The London Transport Museum is a fantastic place to explore the history of London's iconic transportation system. There is a fee to pay but works as a yearly membership.

The London Transport Museum, as we know it today in Covent Garden, officially opened on March 28, 1980. However, its history stretches back much further, with its origins rooted in the early 20th century.

Here's a breakdown of its development:

• Early 20th Century: The collection began to form in the 1920s when the London General Omnibus Company (LGOC) started preserving buses being retired from service. This collection expanded to include rail vehicles after the LGOC was taken over by the London Electric Railway (LER).

• 1930s onwards: The collection continued to grow under the London Passenger Transport Board and its successor bodies, eventually becoming part of Transport for London (TfL).

• 1960s: Museum of British Transport (Clapham): The growing collection was first housed as part of the Museum of British Transport in a disused bus garage in Clapham High Street, opening in 1963.

• 1973: London Transport Collection (Syon Park): The collection moved to Syon Park in Brentford and was known as the London Transport Collection.

• 1980: London Transport Museum (Covent Garden): The collection found its permanent home in the Victorian iron and glass building that was formerly the Covent Garden flower market. The market had moved out in 1971, and the building was reopened as the London Transport Museum on March 28, 1980, officially opened by Princess Anne.

The museum's remit has expanded since the creation of Transport for London in 2000 to cover all aspects of transport in the city. While it was briefly renamed "London's Transport Museum," it reverted to its original name in 2007.