Top 10 Remarquable Facts about Flinders Street Railway Station

Flinders street railway station, Melbourne, Australia. photo by Philip Mallis in 2021 – Wikimedia commons

Top 10 Remarquable Facts about Flinders Street Railway Station

There are numerous historic attractions in Melbourne city that boast brilliant histories and fascinating stories and Flinders street station is no different. Located at the corner of Swanston and Flinders street and stretched along the Yarra river covering two city blocks, the station looks magnificent in its ornate baroque style architecture that seems to plunge above the humdrum beneath.

The front façade with its series of clocks announcing the arrival and departure of trains remains a famed meeting point for curious travellers, lost friends and uptown “youngsters”.

This landmark station boasts millions of commuters transiting through its stairs, escalators, concourses, underpasses and platforms on any given day remains quite busy throughout the years.

Flinders street railway station has become a famous Melbourne landmark, emerging as a symbol of Victoria’s capital city and is an institution in the daily routine of nearly a quarter of a million people. Here are the top 10 remarquable facts about Flinders Street Railway Station.

1. The station is Australia’s oldest railway station

Old Flinders Street Station, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. photo by Lakeyboy. – Wikimedia commons

Opened on September 12th 1854, Flinders street railway station was the first railway station built in any Australian city. It was merely a collection of weatherboard sheds then. The Melbourne terminus as it was known, was the first steam rail station in Australia.

On opening day, the first steam train journey in Australia left from the station to Sandridge (now Port Melbourne). It was until the very beginning of the 1900s that the development of the Flinders railway station became necessary due to the increasing demand.

A competition by the railway commission was publicized to the public calling all to design a new and improved station with the first prize winning 500 pounds. J.W Fawcett and H.P.C Ashworth were the champions, designing the station that still stands today. 

The entire reconstruction of the station cost around 514,000 pounds, taking ten years to fully complete.

2. It has a mistaken identity urban myth

Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus formerly Victoria Terminus in Mumbai, India. photo by Joe Ravi – Wikimedia commons

It is rumoured that the original plans of the Flinders street railway station were designed for the central station of Mumbai (Bombay then), India but were mixed up in the London office and sent to Australia instead.

This perhaps explains the unusual arches and alcoves that are featured in the Banana Alley Section of the station, which would have been intended for street market vendors in Mumbai. The design of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (originally named Victoria Terminus in Mumbai was for Melbourne)

3. Flinders was once the busiest station in the world

Paris, Gare Saint Lazare photo by besopha – Wikimedia commons

Grand Central Station, New York c. 1902, photo sourced from Wikimedia commons

By 1926, Flinders street railway station became the busiest passenger station in the world, surpassing Gare Saint Lazare in Paris, Grand Central station in New York and Liverpool on Street station in London.

The Argus newspaper reported on Jan 11th 1922 200,000 passengers passed through the station in one day.

4. The station boasts the fourth longest railway platform worldwide

Yarra River entrance to Flinders Street railway station photo by Pizza1016 – Wikimedia commons

In 1954, to cater for the increasing traffic, as well as for the 1956 summer Olympics, the Degraves street subway from the station was extended to the north side of Flinders Street, creating Campbell Arcade. In March 1966, platform 1 was extended to 708 meters.

At 708 meters long, platform 1 stretches two city blocks from Swanston Street to Queen street and currently services the south Morang and Hurst bridge Lines. It is the fourth longest in the world and the longest in Australia.

5. Flinders Street station complex was never finished

The station’s complex, like so many buildings of that era in Melbourne and Sydney was never finished. The facade facing Swanston street was meant to have semicircular roofs similar to the railway stations in Europe. Due to financial restraints, this aspect of the original design was never seen.

The façade of the building we see now along the length of Flinders Street faces south was intended to be a temporary measure, it is not even made of the same stone as the Flinders street frontage. The original plan also provided for a giant roof over the platforms, which was never built.

6. The station currently has a 13-clock display

clocks of Flinders Street Station in Melbourne. photo by Julianmillar – Wikimedia commons

The famous clock was part of the original design and remains in almost the same spot as they were first placed. There are 13 clocks still displayed to this day, all indicating the different train departures to each suburban train line.

There are very few Melbournians out there that haven’t muttered the words “I’ll meet you under the clocks” which refers to the row of clocks that line the wall above the main entrance. This makes it a hugely popular meeting place for locals thanks to its central location and easy-to-recognize design.

Although these days the clocks are operated by a computer, back in the day they were manually operated with a railway staff officer having to change the time on average 900 times every eight hours!

7. The station’s main steps are embedded with electrical circuits

Image by Pexels from Pixabay

The wide staircase that sweeps up underneath the clocks is used as a popular hangout place. Groups sit here to chat while soaking up the sun. The steps are so popular that they were refurbished in June 1985 to incorporate heating so that even in winter, the seats would remain warm.

8. The station has a hidden ballroom and a defunct gymnasium

The concourse building contains a ballroom and a creche that existed inside the main dome when the station’s offices were still in use. The levels above the main hall and platforms used to be a hive of activity in the mid-1900s. There featured a library, gymnasium, classroom and a ballroom.

The grand ballroom used to be a cultural hub, hosting concerts, meetings, dances and more. In contrast to the ballerinas dancing in the ballroom next door, the gym would be filled with wrestlers making use of the boxing ring. Weight lifters would train and the station’s male employees would work out during their breaks.

9. The station had a children’s nursery on the second floor

Photo by BBC Creative on Unsplash

Probably the biggest draw card for the second floor was the nursery. In June 1933, Department established the children’s nursery which featured three cot rooms, two playrooms, a kitchen and a rooftop playground. It was said to be a place where mothers who travel by train may leave their babies and children in the care of a qualified and experienced nursing staff while shopping in the city.

This made it one of the only three of its kind in the entire world. Unfortunately, the nursery was closed in 1937 due to a polio outbreak and then permanently closed in 1942 as a war precaution. In the 1980s renovation, much of the nursery was demolished.

10. It is rumoured to be haunted

Image by Tom und Nicki Löschner from Pixabay

Rumour has it that the station is haunted. The ghost is said to be named George. On platform 10, supposedly lives the station’s ghost. Commuters have reported seeing a man holding fishing gear.

He is believed to have been around since the days of Melbourne’s settlement, although some think he’s the spirit of George Mansfield (Later properly identified as Ernst Leahy) who was pulled from the Yarra River on the 21st October 1902 after a boating accident.