Museum to open in London costing £437m that will see live trains zip through galleries

By Grace Piercy, News Reporter

London Museum is hoping to portion unfastened successful 2026 (Image: London Museum)

A depository is acceptable to unfastened successful London costing an eye-watering £450 cardinal that volition spot unrecorded trains zip done galleries.

The Museum of London is relocating from the Barbican to aged marketplace buildings successful Smithfield and volition revert to its erstwhile name, the London Museum.

The archetypal £337 cardinal fund for the museum's relocation from its erstwhile basal has soared by 30% since 2022 to £437 million.

The fractional of the depository located successful Smithfield’s 19th-century General Market building, wherever astir of the historical collections volition beryllium exhibited, is owed to unfastened connected docket successful 2026.

The fractional that volition beryllium housed wrong Smithfield’s Poultry Market is present not acceptable to beryllium implicit until arsenic precocious arsenic 2028 - up to 2 years down schedule. 

The depository volition person unrecorded trains moving done it (Image: London Museum)

London Museum manager Sharon Ament said: "We are steaming up to present a transformative, world-leading depository that volition beryllium worthy of this large planetary capital.”

An further pledge of £50 cardinal from Sadiq Khan and the City of London Corporation brings the mayor’s wide publication to £95 cardinal and the City of London Corporation's to £222 million.

The depository has acceptable its ain fundraising people of £100 million, with £45 cardinal acold secured "through backstage donations, sponsors and philanthropy", the venue said

It said successful September that it was looking astatine "green indebtedness opportunities" to unafraid the remaining £20 cardinal to scope the £437 cardinal target.

Christopher Hayward, argumentation president of the City of London Corporation, said the caller depository would beryllium a "cultural and economical cornerstone" of London arsenic a "destination city".

Sadiq Khan said helium was "proud" to beryllium an "integral" portion successful the museum's creation.

The depository said its enactment would "preserve the historical Smithfield Market buildings for generations to come".

Highlights volition see a caller location for the Cheapside Hoard, a modern assemblage including objects collected during the pandemic. It volition beryllium the lone depository successful the satellite with unrecorded trains zipping done the galleries.