Porterbrook agrees £2.5m sponsor deal for new-build NRM gallery
ROLLING stock leasing company Porterbrook has struck a £2.5 million sponsorship deal with the National Railway Museum for its new Railway Futures Gallery – a key component of the museum’s Vision 2025 masterplan.
The gallery, a multi-dimensional and interactive experience which explores and imagines the role of the railways in the transport system of tomorrow, is planned to open in 2025 to coincide with the museum’s 50th birthday and the 200th anniversary of the Stockton & Darlington Railway.
It will be a key feature of Central Hall, a new building to be located between the Great Hall and Station Hall. Central Hall will be a cornerstone of Vision 2025, the museum’s bid to become the ‘World’s Railway Museum’ with 1.2 million annual visitors.
The deal was announced by museum director Judith McNicol in her speech at the York venue’s Director’s Dinner on November 8.
Porterbrook owns almost a quarter of the UK’s national passenger rail fleet and has an established reputation for delivering new technologies, such as battery, hybrid and hydrogenpowered trains.
The partnership builds on a decade-long relationship and reflects a shared vision in areas like sustainability and how innovation and digital technologies can – and will – shape the railway of the future. Both organisations are committed to empowering future generations through science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
Porterbrook CEO Mary Grant said: “The NRM plays a hugely important role in curating rail’s history and heritage while articulating a vision and ambition for its future.
“Porterbrook is at the forefront of innovations which are shaping the railway, and we are delighted to help inspire the railwaymen and railway women of tomorrow.”
Judith said: “The gallery is a key part of the Vision 2025 masterplan.
Through fixed and changing displays, an immersive medialed experience and on-gallery programming, we will showcase the most exciting engineering projects and highlight the role of innovation on the railway.” The gallery’s final name will be confirmed once audience testing is complete; ‘Railway Futures: The Porterbrook Gallery’ is the current working title.
In her speech, Judith said the Wonderlab: The Bramall Gallery, due to open in spring 2023, “will be a ground-breaking gallery exploring the how, what and why that underpin the creation of the railways.”
Meanwhile, the museum’s Station Hall will close for an estimated 18 months from January 3 to enable urgent structural repairs as part of the redevelopment plans. In a £10.5 million programme funded by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport, the new roof will be designed by heritage architect Buttress and will provide a thermally efficient and weathertight solution to protect the collection and preserve the Grade II-listed structure.
During the closure, people will still be able to visit Great Hall and North Shed, but those hoping to see the rail vehicles in Station Hall exhibits before they are covered over for their protection while the work takes place are encouraged to visit before the end of the year.