Museum of Transport, Greater Manchester — Attraction in Manchester

The Museum of Transport, Greater Manchester aims to preserve and promote the public transport heritage of Greater Manchester in North West England, it is in the Cheetham Hill area of Manchester.

The Transport Museum was established at Boyle Street, Cheetham Hill, in 1977. It opened to the public on 27 May 1979. The day-to-day running of the museum is carried out by volunteers.

The museum is housed in a former Manchester Corporation Transport bus depot, to the rear of a former electric tram shed on Queens Road, built in 1901. The museum building itself was added later and consists of two distinct halves, a dedicated bus garage completed in 1928, which now serves as the museum entrance area and upper hall, and a lower hall which was created in 1935 by constructing a roof over the open space between the tram shed and the 1928 bus depot. The former tram shed is still in use today as a bus depot, occupied by Go North West. The whole block of buildings was Grade II listed in 1988 for its historical significance.

The Transport Museum became a Registered Charity in 1980, and a Registered Museum in May 2003.

The museum holds a sizeable collection, including around 80 buses, one of the largest collections of its kind in the United Kingdom. Due to the size of the building, some vehicles have to be kept off-site, with exhibits changed around every so often. In addition, vehicles often attend events around the country in the summer months. The museum collection is constantly developing and restoration work can often be seen by visitors. of which 70 or so are kept on the site. Also in the collection are a 1901 Manchester Corporation Tramways tram, two trolleybuses from Manchester and Ashton-under-Lyne corporations, and the prototype Manchester Metrolink tram.

In addition to vehicle exhibits, the collection of objects includes old transport signs, uniforms, vehicle fittings, ticketing equipment, and several items used by Warner Bros. during the filming of Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban.

The extensive archive collection is available for research purposes by appointment and includes historic timetables, maps, books, posters, manuals and plans. The museum also holds a photographic archive collection, much of which is available online via the GMTS account on Flickr.com.

The Museum of Transport is approximately two miles north of Manchester city centre, close to the junction of the A665 (Cheetham Hill Road) and A6010 (Queens Road). It is at the north end of Boyle Street, adjoining the Go North West bus garage. The Queens Road tram stop on the Manchester Metrolink is 200m away. Bus services 41, 135 and 151 stop nearby. The museum is signposted from the Manchester Fort shopping centre.

The museum is open from 10 a.m. to 4.30 p.m. on Wednesdays, Saturdays, Sundays and Public Holidays (except at Christmas and New Year), and every...

It's quite a cool place. Lots of old bosses. Lots of history. It's not as big as I thought but there is plenty in there. It's just a shame they don't do the bus rides more often but I guess on a quiet day. What's the point in running the buses I like the fact that the children can get on the bosses. Not all of them but a lot and have a look around and you can get on an old metrolink tram the cafe is excellent. Value really well. Priced food and not bad at all. Although I will see if you get a pie it will be microwave so a little soggy so maybe just get a hot sandwich however, my pie was delicious all in 12.40 for a pie, two sandwiches, one of which was hot, two drinks, a bar of chocolate and a packet of crisps. I don't think it is bad at all, especially for a museum You don't have to pay for under 16s but you do pay for yourself which for us meant 6 I don't know if they get any funding but it certainly doesn't look like they do and the gift shops is very nice. I really wanted the cushions but I'm not sure I could have convinced myself to pay 45 for two cushions however, there's lots of stuff for the kids that like £1.8 £2 so certainly not going to break the bank we took the train in tram here because I thought the kids would enjoy it more but I've got to say looking at the cost and the time if you've got a car it's probably just easier to drive there. It's not in the city center. You can park on the street for free. I don't know if it has a car park, but there's plenty of parking...

A small but decent museum, although rather lacking in variation sadly giving it only four stars instead of five. Mostly old buses, some you can enter, some you can't. Would appreciate a more in depth history of Manchester's Metrolink, which would help it live up to the name 'Museum of Transport' rather than 'Museum of Buses' which is what it actually is.

Took me 45 minutes to look round, which is generous, but is definitely worth a visit if you haven't been before. I last went in 2008 and this was my first visit since, and nothing had changed in all those years, so perhaps one to try once and then go elsewhere.

The main reason for 4/5 is the cafe, some nice grub and tea/coffee but the prices blow you away! The one thing that hasn't changed since 2008 is the cafe prices, £2.40 for a Latte and a Toasted Teacake with butter... worth the entry fee just for that! At 80p, the toasted teacake here is cheaper than buying some from Tescos! I'm still in awe a day later at those prices, what a surprise!

Definitely worth a visit therefore, for a cheap cuppa if...