The National Railway Museum's (NRM) plan to extend its collection to Shildon, County Durham is a step closer to reality following the announcement of a £4.9m grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

The museum, which is based in York, hopes to build a £7.7m second site to house the reserve National Collection of railway vehicles in the historic railway town of Shildon.

'The HLF's grant gives us most of the funding we need,' said head of the NRM, Andrew Scott, 'But we remain heavily reliant on support within the region.'

The project is due to be submitted to Sedgefield Council for planning permission this month. If permission is granted, work could start later this year, with completion expected by the end of 2004.