PLANS to transform a railway museum into one of the region's leading attractions took a step forward last night.

Council chiefs are preparing a bid for a Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) grant that would revitalise Darlington Railway Centre and Museum.

It will be submitted in September, but initial planning is now under way.

Darlington Borough Council cabinet members met last night and approved the release of £36,000 to allow the work to start.

If the HLF bid is successful, designs for the visitor attraction, in North Road, would be drawn up by next June.

A second bid would then be made to complete the project, which is likely to cost £2,400,000 in total.

Proposals include repairing the roof of the main museum, rearranging displays to tell Darlington's pre-railways story and creating an education centre for schools.

Published: 14/07/2004