The London Transport Museum Depot at Acton is the museum's working store, not a gallery, and you cannot simply turn up. You get in only on a pre-booked guided tour, on Fridays and Saturdays through most of the year, or on one of three themed open weekends a year, in spring, early summer and late September. Book online in advance; the popular dates sell out.
The Depot is a large modern shed beside Acton Town station in west London, two minutes from the platform. It holds most of the museum's collection: buses, trams, Underground trains, signs, posters, ticket machines and the many thousands of smaller things that will not fit into the museum in Covent Garden. It is also where conservation work is done, so it looks like a store with labels, not a display.
The main museum is covered in our guide to the London Transport Museum in Covent Garden, and the area around the Depot in our page on Acton and Hanwell. This page is about getting into the Depot: which ticket does what, what it costs, and who will find it hard.
Museum Depot at a glance
- Address
- 2 Museum Way, 118-120 Gunnersbury Lane, Acton, London W3 9BQ
- Normally
- Closed to the public; open only for booked tours and open days
- Open days in 2026
- 9-12 April, 3-5 July and 25-27 September, 10:00-17:00 (the museum's listings, read November 2026)
- Open day ticket, 2026
- Adult £19, child £10, aged 3 and under free; Ealing and Hounslow residents' rate
- Depot Discovery tour
- About 2 hours, Fridays and Saturdays; listed at £20 adult, £19 concession, £16 local resident, £11 aged 4 to 17 (November 2026)
- Nearest station
- Acton Town (District and Piccadilly lines), about 2 minutes on foot
- Parking
- None, except for disabled badge holders
- Café
- None on tour days
A store, a workshop and an archive in one shed
Most museums show a small part of what they own. The London Transport Museum shows a smaller part than most, because its objects include double-deck buses and whole Underground carriages. The rest lives at Acton, packed in rows, on racks and in drawers, with space left for the conservators to work on them.
The museum's own pages disagree about how much is in there. One describes the Depot as home to more than 370,000 objects; another, for an earlier open day, says more than 320,000. Either way, it is far more than the main museum, and the Depot holds most of the vehicles in the collection, from an electric trolleybus to an electric locomotive, and even modern hire bikes.
That is the attraction and the limitation. You will see things nobody has seen in Covent Garden for decades, in a building designed for storage. Lighting is functional, labels are short, and the vehicles stand close together. For a transport enthusiast, that is the point. For a casual visitor, the main museum is the better morning.
The three ways in, and which one to choose
Open days. Three weekends a year the Depot opens to anyone with a ticket, with talks, tours and family activities built round a theme. In 2026 the themes were "Icons of London" in April, "Powering London" in July and "Design classics" in September. These are the easiest way in for a family, because you are free to wander rather than follow a guide. The museum has also run the London Transport Miniature Railway on the Saturday and Sunday of open weekends.
Depot Discovery tours. Through the rest of the year a guide takes small groups round the store for about two hours, on Fridays and Saturdays. The museum's listing in November 2026 showed some late-November slots already sold out, so book several weeks ahead. An older group-travel guide from the museum gave the tour as 90 minutes; the current listing says two hours.
Specialist tours. The museum also lists an art and poster store tour, which takes you into the collection of London Transport posters and artwork, and separate family tours for children. These run on fewer dates. The underground tours of disused stations are a different product altogether: see our page on Hidden London tours.
A Covent Garden ticket does not get you into Acton. The main museum's standard ticket, which works as a year's pass, covers Covent Garden only. The museum has sold a dearer Annual Pass Plus that includes open-day entry, and some Depot tickets have come with half-price entry to Covent Garden; check which offer is current before you buy two separate tickets.
What it costs a family
On the 2026 open-day prices, two adults and two children pay £58 (2 × £19 plus 2 × £10). Children aged 3 and under are free. On the Depot Discovery tour, as listed in November 2026, the same family would pay £62 (2 × £20 plus 2 × £11). We could not read these prices on the museum's own pages, because its website blocks automated requests, so treat them as a guide and check at the point of booking.
Travel adds a Zone 1 to 3 fare each way. TfL's journey planner gave £3.30 pay as you go from Covent Garden to Acton Town at 10am on a Saturday in November 2026, with a journey of about 26 minutes on the Piccadilly line. Children aged 5 to 10 travel free on the Tube with a fare-paying adult.
Compared with a single visit to the Covent Garden museum, the Depot is not cheap for what may be a two-hour visit. It is good value if transport is your interest, and poor value as a rainy-day filler for small children who are not.
Getting to Acton Town
Acton Town is on both the Piccadilly line and the District line, and the Depot entrance on Museum Way is about 200 metres from the station, a two-minute walk according to TfL. From Covent Garden or Leicester Square the Piccadilly is direct and takes under half an hour. From Heathrow it is also direct, on the same line in the other direction.
The station itself is worth a look on the way in. It is one of the 1930s Underground stations designed by Charles Holden's office, and our guide to Holden's Underground stations explains what to look for. The Depot has no public car park, only spaces for disabled badge holders.
If you have time afterwards, Gunnersbury Park, with its free museum in the large mansion, is a short walk south down Gunnersbury Lane.
Access, children and what to bring
The museum's open-day pages describe ramps and wheelchair platforms along the routes, but warn that rail tracks and grooves are set into the floor, which can be hard for visually impaired visitors and anyone unsteady on their feet. A first-floor mezzanine is reached by lift or by stairs; one page reported the lift out of order with 24 steps instead, so ask before you travel if that matters. Not every vehicle can be boarded.
Accessible toilets are next to the main reception, and on open days a mobile accessible unit with a hoist and changing bench has been provided in the yard. Carers and companions can book a free ticket, and assistance animals are allowed inside. Under-18s must be with an adult on tours, and the museum asks you to arrive 15 minutes before the start.
There is no café on tour days, so eat before you go or bring a snack, and bring a layer in winter, as a big storage shed can feel cool. Wear comfortable shoes: a two-hour tour is two hours on your feet on a concrete floor. For a child who loves buses but will not manage that long, a ride on one of the heritage bus routes or a shorter visit to Covent Garden is a kinder option.
Why the dates are hard to plan around
The open days follow a pattern, not a fixed calendar. In recent years they have come three times a year: one weekend in spring (in 2026, over four days in April), one at the start of July and one late in September. The dates for the next year are published on the museum's website some months ahead and tickets go on sale soon after, with a limited number held back for people turning up on the day at some events.
If you are planning a trip to London around a Depot visit, book the tickets as soon as the dates appear, and only then the travel. If your dates do not match, a Friday or Saturday guided tour is the fallback, and those run through the winter. Our page on London with children has other ideas for transport-mad families.
Frequently asked questions
Can you visit the London Transport Museum Depot without booking?
Normally no. The Depot is closed to the public except for pre-booked guided tours and its open days. At some open days the museum has held back a limited number of tickets for people arriving on the day, but booking ahead is the only way to be sure of getting in.
When are the London Transport Museum Depot open days?
Three times a year. In 2026 they were 9 to 12 April, 3 to 5 July and 25 to 27 September, from 10:00 to 17:00. The following year's dates appear on the museum's website some months in advance and the popular days sell out.
How much does the London Transport Museum Depot cost?
An open-day ticket in 2026 was £19 for an adult and £10 for a child, with under-4s free. The two-hour Depot Discovery tour was listed at £20 for an adult and £11 for a child aged 4 to 17 in November 2026. Check current prices when you book.
Is the London Transport Museum annual ticket valid at the Depot?
The standard Covent Garden ticket, which gives a year's entry, does not cover the Depot. The museum has sold a higher-priced Annual Pass Plus that includes open-day entry, so check the current version before buying separate tickets.
What is the nearest station to the London Transport Museum Depot?
Acton Town, on the Piccadilly and District lines, about two minutes' walk from the Depot entrance on Museum Way. From central London the Piccadilly line takes about 26 minutes from Covent Garden.
Sources
- London Transport Museum - Museum Depot (checked November 2026)
- London Transport Museum - Depot Discovery tours (checked November 2026)
- London Transport Museum - Depot open days: Design classics (checked November 2026)
- London Transport Museum - Depot family tours (checked November 2026)
- Transport for London - Journey planner (checked November 2026)