London Transport Museum welcomed a record-breaking 449,599 visitors in 2025, its highest annual total since the Museum opened in Covent Garden in 1980, and an increase of 6 per cent on 2024 (423,674).
The surge in visitors follows the launch of the Museum’s refreshed brand identity. It also reflects the opening of two new exhibitions exploring London’s transport heritage, an increased focus on groups and travel trade engagement, and the introduction of Friday afternoon musical performances by up-and-coming classical and jazz musicians.
The Museum’s Hidden London guided tours also welcomed a record-breaking 48,630 ticketholders in 2025, an all-time high since launching in 2015. For the first time last year, the tours also opened to younger visitors aged 10-16. Guests enjoyed exclusive guided access to closed-off areas of the Tube network, from disused stations to hidden filming locations, secret wartime shelters, and closed platforms.
The launch of the Museum’s new brand identity in July 2024, under the leadership of its Director and CEO, Elizabeth McKay, includes a striking new spectrum ‘Museum’ roundel which re-imagines Edward Johnston’s 100-year-old iconic ‘bullseye’ design. This updated look celebrates London’s creativity and the city’s rich transport design heritage, from pioneering engineering to world-famous poster art. A new audience-focused publicity campaign, developed in-house by the Museum’s Marketing & PR and Design teams, has boosted visibility and reached new visitors across the capital and beyond.
London Transport Museum is a member of ALVA, the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions. Members are the UK’s most popular, iconic, and important museums, galleries, palaces, castles, cathedrals, zoos, historic houses, heritage sites, gardens and leisure attractions. Every year, ALVA announces the annual visitor figures of its members.
The latest announcement for 2025 was released today (20 March 2026).
Elizabeth McKay, Director and CEO of London Transport Museum, said: ‘Since opening on the Covent Garden Piazza in 1980, London Transport Museum has welcomed more than 10 million visitors. We’re delighted that each year more and more people are excited to discover the story of London and how life here has been shaped by its ever-evolving transport network. Ahead of our 50th anniversary in 2030, we’re thinking creatively about what the future will look like for London Transport Museum, so watch this space!’
Andy Lord, London’s Transport Commissioner, said: ‘London Transport Museum’s incredible collection and exhibitions connect the past, present and future, continuously inspiring generations and sharing the story of our city and the people who have kept London moving, from pioneers to everyday heroes. It’s fantastic to see so many Londoners and visitors to the capital exploring this history and heritage at the Museum’s unique Covent Garden location and out and about on our network as part of the Hidden London tours.’
Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: ‘It’s fantastic news that the London Transport Museum welcomed a record-breaking number of visitors in 2025. The Museum has enduring appeal and is cherished not just by Londoners but visitors around the country and indeed the world. This success is a reminder of how important our cultural institutions are in connecting people with London’s unique story, and there’s lots more to come, as we continue to build a better London for everyone.’
Bernard Donoghue OBE, Director, ALVA – The Association of Leading Visitor Attractions added: ‘London Transport Museum’s 6 per cent growth in visitor numbers between 2024 and 2025 is much higher than the national average and really shows what creative programming, inspiring design, and providing spaces and moments for joy and fun can do. It’s a great success story.’
Now on at the Museum
A newly opened exhibition Art deco: the golden age of poster design in the Museum’s Global Poster Gallery, which is supported by Global the media and entertainment group, features more than 100 objects exploring how the art deco movement has influenced London’s visual identity, from world-famous transport poster art to station architecture and train design.
In the Museum’s photography gallery the current display features captivating images of the capital and its evolving transport network, past and present. The display contrasts images from the Museum’s historic archive with contemporary photos captured by TfL Train Driver Anne Maningas.
For the second year in a row, visitors can also experience London’s transport heritage while enjoying music in the Museum. A new line-up of rising stars from three of the capital’s conservatoires will be performing on term-time Fridays at 14:00.
Exhibitions and Friday afternoon performances are included with adult entry tickets which also offer unlimited free return daytime entry for a whole year.
