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Railway museum plans

The Great Central Railway has lodged a £10million bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund, for the funding of a new railway museum in Leicester.

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Mayor calls railway museum 'exciting opportunity'

The Great Central Railway's plan for a new museum, to be built in Leicester, is expected to cost £15million in total.

Alongside the proposed £10million lottery grant, submitted to the National Heritage Fund, £5million of additional match funding would be required.

A striking building is planned for construction, alongside the Great Central Railway's Leicester North station where the museum will be connected to the running lines, allowing for inter-changeable displays.

Drumming up support for the project, City Mayor Sir Peter Soulsby said:

This is a really exciting opportunity to create a heritage railway centre of national standing in Leicester...

...The museum will house items which are of both national importance and local interest, complementing the nearby National Space Centre and Abbey Pumping Station, helping to enhance the city's reputation as an important visitor destination.

Railway museum to create jobs for hundreds

The proposed railway museum to be built in Leicester could create up to a thousand new jobs.

An economic impact study, carried out as part of the £10million funding bid, suggests the project will be worth £43million to the local economy over five years.

Leicester City Mayor, Sir Peter Soulsby, has called it an exciting opportunity to enhance the city's reputation as an important visitor destination and said:

"It will create hundreds of new jobs, both during construction and on opening, while providing training opportunities in the rail industry for dozens of young people. We're fully committed to this project and will be working with the Great Central Railway to help them deliver this ambitious scheme.

Along with 300 short-term construction jobs, annual visitor figures are expected to reach 230,000, and so additional spending could create more than 900 jobs for the surrounding area.

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£10 million bid lodged for new railway museum

The Great central Railway have submitted a bid for £10million to the Heritage Lottery Fund. for the building of a new railway museum in Leicester.

Filled with priceless artefacts from the national collection, the new attraction will be based at GCR's terminus in Leicester North.

Plans for the new museum have been described as "world class" and Managing Director of the Great Central Railway Bill Ford said:

This is a visionary project. In the last 12 months the partners have worked hard to prepare the funding bid. The museum will help people reconnect with Leicester's railway story and our shared heritage. Together with our thriving steam line, we're confident tens of thousands of people will visit every year.

Leicester railway museum lottery hopes

It is claimed the project would be worth £43 million to the local economy Credit: Owen Humphreys/PA Archive/Press Association Images

A bid has been put forward for lottery funding to help pay for a new railway museum in Leicester.

If the £10 million grant is given by the Heritage Lottery Fund, a new tourist attraction would be created at Leicester North.

The site is the terminus for The Great Central Railway, who are running the project in partnership with Leicester City Council and the National Railway Museum.

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