Flinders Street

Flinders Street
Flinders Street
PTV metropolitan and regional rail station
	Flinders Street station main entrance, corner of Flinders and Swanston Streets,; February 2021
General information
Location	207–361 Flinders Street; Melbourne, Victoria 3000; Australia
Coordinates	37°49′05″S 144°58′01″E / 37.818078°S 144.96681°E / -37.818078; 144.96681
Owned by	VicTrack
Operated by	Metro Trains
Line(s)	Hurstbridge Mernda; Pakenham Cranbourne; Lilydale Belgrave Alamein; Glen Waverley; Craigieburn Upfield Sunbury; Flemington Racecourse; Frankston Werribee Williamstown; Sandringham; Gippsland;
Distance	1.23 kilometres from; Southern Cross
Platforms	13 (plus one removed)
Tracks	15
Train operators	Metro Trains; V/Line;
Connections	Town Hall (future); Tram;
Construction
Structure type	At-grade
Parking	None
Bicycle facilities	None
Accessible	Yes—step free access
Other information
Status	Premium station
Station code	FSS
Fare zone	Myki Zone 1
Website	Public Transport Victoria
History
Opened	12 September 1854; 170 years ago (1854-09-12)
Electrified	28 May 1919 (1500 V DC overhead)
Previous names	Melbourne Terminus
Passengers
2019-2020	21.504 million 24.07%
2020-2021	8.528 million 60.34%
2021–2022	11.393 million 33.59%
2022–2023	18.793 million 64.96%
2023–2024	20.345 million 8.26%
Services
	Direction of travel through the City Loop on metropolitan lines changes to either Southern Cross or Parliament depending on the line and time of day.
	Richmond towards East Pakenham
	Richmond towards Cranbourne
Former services
	Building details
General information
Status	Completed
Type	Railway station terminus
Architectural style	Federation/Edwardian Period Baroque
Elevation	20.6 metres (68 ft) AHD
Construction started	1900 (1900)
Completed	1909 (1909)
Cost	£A 514,000
Technical details
Material	Sandstone, bluestone, granite; Copper roof; Trägerwellblech system flooring/roofing; Corrugated galvanised iron roofing; Lead glazed Edwardian Majolica plain and lettered wall tiles;
Design and construction
Architect(s)	James W. Fawcett
Architecture firm	Fawcett and Ashworth
Engineer	H.P.C. Ashworth
Victorian Heritage Register
Official name	Flinders Street Railway Station Complex
Criteria	A, E, F, G
Designated	20 August 1982
Reference no.	H1083
Heritage Overlay number	HO649

Flinders Street railway station is a major railway station located on the corner of Flinders and Swanston streets in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is the busiest railway station in Victoria, serving the entire metropolitan rail network, 15 tram routes travelling to and from the city, and V/Line services to Gippsland.^[3]

Opened in 1854 by the Melbourne and Hobson's Bay Railway Company, the station, but not the current building, is the oldest in Australia, backing onto the Yarra River in the central business district. The complex now includes 13 platforms and structures that stretch over more than two city blocks, from east of Swanston Street to nearly at Market Street.

Flinders Street station is served by Metro Trains services, and V/Line regional services to Gippsland. It is the busiest station on Melbourne's metropolitan network, with an average of 77,153 daily entries recorded in the 2017/18 fiscal year.^[4] It was the terminus of the first railway in Australia (the Port Melbourne line) and was reputedly the world's busiest passenger station in the 1920s, owing to the concentration of services there, which were only dispersed after the construction of the City Loop in the 1970s.

The main platform (operationally divided into platforms 1 and 14) is Australia's second longest, and the eighteenth-longest railway platform in the world.^[5] Trains at Flinders Street station connect with several tram services, and is the site of two of Melbourne's busiest pedestrian crossings, both across Flinders Street, including one of Melbourne's few pedestrian scrambles, at the junction with Elizabeth Street.

The current station building was completed in 1909 and is a cultural icon of Melbourne. The distinctive and eclectic Edwardian building, with its prominent dome, arched entrance, tower and clocks is one of the city's most recognisable landmarks, and its grand, somewhat exotic character led to the popular myth that the design was actually intended for Mumbai's Victoria Terminus and vice versa, but was swapped in the post.^[6]^[7]

The Melbourne saying "I'll meet you under the clocks" refers to the row of indicator clocks above the main entrance, which show the next departure for each line;^[8] the alternative, "I'll meet you on the steps", refers to the wide staircase beneath the clocks.

It has been listed on the Victorian Heritage Register since 1982.^[9]

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Flinders Street Railway Station Complex". Victorian Heritage Database. Government of Victoria. Archived from the original on 13 May 2018. Retrieved 22 July 2018.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Annual metropolitan train station patronage (station entries) Data Vic
^ "Melbourne's iconic Flinders Street Station to undergo changes". SBS. 21 September 2015. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
^ "Station Patronage Data 2013–2018". Philip Mallis. Transport for Victoria. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
^ "Flinders Street Railway Station". City of Melbourne. Archived from the original on 1 May 2019. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
^ "Flinders Street Railway Station". www.onlymelbourne.com.au. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
^ "Secrets of Melbourne's Historic Flinders Street Station, Slated for Redesign". Untapped New York. 11 February 2014. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
^ "Meet me under the clocks". Culture Victoria. 9 October 2012. Retrieved 25 August 2020.
^ "Flinders Street Railway Complex – Victorian Heritage Database Report". Victorian Heritage Council. 25 August 2020. Retrieved 25 August 2020.

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