Routemaster bus
Icon of London’s streets (1950s-2000s)
Introduced in 1956 and built until 1968, the red Routemaster ran in regular service until 2005-light, partly aluminium, and designed for quick hop-on, hop-off travel.
Climb to the front top-deck seat and look over Covent Garden.
📍 Main Hall, Ground Floor
Victorian Underground
World’s first underground (1863)
Steam trains began running beneath London on 10 January 1863, when the Metropolitan Railway opened its first section between Paddington and Farringdon, changing city travel forever.
Find the wooden coach and spot fittings blackened by steam-era soot.
📍 Early London Railways, First Floor
Beck’s Tube map
Pioneering diagram (1933)
In 1933, engineering draughtsman Harry Beck redrew the network as a circuit-style diagram, sacrificing geography for clarity and creating a template copied worldwide.
Compare the diagram with a geographic map to see Beck’s bold simplifications.
📍 Design & Identity, First Floor
Elizabeth line design
London’s newest railway (opened 2022)
Opened on 24 May 2022, the Elizabeth line spans about 73 miles, with wide platforms, step-free stations, and distinctive purple roundels designed for high-capacity travel.
Check the moquette pattern and signage to spot the line’s visual identity.
📍 Contemporary Transport, First Floor
Poster collection
World-class transport graphics
The museum cares for more than 5,000 original posters and over 700 poster artworks, charting a century of design from Edward McKnight Kauffer to present-day commissions.
Pick one decade and trace how type and colour changed.
📍 Posters & Graphics, First Floor
