THE National Railway Museum in York is to carry out a £500,000 refurbishment of its Station Hall.

The Friends of the National Railway Museum has raised £300,000 from members to develop and refresh the permanent exhibition inside the historic, Grade II-listed former goods depot, which is home to six royal carriages, including Queen Victoria’s original 1869 saloon.

"The project will redisplay the carriages into complete royal trains matched with period locomotives," said a spokesman. "A new addition will be class 47 locomotive, Prince William, one of a select number of locomotives to have hauled the current royal train."

He said an estimated 200 new collection items and 25 rail vehicles would go on display, and there would be a greater focus on the roles of railway workers and passengers and underrepresented stories from railway history.

These will include women’s experiences of working for the railways and the first black railway workers from the Windrush generation who helped shape Britain’s post-war railway. It will also reveal stories around the building itself and the movement of goods around the city and beyond.

The project will also feature greater use of film and sound, with new installations drawing on the museum’s rich archive, such as the pioneering sound recordings of Peter Handford and, another project also funded by the Friends, the museum’s National Archive of Railway Oral History (NAROH).

An original wooden WH Smith kiosk from the platform of Waterloo Station will also go on display following a refurbishment.

Friends chair Philip Benham said that over the years they had contributed more than £1.5m towards some 60 museum projects, but this was one of the most significant yet.“Stations are where passengers first meet the railway, and the scene for many individual encounters and dramas.

"The Friends are excited to have this opportunity to help the museum tell their important story anew, together with the equally vital stories of the men and women who worked at stations, or simply passed through them.”

Charlotte Kingston, head of interpretation and design, said: “I am hugely grateful to the Friends of the National Railway Museum who have enabled us to create an exciting permanent exhibition which will inform and inspire future generations.

“Station Hall is very popular with our visitors and our changes will be impactful but sympathetic, using new collection items and railway stories to bring the railways to life, while retaining the character of the original building.”