All aboard! ‘Brilliant’, free exhibition train heads to Salisbury

Wednesday, 11 February 2026 15:56

An exhibition inside a train that’s packed with amazing stories and interactive fun is heading to Salisbury – and it’s completely free to visit.

More than 60,000 have visited the Railway 200 exhibition train on its 60-stop, year-long tour of Britain, and 9 in 10 visitors would recommend it to a friend.

Listen to Craig Hicks talking to the team behind the exhibition:

Co-curated with the National Railway Museum and called Inspiration, it uses rare artefacts and fascinating facts to explore how railways transformed the world. It includes hands-on engineering challenges and a whistle-stop tour of interesting – and lesser-known – careers on the railways.

Excitingly, it will be at Salisbury station from Saturday, 21st February 2026 until Monday, 23rd February 2026, hosted by South Western Railway. Tickets are free, but availability is limited. Book here. Local schools will be invited for free, bespoke tours.

Visitors have described it as “unique”, “extremely interesting”, and “really well curated”.

Tara Jones Ulla, who visited in Somerset, said it was “brilliant”, adding: “It was so informative without being overwhelming, with lots of interactive and hands-on exhibits. I came away so happy!”

Michael Wilson, who visited in London Paddington, said: “The whole thing was well thought out. The interactive exhibits were brilliant, and my children loved it.”

Inspiration is part of Railway 200, the national celebration marking two centuries of the modern railway. Thousands of events during 2025 celebrated a British innovation that revolutionised travel, supercharged economies, and enabled mass tourism, sports league,s and the standardisation of time.

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