LT Museum, Covent Garden

[43066]

I have visited both thanks. It is a fantastic museum. Interesting cross section of exhibits, good range of stories etc.

You can view all the exhibits. Easily. You walk to the top of the museum and come down through different periods of LU history. I am struggling to see how you form such a view. Could you expand on your position in more detail

I must admit, I’m also struggling to understand that perspective! It’s not the biggest site, but they make excellent use of the space available, and strike a good balance between geekiness and being a tourist attraction for normals. I reckon it’s streets ahead of the NRM in many respects. The Hidden London tours are absolutely brilliant, I’ve done a few over the years (offered to “friends” of the museum first).

For a proper deep dive the LT Museum Depot really can’t be bettered. Last time I went (perhaps a year ago now) they had the insides of a 67 stock electrical system on display, all correctly wired up to the cab. We were invited into the cab to operate the “train start” button, and could then see the relays clicking!

Of course it will be castigated and condemned on here, by people who haven’t even visited for twenty years …

 

[43096]

I must admit, I’m also struggling to understand that perspective! It’s not the biggest site, but they make excellent use of the space available, and strike a good balance between geekiness and being a tourist attraction for normals. I reckon it’s streets ahead of the NRM in many respects. The Hidden London tours are absolutely brilliant, I’ve done a few over the years (offered to “friends” of the museum first).

For a proper deep dive the LT Museum Depot really can’t be bettered. Last time I went they had the insides of a 67 stock electrical system on display, all correctly wired up to the cab. We were invited into the cab to operate the “train start” button, and could then see the relays clicking!

Of course it will be castigated and condemned on here, by people who haven’t even visited for twenty years …

Don't think I've ever been, but I'm certainly not going to "castigate and condemn". That sort of interactivity where you can press the train start button and see what happens when you do, sounds just the sort of exhibit that we need more of, to get people interested in engineering.

 

[Davester50]

I have visited both thanks. It is a fantastic museum. Interesting cross section of exhibits, good range of stories etc.

You can view all the exhibits. Easily. You walk to the top of the museum and come down through different periods of LU history. I am struggling to see how you form such a view. Could you expand on your position in more detail

Ps my pictures from my most recent visits are on my Flickr. I think I got shots of all the exhibits I cared about. Take a look.

Got my own photos thanks.
If you think that this is the way to exhibit things, high up on walls out of sight, I'd never visit a museum you'd run!



Riverside is style over substance.

 

[DarloRich]

Riverside is style over substance

We were taking about the London transport museum.......

(Although the transport museum in Glasgow is quite good. Miles better than the tatty old one !)

 

[Mountain Man]

I just love how the ‘justifiers’ feel that the annual pass is the same price as the (previous) walk up. I’m on a limited budget and have to go where I get best value. I have no need for an ‘annual’ anything and £25 is way too much. Locals get in for £18.50 which I suggest is at the higher end of access cost but just about do-able.

Of course nobody’s mentioned that EVEN IF you pay this amount you still have to get a free ‘timed ticket’ IF there is space available - so even if you don’t baulk at £24.50 walk up, you still might not get in. Yes, that is indeed a bargain (not!).

If single entry tickets for walk up were available at £18 that’s reasonable - £7 more isn’t.

Don't go to London then if you think 25 quid is far too much for a tourist attraction, as that's normal price for similar.

It absolutely is a cost of living issue, these museums need to have as broad appeal as possible.

I live closer than the OP but the reality is that by offering an annual cost over a single visit it is by its very nature, more expensive. I’m not sure how anyone can deny that? As such it creates a barrier to those living on a lower budget.

No, they need to optimise revenue to balance visitor numbers and total revenue. They don't need to maximise visitor numbers

The argument is £XX.XX admission is rather expensive, BUT I’ve got unrestricted access for a whole year, so it’s probably better value - so I’ll accept it in good faith. You then find most lose their ticket and don’t go back….

The entry price for a lot of people isn't expensive so you're argument crumbles. They see it as fine for a single visit

I live about 200 miles from London. So if I go for a weekend visiting. Costs would be say roughly

Return off peak train 140 quid
2 nights in a budget hotel 125 X 2 nights
2 days travel 2 X 10 quid
Food 30 a day

So that equals 470. And I went cheap on accomodation and food assumptions.

So a 25 quid museum is 5 percent of the cost. It's a tiny fraction of the overall cost. Even if it's 15 quid, it's a 2 percent saving.

Where you stay and where you eat would have a far bigger impact on overall cost

First we were brainwashed, now we are justifiers. What next?

 

[Pacef8]

We visited from liverpool and we where very disappointed considering york is free . What was worth the money is the mail train though .

 

[birchesgreen]

The long queues i always see at Covent Garden indicates the price doesn't put many people off. The crowds put me off, even though i can get in for free as an LTM friend.

The depot is a fantastic visit, especially if you do a pre-booked non-open day tour.

 

[Buzby]

First we were brainwashed, now we are justifiers. What next?

Deluded? Of course there will be people who wouldn’t bat an eyelid at these costs, but I don’t need a whole year of access thanks very much, but if that’s all that’s on offer - I’ll pass. Even the website glosses over the fact there are no ‘day’ tickets (no doubt hoping folk won’t notice or won’t care). But I did, and do.

I think we’ve explored this to death, so for those that believe £25 is a reasonable amount to pay to enter a children’s playpatk knock yourself out. I‘ve better things to spend money on.

Although the transport museum in Glasgow is quite good. Miles better than the tatty old one !)

Glasgow lost its ’transport museum’ when it moved out of the Kelvin Hall (prior to that it was a Coplawhill Tram Sheds) which was the ‘tatty’ old one? To be fair, KH made great use of the space they had especially Kelvin Street the reconstruction - but I cannot work out whether they have the same of less space at the Riverside Museum (excluding the Glenlee which is outside). There’s probably more transport exhibits at the Nitshill facility so try to squeeze in a booking there if you can! Here’s a painting there I’d love in my collection!

 

[Mountain Man]

Deluded? Of course there will be people who wouldn’t bat an eyelid at these costs, but I don’t need a whole year of access thanks very much, but if that’s all that’s on offer - I’ll pass. Even the website glosses over the fact there are no ‘day’ tickets (no doubt hoping folk won’t notice or won’t care). But I did, and do.

I think we’ve explored this to death, so for those that believe £25 is a reasonable amount to pay to enter a children’s playpatk knock yourself out. I‘ve better things to spend money on.


Glasgow lost its ’transport museum’ when it moved out of the Kelvin Hall (prior to that it was a Coplawhill Tram Sheds) which was the ‘tatty’ old one? To be fair, KH made great use of the space they had especially Kelvin Street the reconstruction - but I cannot work out whether they have the same of less space at the Riverside Museum (excluding the Glenlee which is outside). There’s probably more transport exhibits at the Nitshill facility so try to squeeze in a booking there if you can! Here’s a painting there I’d love in my collection!

So now you resort to insulting the museum. It's one of the leading museums in London.

You keep ignoring the fact it's comparable to similar tourist attractions in London.

It's priced similar to single visit tickets elsewhere.

It sounds like you regret not going, thought you'd post a question to try and get positive reinforcement but unfortunately didn't get it

 

[Buzby]

You keep ignoring the fact it's comparable to similar tourist attractions in London.

That makes it alright, does it? Perhaps you like being manipulated, but being forced to pay for a year when you only want a couple of hours is smoke and mirrors and a game I won’t play.

 

[birchesgreen]

I think we’ve explored this to death, so for those that believe £25 is a reasonable amount to pay to enter a children’s playpatk knock yourself out. I‘ve better things to spend money on.

How do you know what its like if you haven't been?

 

[Mountain Man]

That makes it alright, does it? Perhaps you like being manipulated, but being forced to pay for a year when you only want a couple of hours is smoke and mirrors and a game I won’t play.

Yes, because cost is comparable to other discretionary spend situations. It's called living in the real world.

I'm not being manipulated. I think it's a fair price for a single visit. I treat it as a single visit price. How can there be smoke and mirrors when it's entirely transparent on what you are paying for. Don't try and use phrases if you don't understand them. Smoke and mirrors suggests they hide that you get an annual ticket. Your entire topic is based on the premise IT'S NOT smoke and mirrors

It's the same price I pay for 2 hours at a League 2 football match. Or less than than a trip up the Shard or to the Tower of London.

 

[Buzby]

How do you know what its like if you haven't been?

What makes you think that? Read the thread! (Msg #27)

I think it's a fair price for a single visit.

Good for you. I don’t.

 

[bluegoblin7]

Once again, you’re not buying an annual pass.

You are buying a single admission ticket which, for a discretionary Gift Aid donation included in the headline pass, allows you to return for free for a year.

If you wanted to pay the non-Gift Aid price - which the Museum are obliged to provide given that many of its visitors won’t be UK tax payers and thus ineligible for Gift Aid - this is possible on the door.

If this were a ‘true’ annual pass you’d expect a far higher price and far more restrictions, in line with those very same children’s play parks to which you compare a museum you haven’t even visited.

More on these rules can be found here: https://www.visitengland.com/sites/...itable_attractions_updated_version_jan_15.pdf

I am far from the LTM’s biggest advocate and can think of many things that they don’t always get right, but the admission fee isn’t one, and nor is the museum experience which is up there with the nationals at a fraction of the funding, and competitive within sector. It is worth mentioning that stuffy, old spaces packed to the brim with static objects behind glass cases simply don’t cut it any more, and haven’t for some time.

 

[Mountain Man]

Good for you. I don’t.

You posted on a public forum asking opinions. No need for sarcasm when you get an answer.

It's pretty clear you wanted validation of your view, and now seem surprised when you haven't got it

 

[pitdiver]

I shouldn't really comment as I'm an ex LTM employee and therefore a TfL pensioner. So I get free entry to the Museum. I was under the impression that the annual ticket gives entry to the LTM Depot. However imay be wrong. I wait to be corrected

 

[Mountain Man]

Once again, you’re not buying an annual pass.

You are buying a single admission ticket which, for a discretionary Gift Aid donation included in the headline pass, allows you to return for free for a year.

If you wanted to pay the non-Gift Aid price - which the Museum are obliged to provide given that many of its visitors won’t be UK tax payers and thus ineligible for Gift Aid - this is possible on the door.

If this were a ‘true’ annual pass you’d expect a far higher price and far more restrictions, in line with those very same children’s play parks to which you compare a museum you haven’t even visited.

More on these rules can be found here: https://www.visitengland.com/sites/...itable_attractions_updated_version_jan_15.pdf

I am far from the LTM’s biggest advocate and can think of many things that they don’t always get right, but the admission fee isn’t one, and nor is the museum experience which is up there with the nationals at a fraction of the funding, and competitive within sector. It is worth mentioning that stuffy, old spaces packed to the brim with static objects behind glass cases simply don’t cut it any more, and haven’t for some time.

Let's not confuse this topic by adding facts to it

Might I suggest this topic get locked now. It's pretty clear the OP hasn't found the agreement he is looking for.

 

[birchesgreen]

What makes you think that? Read the thread! (Msg #27)

OK fair enough, nothing changes in 10-15 years after all.

 

[Davester50]

We were taking about the London transport museum.......

Cross purposes.

(Although the transport museum in Glasgow is quite good. Miles better than the tatty old one !)

Nope.

Let's not confuse this topic by adding facts to it

It's pretty clear the OP hasn't found the agreement he is looking for.

Very true.

 

[ScotsRail]

That makes it alright, does it? Perhaps you like being manipulated, but being forced to pay for a year when you only want a couple of hours is smoke and mirrors and a game I won’t play.

It does make it alright when comparing apples with apples.

Not sure what point you are actually trying to make when its been pointed out to you repeatedly that the cost is similar to other attractions in the London area and its been a yearly ticket for over a decade.

 

[Enthusiast]

....but I don’t need a whole year of access thanks very much, but if that’s all that’s on offer - I’ll pass.

Well that largely seems to be that, then!

It might help those of us who don't quite get where you're coming from, if you were to answer these questions:

• If, when you looked up the price of entry, it simply stated "Ticket Prices £24.50" Would that have been be acceptable?
• If when you got your ticket, it said at the bottom in small print "Don't forget, you can enjoy free entry to the museum as many times as you like in the next 12 months" would you feel similarly "conned"?

You see, I'm not quite sure whether you feel that, if you want to visit the museum, you are being forced to pay for something you neither want nor need (no alternative being available) or whether you think £24.50 to visit the museum once is too expensive. NOTE for comparison, these are the prices of the cheapest adult tickets I can find to the following Central London attractions:

• Madame Tussauds: £33
• The Tower of London: £34.80
• The London Eye: £33
• Buckingham Palace: £32

None of these, as far as I can make out, offers free returns within 12 months. Looking purely at that comparison I would suggest the LTM is pretty good value and I would see the twelve month validity to be simply a bonus on top of an already good offer, whether I made use of it or not.

Of course you are not being "forced" to pay for anything as you can (and it seems have decided to) decline the offer.

Even the website glosses over the fact there are no ‘day’ tickets (no doubt hoping folk won’t notice or won’t care).

It doesn't "gloss over it." It simply doesn't mention something that isn't available.

 

[bluegoblin7]

I shouldn't really comment as I'm an ex LTM employee and therefore a TfL pensioner. So I get free entry to the Museum. I was under the impression that the annual ticket gives entry to the LTM Depot. However imay be wrong. I wait to be corrected

This is incorrect I’m afraid, at least as far as the ‘ordinary’, £24 ticket is concerned.

A ‘Plus’ pass for £70 provides unlimited entry to both, or single tickets to the Depot are £17.50.

This is a ‘true’ annual pass not affected by the aforementioned Gift Aid rules, thus the higher price point.

 

[Mag_seven]

Having established what the ticketing arrangements are for entry to the London Transport Museum we shall leave it there.

thanks everyone