Riverside Museum

The Riverside Museum is Glasgow's award-winning museum of transport, housed in a striking Zaha Hadid-designed building on the north bank of the River Clyde. Opened in 2011 as the successor to the long-established Museum of Transport at Kelvin Hall, it brought together Glasgow's remarkable transport collections in a single, dramatically modern home.

The railway holdings are unusually strong on Scottish prototypes, including a Caledonian Railway single, a North British Railway 4-4-0 and a Glasgow & South Western Railway 0-6-0. The wider collection covers Glasgow's extensive tram, motor, shipbuilding and aviation heritage, and the museum is moored alongside the Tall Ship Glenlee.

History

Glasgow's transport collection was originally displayed at the Museum of Transport in Kelvin Hall (1964–2010), and before that at a former tram depot at Albert Drive. The new Riverside Museum, designed by Zaha Hadid Architects with its distinctive zig-zag roof, opened in 2011 alongside the Tall Ship Glenlee, providing a permanent home for Glasgow's transport heritage.

Stations and infrastructure

The museum building covers around 11,000 square metres, with display galleries arranged thematically rather than by mode. A reconstructed period street with shopfronts is a popular feature, and the railway exhibits sit at the building's western end.

Route and stations

Map: © OpenStreetMap contributors

Special events and operations

Family events, behind-the-scenes tours, lectures and temporary exhibitions are programmed year-round. The museum is free to enter.

Visitor information

Riverside Museum is on the Clyde at Govan, reached by bus or by river ferry from the city centre. Free entry. The neighbouring Tall Ship Glenlee is also free.