Our proverb says that bad news never come alone, but sometimes, with a little luck, the same happens with good news. That is exactly what has happened to the Madrid museum that has been chosen as the Best Museum of Popular Culture in the first edition of the National Geographic +History Readers Awards.
Although the awards were presented last night in Cordoba, the winners were announced last November. And for the Railway Museum of Madrid (Paseo de las Delicias, 61), in which this recognition has fallen, the celebration was double: it came the same year in which the institution celebrated its 40th anniversary.
In the same category were nominated the Albaloa Museum (Pasaia, Guipúzcoa), the Museum of Mining and Industry of Asturias (El Entrego, Asturias), the Interpretation Center of the Manchego Mill (Campo de Criptana, Ciudad Real) and the Museum of Olive Culture (Baeza, Jaén).
The award for Best Museum of Popular Culture
According to the magazine, this category wants to recognize the work of “those exhibition spaces, with physical headquarters in any Spanish locality, that have worked for the dissemination of particular aspects of culture and history, outside the usual circuits and treatments.”
And in that, rail transport has a lot to say:“The railroad is the common territory of our memories; in everyone’s memory is our first trip“, said the managing director of the Spanish Railways Foundation, José Ramón Sempere, when collecting the award.
In addition to its permanent collection, the museum has temporary exhibitions and an agenda of activities among which, from this summer, is the possibility of driving a train.
Railroad Museum opening hours and prices
Opening hours
- From June to September: Monday to Sunday from 10am to 3pm.
- From October to May: Monday to Friday (from 9:30 am to 3 pm), Saturdays and holidays (from 10 am to 7 pm) and Sundays (from 10 am to 3 pm).
Prices
- General admission: 7€.
- Reduced: 4€. For children from 4 to 12 years old, students, people over 65 years old and members of Friends of the Railway associations.
- Free of charge. For children under 4 years old, people with disabilities or unemployed people, among other groups. You can check all the information on the museum’s website.