A new railway museum will be opened in October 2007 in Saitama City, 30 km north of Tokyo, as a successor for the Transportation Museum in Tokyo. It has a 19,800-m ² building built on the 42,500-m ² ground, with 9,500-m ² display area.
Among the features of the new museum are a History Zone, which will show the evolution of the railway system, and an Education Zone, where visitors can gain interactive experiences of the principles and functions behind railways. The museum will feature about 30 railway cars, train cab simulators, model railway georamas, mini trains, storage for artifacts, a library and archives, video booths, a multi-purpose hall, a gallery balcony, a cafeteria, a museum shop, and a research room.
The Transportation Museum will be closed in May 2006 and the non-railway collections will be lent to other museums.