Overview
- Features: Main metropolitan train station of Melbourne
- Opening Times: 24 hours, daily
- Best Time to Visit: Anytime
- Duration: 30 mins to 1 hr
- Transport Options: Train
- Cost: FREE
- Address: Crn Flinders & Swanston Streets, CBD, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
- Type: Landmark
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Summary
Flinders Street Station is the central metropolitan train terminus of Melbourne and one of the city’s famous meeting places. If you’re visiting Melbourne, this is one of the city’s landmark attractions that’s hard to miss. Continue reading for interesting facts about the station, as well as details about its history, architecture, redevelopment and more.
Interesting Facts About Flinders Street Station Melbourne
Interesting Facts About Flinders Street Station Melbourne
- Flinders Street Station was the first railway station in an Australian city
- It was also the world’s busiest passenger station in the late 1920s
- Two railway workers won the design tender which might explain why the station contained such fabulous facilities for railway workers
- In its heyday the building buzzed with a concert hall, a library, a crèche, meeting rooms, even a ballroom
- Today, Flinders Street Station is a cultural icon of Melbourne and a popular city landmark
- On any weekday, well over 100,000 people weave through the station’s underpasses, escalators, stairs and platforms
- Flinders Street Station is one of the city’s famous meeting places – “meet me under the Clocks” has been uttered by generations of Melburnians
- When it was proposed to replace the clocks with television screens, an uproar ensued by the public; today, there are both clocks and screens
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When was Flinders Street Station built?
Melbourne’s first railway station, Flinders Street was built in 1854. The current building was completed in 1910.
Flinders Street Station History
The Flinders Street site has been part of the public transport network since the city’s early days. The first steam train in Australia left Flinders Street Station, then a small wooden building at the end of Elizabeth Street, in 1854.
The first terminus had a single platform 30 metres long. An additional platform was provided in 1877; by the 1890s a third island platform had been constructed. Up until the 1880s a number of designs for a new station had been prepared, but none ever went any further.
Flinders Street Station Architecture
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The present station building, completed in 1910, was designed by Fawcett & Ashworth. The design named Green Light was of French Renaissance style, and included a large bronze dome and tall clock tower.
The station was originally to have been faced in stone, but this was considered too costly, and red brick with cement render details was used for the main building instead. Grey granite was used for many details on the Flinders street side at ground level. The southern facade of the main building above ground level was constructed of lightweight timber frame clad with zinc sheets scored into large blocks, and painted red, giving the appearance of large bricks.
The station’s underground tunnels connect the city’s north with its south, with art-filled underpasses (such as Campbell Arcade) linked to Southbank via a pedestrian bridge. In its heyday the building buzzed with a concert hall, a library, a crèche, meeting rooms, even a ballroom. Today, most of the building is sadly in disrepair.
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Flinders Street Station Redevelopment
Flinders Street Station was fully restored and refurbished in 1981. Completed by 1984, the first escalators at the station provided to platforms 2 and 3 replacing the former ramps, and the current public toilets were provided, replacing those over the platforms. New ramps were also provided to platforms which were less steep than those previous, and overhead skylights added to provide better lighting. The television displays used to display next train information were added to each platform. The main station concourse was tiled and extended westward over the tracks, 16 new shops opened on the concourse, and a restaurant was opened on the southern side along the river. The restaurant closed soon after, the site becoming the “Clocks on Flinders” poker machine venue. The main steps were embedded with electrical circuits to keep them dry.
Flinders Street Station Clocks
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The distinctive clocks under the main dome of Flinders Street Station that show the departure times of the next trains date back to the 1860s. The ‘Flinders Street Station clocks’ is one of the most popular spots for meeting people in the CBD. Generations of Melburnians have met each other on the corner steps of the station “under the Clocks”. Although the original clocks are now operated by computer rather than by hand, they remain in working order.
Flinders Street Station Platforms
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At one time there were 16 platforms, four of which have been redeveloped over the years. Platform number 15 & 16 were part of the former Princes Bridge Station on the northern side of Platform number 14, and were both demolished during the construction of Federation Square. Platform 13 was redeveloped into a bar. Today, there are 12 platforms inside Flinders Street Station for metropolitan trains connecting the city’s suburbs.
Three concourses link the platforms. The main concourse is at the east end of the station, located off Swanston Street and the main dome, and has direct access to all platforms via escalators, stair and elevators. The Degraves Street subway runs under the centre of the station, exiting to Flinders Street at the north end, with stairs directly connecting to all platforms except for platform number 12. The Elizabeth Street subway is at the west end, and has direct access via ramps to all platforms except for platform number 1 and 12.
Flinders Street Station Tour
Flinders Street Station Timetable
To view the Flinders Street Station timetable, go to PTV.
Flinders Street Station Address
Corner of Flinders & Swanston Streets,
CBD,
Melbourne,
Victoria,
Australia
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