot Open Days: Design Classics event is the museum’s last Depot open weekend of the year, giving families a rare chance to explore a working collection store of more than 320,000 objects not usually on public display.
This autumn’s theme celebrates the design icons of London’s transport network, from the famous Tube roundel to the London Underground map, historic seating fabric (“moquette”) and a huge archive of vintage publicity posters.
What’s on at the Depot Open Days
Visitors can climb aboard historic trains, including 1927 standard stock and 1938 stock carriages, and get close to the pioneering RM1 and RM2 buses. There’s also a chance to see rare signalling equipment, station models and maps up close.
A programme of talks runs across the weekend, covering topics such as Piccadilly line architecture (marking the line’s 120th anniversary this year), Art on the Underground and inclusive design, delivered by curators, historians and museum volunteers.
Younger visitors can join hands-on activities including a “match the moquette” quiz, a poster design workshop imagining transport in the year 2126, and a roundel design workshop. The Depot’s miniature railway will also be running across all three days.
A one-hour SEND-friendly session takes place on the Saturday for visitors who prefer a calmer, quieter environment. Other highlights include object handling with historic ticket machines, live signalling demonstrations, a look at the ongoing Q Stock carriage restoration, and poetry readings marking 40 years of Poems on the Underground.
Food and drink will be available from Benugo, Mini Bean Coffee, Crepe Salut and Well Nice Food, with live music in the Yard celebrating TfL’s Busking Scheme.
Tickets and prices
Adult tickets cost £19 and children’s tickets cost £10, with free entry for children aged three and under. Concessions are available, including special tickets for local residents in Ealing and Hounslow.
Tickets should be booked in advance online at ltmuseum.co.uk.
