Museum review. New insights, new approaches: the London Transport Museum

The London Transport Museum reopened in November 2007 following refurbishment with an astonishing, innovative new exhibition. What was once a museum for London's public transport vehicles has become possibly the first transport museum to develop an integrated transport history, perhaps even a mobility history, that stresses the role of the user. The trams, trolley buses and Underground vehicles are still there, but horses, railways, bicycles, cars, taxis, light railways, boats and, crucially, people are equally important for the history of a moving metropolis. The exhibition is chronological in structure and the historical context of the artefacts is provided by touch screens, panels and showcases. The screens provide a wide variety of relevant information through films, pictures and documents. The visitor is able to roam between different topics and the texts are accessible and interesting at the same time, the visual material presented in a fascinating way. Art and design now have a prominent place in the museum and new perspectives are to be found everywhere. Particular praise is merited for the restrained use of digital technology and the priority given to the objects, ephemera and primary sources: this museum is a place of real experiences - visual, tactile and acoustic. In the section dealing with the future the museum addresses current environmental problems in a straightforward and accessible way. Some elements of the arrangement/layout could be improved; historical contextualisation of the 20C is not quite as strong as the interpretation in other parts of the museum; and there is little mention of walking or pedestrians as part of a moving city. Unfortunately, visitors are still given the impression that urban public transport was responsible for suburbanisation. (Quotes from original text)