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111-510: 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 . Opened in 1854 by the Melbourne and Hobson's Bay Railway Company ,

222-404: A bar or pub . Other station facilities may include: toilets , left-luggage , lost-and-found , departures and arrivals schedules , luggage carts, waiting rooms , taxi ranks , bus bays and even car parks . Larger or staffed stations tend to have a greater range of facilities including also a station security office. These are usually open for travellers when there is sufficient traffic over

333-467: A design competition 'for the frontage', with a closing date of August 1899. 17 entries were received, and the winners were announced on 28 May 1900. The £500 first prize was awarded to railway employees James Fawcett and H. P. C. Ashworth ( Fawcett and Ashworth ), whose design, named Green Light , was described as French Renaissance style. Like the Commissioners design, it included a large dome over

444-406: A bypass line, used by freight trains that do not need to stop at the terminus. Some termini have a newer set of through platforms underneath (or above, or alongside) the terminal platforms on the main level. They are used by a cross-city extension of the main line, often for commuter trains , while the terminal platforms may serve long-distance services. Examples of underground through lines include

555-407: A company purchased the option to lease the space above Flinders Street Station, planning to build a shopping plaza and two office towers, with the dome and clock tower to be kept as part of the design, but strong opposition saw the project lapse. In 1972, Victorian Premier Henry Bolte unveiled another redevelopment plan, to cover 11 hectares (27 acres) of space above the station and Jolimont Yard for

666-410: A complex of shops, offices, theatres and other community facilities. A newspaper report of 1974 said that planning was still underway for the $ 250 million proposal, but by 1975, public perceptions had begun to turn towards retention of the station. A Builders Labourers Federation green ban at the time helped preserve it in its existing form. The controversy over these proposals led to a re-apprasial of

777-515: A dome on the corner and a clocktower at the Elizabeth Street end, and a large train shed roof over all the platforms. The State Government's Railways Standing Committee accepted the track and platform layout, the location of the concourse and entrances, and even the room layout to some extent, and agreed to fund it. They were not however satisfied with the architectural design, asking in April 1899 for

888-404: A few intermediate stations that take the form of a stub-end station, for example at some zigzags . If there is a station building , it is usually located to the side of the tracks. In the case of intermediate stations used for both passenger and freight traffic, there is a distinction between those where the station building and goods facilities are on the same side of the tracks and those in which

999-472: A few small railway stations are designated as "halts" ( Irish : stadanna , sing. stad ). In some Commonwealth countries the term "halt" is used. In Australia, with its sparse rural populations, such stopping places were common on lines that were still open for passenger traffic. In the state of Victoria , for example, a location on a railway line where a small diesel railcar or railmotor could stop on request, allowing passengers to board or alight,

1110-794: A further 40 from other companies at the Grouping of 1923. Peak building periods were before the First World War (145 built) and 1928–1939 (198 built). Ten more were opened by British Rail on ex-GWR lines. The GWR also built 34 "platforms". Many such stops remain on the national railway networks in the United Kingdom, such as Penmaenmawr in North Wales , Yorton in Shropshire , and The Lakes in Warwickshire , where passengers are requested to inform

1221-571: A line was dual-purpose there would often be a freight depot apart from the passenger station. This type of dual-purpose station can sometimes still be found today, though in many cases goods facilities are restricted to major stations. Many stations date from the 19th century and reflect the grandiose architecture of the time, lending prestige to the city as well as to railway operations. Countries where railways arrived later may still have such architecture, as later stations often imitated 19th-century styles. Various forms of architecture have been used in

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1332-407: A long enough period of time to warrant the cost. In large cities this may mean facilities available around the clock. A basic station might only have platforms, though it may still be distinguished from a halt , a stopping or halting place that may not even have platforms. Many stations, either larger or smaller, offer interchange with local transportation; this can vary from a simple bus stop across

1443-504: A member of on-board train staff if they wish to alight, or, if catching a train from the station, to make themselves clearly visible to the driver and use a hand signal as the train approaches. Most have had "Halt" removed from their names. Two publicly advertised and publicly accessible National Rail stations retain it: Coombe Junction Halt and St Keyne Wishing Well Halt . A number of other halts are still open and operational on privately owned, heritage, and preserved railways throughout

1554-522: A naming competition, it was announced the CBD South station would have a separate name from Flinders Street station and be named Town Hall, after the nearby Melbourne Town Hall . Major station works on Town Hall station began in 2018 with the station expected to open in 2025. The new station will connect with Flinders Street station via an underground walkway through the existing Campbell Arcade and Degraves Street underpass. A number of changes were made to

1665-663: A new through-station, including the cases of Berlin Hauptbahnhof , Vienna Hauptbahnhof and numerous examples throughout the first century of railroading. Stuttgart 21 is a controversial project involving the replacement of a terminus station by a through-station. An American example of a terminal with this feature is Union Station in Washington, DC , where there are bay platforms on the main concourse level to serve terminating trains and standard island platforms one level below to serve trains continuing southward. The lower tracks run in

1776-433: A single platform face with a length over 800 m (2,600 ft). The west end of platform 1 could also be used as a separate "Platform 1 West". Eventually, in 1980, Princes Bridge was formally incorporated into Flinders Street and its three platforms were renumbered 14, 15 and 16. Several platforms were decommissioned in the early 1990s following reductions in suburban train services. Platform 11 fell into disuse following

1887-407: A spot at the station to board and disembark trains is called station track or house track regardless of whether it is a main line or loop line. If such track is served by a platform , the track may be called platform track. A loop line without a platform, which is used to allow a train to clear the main line at the station only, is called passing track. A track at the station without a platform which

1998-417: A station and various other features set certain types apart. The first is the level of the tracks . Stations are often sited where a road crosses the railway: unless the crossing is a level crossing , the road and railway will be at different levels. The platforms will often be raised or lowered relative to the station entrance: the station buildings may be on either level, or both. The other arrangement, where

2109-576: A station stop does not. A station stop usually does not have any tracks other than the main tracks, and may or may not have switches (points, crossovers). An intermediate station does not have any other connecting route, unlike branch-off stations , connecting stations, transfer stations and railway junctions . In a broader sense, an intermediate station is generally any station on the route between its two terminal stations . The majority of stations are, in practice, intermediate stations. They are mostly designed as through stations ; there are only

2220-405: A station track as a temporary storage of a disabled train. A "terminus" or "terminal" is a station at the end of a railway line. Trains arriving there have to end their journeys (terminate) or reverse out of the station. Depending on the layout of the station, this usually permits travellers to reach all the platforms without the need to cross any tracks – the public entrance to the station and

2331-416: A tall stained glass east end, which most likely was only to cover the concourse. The roof over the platforms may have been a similar arrangement of arches but across the lines rather than parallel. Work began in 1900 on the rearrangement of the station tracks, while the final design of the station building was still being worked on. Work on the central pedestrian subway started in 1901, with the foundations of

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2442-405: A three-way junction and platforms are built on all three sides, for example Shipley and Earlestown stations. In a station, there are different types of tracks to serve different purposes. A station may also have a passing loop with a loop line that comes off the straight main line and merge back to the main line on the other end by railroad switches to allow trains to pass. A track with

2553-636: A tunnel beneath the concourse and emerge a few blocks away to cross the Potomac River into Virginia. Terminus stations in large cities are by far the biggest stations, with the largest being Grand Central Terminal in New York City. Other major cities, such as London, Boston , Paris, Istanbul , Tokyo, and Milan have more than one terminus, rather than routes straight through the city. Train journeys through such cities often require alternative transport ( metro , bus , taxi or ferry ) from one terminus to

2664-464: Is Arbroath . Occasionally, a station serves two or more railway lines at differing levels. This may be due to the station's position at a point where two lines cross (example: Berlin Hauptbahnhof ), or may be to provide separate station capacity for two types of service, such as intercity and suburban (examples: Paris-Gare de Lyon and Philadelphia's 30th Street Station ), or for two different destinations. Stations may also be classified according to

2775-455: Is any longer served by trains), or military base (such as Lympstone Commando ) or railway yard. The only two such "private" stopping places on the national system, where the "halt" designation is still officially used, seem to be Staff Halt (at Durnsford Road, Wimbledon) and Battersea Pier Sidings Staff Halt, both of which are solely for railway staff. In Portugal , railway stops are called halts ( Portuguese : apeadeiro ). In Ireland ,

2886-697: Is at the west end, and has direct access via ramps to all platforms except for platforms 12, 13 and 14, and via a stairway to platform 1, reopened in 2017. Railway station Locations at which passengers only occasionally board or leave a train, sometimes consisting of a short platform and a waiting area but sometimes indicated by no more than a sign, are variously referred to as "stops", " flag stops ", " halts ", or "provisional stopping places". The stations themselves may be at ground level, underground, or elevated. Connections may be available to intersecting rail lines or other transport modes such as buses , trams , or other rapid transit systems. Train station

2997-404: Is frequently, but not always, the final destination of trains arriving at the station. Especially in continental Europe, a city may have a terminus as its main railway station, and all main lines converge on it. In such cases all trains arriving at the terminus must leave in the reverse direction from that of their arrival. There are several ways in which this can be accomplished: There may also be

3108-599: Is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register . Station Pier, originally known as Railway Pier, was officially opened on 12 September 1854. The 4.5 kilometre Port Melbourne line from the pier to Flinders Street station via the Sandridge Bridge was opened at the same time to facilitate the transport of passengers and goods, and was the first significant railway in Australia. The pier was kept busy throughout

3219-512: Is the busiest station on Melbourne's metropolitan network, with an average of 77,153 daily entries recorded in the 2017/18 fiscal year. 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

3330-507: Is the terminology typically used in the U.S. In Europe, the terms train station and railway station are both commonly used, with railroad being obsolete. In British Commonwealth usage, where railway station is the traditional term, the word station is commonly understood to mean a railway station unless otherwise specified. In the United States, the term depot is sometimes used as an alternative name for station , along with

3441-411: Is used for trains to pass the station without stopping is called through track. There may be other sidings at the station which are lower speed tracks for other purposes. A maintenance track or a maintenance siding, usually connected to a passing track, is used for parking maintenance equipment, trains not in service, autoracks or sleepers . A refuge track is a dead-end siding that is connected to

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3552-661: The Shinkansen in Japan, THSR in Taiwan, TGV lines in France, and ICE lines in Germany. Stations normally have staffed ticket sales offices, automated ticket machines , or both, although on some lines tickets are sold on board the trains. Many stations include a shop or convenience store . Larger stations usually have fast-food or restaurant facilities. In some countries, stations may also have

3663-961: The Thameslink platforms at St Pancras in London, the Argyle and North Clyde lines of Glasgow's suburban rail network , in Antwerp in Belgium, the RER at the Gare du Nord in Paris, the Milan suburban railway service 's Passante railway , and many of the numerous S-Bahn lines at terminal stations in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, such as at Zürich Hauptbahnhof . Due to the disadvantages of terminus stations there have been multiple cases in which one or several terminus stations were replaced with

3774-527: The Victorian Railways . From 22 May 1933 passenger services were again extended to Station Pier, but only as required when overseas liners were berthed. The overhead wiring had to be extended beyond the Bay Excursion Platform onto the pier itself. The Boat Train service was introduced on 7 March 1936 with a single Tait train set painted in blue livery with silver roof. The name was added to

3885-401: The 1850s, due to the increased passenger traffic created by the gold rush . In 1861, the pier was extended to a length of 661 metres, in order to accommodate the ever-increasing traffic associated with the number of people settling in Victoria. In the early part of the 20th century, the original pier was unable to accommodate the new breed of larger and more powerful steamships . As a result,

3996-498: The 1960s. The structure remains essentially intact. 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 numbers 12 and 13. The Elizabeth Street subway

4107-423: 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. 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 . The current station building

4218-587: The British Isles. The word is often used informally to describe national rail network stations with limited service and low usage, such as the Oxfordshire Halts on the Cotswold Line . It has also sometimes been used for stations served by public services but accessible only by persons travelling to/from an associated factory (for example IBM near Greenock and British Steel Redcar – although neither of these

4329-491: 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 metres (2,322 ft) long. Plans arose at various times from the 1960s to the 1970s for the demolition or redevelopment of the station, as well as the adjacent Jolimont Yard area. The station had fallen into disrepair, having not been cleaned in decades, and

4440-533: The Flinders Street frontage, many at lower than street level, accessed by stairs, which created a fifth or basement level. The top three levels of the main building contain a large number of rooms, particularly along the Flinders Street frontage, mostly intended for railway use, but also many as lettable spaces. Numerous ticket windows were located at each entry, with services, such as a restaurant, country booking office, lost luggage office and visitors help booth, at

4551-470: The Flinders Street name would undoubtedly have become more prominent. The platforms for trains arriving from Station Pier retained the "Melbourne, Flinders Street" signage well into the twentieth century, so migrants fresh off the boat wouldn't be confused about where they were. The first terminus had a single platform 30 metres (98 ft 5 in) long, and was located beside the Fish Market building on

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4662-503: The Flinders Street side, "in view of the importance of this great public work". The southern facade of the main building consisted of a lightweight timber frame clad with zinc sheets, which were scored into blocks and painted red to look like large bricks. That was done to create corridors instead of what were to be open-access balconies inside the scrapped train shed. Work on the dome started in 1906. The structure required heavy foundations as it extended over railway tracks. In May 1908, work

4773-500: The Flinders Street station complex will expand with the opening of the adjacent Town Hall rapid transit station under Swanston Street , which will have a number of new entrances in the surrounding precinct. As part of the Metro Tunnel project, City Square on Swanston Street was fenced off in 2017 for the commencement of construction works on a new CBD station, which will directly connect with Flinders Street. In November 2017, after

4884-511: The Milk Dock or Parcels Dock, was constructed in 1910 to the north of platform 1 at the west end of the main building. Prior to the widespread transport of dairy products by road, the dock was a distribution centre for milk and other small goods arriving in Melbourne on early morning trains from Gippsland. Other small goods and parcels were later also loaded at the dock until most such traffic ceased in

4995-537: The architecture and significance of the station, which had been seen as something of an oddity, or even simply as dirty and ugly, such that it was classified by the National Trust of Australia (Victoria) by 1976, and eventually listed on the state Heritage Register in 1982. In 1989, under the John Cain government, an agreement to construct a "Festival Marketplace" was signed. Designed by Daryl Jackson architects, it

5106-408: The basement store beside the main entrance has been occupied by a hat shop, known as "City Hatters" since 1933. The first electric train service operated from Flinders Street to Essendon in 1919, and by 1923 it was thought to be the world's busiest passenger station, with 2300 trains and 300,000 passengers daily. In 1954, to cater for increasing traffic, as well as for the 1956 Summer Olympics ,

5217-464: The changing and complicated lay-out of the tracks at the station and yards, the duplication of the Flinders street railway viaduct, and rebuilding Princes Bridge Station. The new Flinders Street station building had three levels at the concourse, or Swanston Street, end, and four at the lower Elizabeth Street end. Numerous shops and lettable spaces were provided, some on the concourse, but especially along

5328-399: The clocks" refers to the row of indicator clocks above the main entrance, which show the next departure for each line; 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. The first railway station to occupy the Flinders Street site was a collection of weatherboard train sheds. It

5439-532: The closure of the Port Melbourne line in 1987, and platforms 14, 15 and 16 were closed to regular services, along with the west end of platform 1. Although proposals were made to reopen it by the East West Link Needs Assessment , the platform 11 site was converted into a bar and restaurant in 2014. Platforms 15 and 16 were demolished to make way for Federation Square , but platform 14 remains intermittently in use. A short dock platform , known as

5550-419: The competition, and no major changes were undertaken. The Swanston Street concourse has undergone the most change of any part of the station, and is now three times the depth of the original structure, is located near Federation Square and only the canopy and roofed area on Swanston Street remains of the original. After the first round of works in 1985 a City of Melbourne councillor, Trevor Huggard, described

5661-474: The compound forms train depot , railway depot , and railroad depot —it is used for both passenger and freight facilities. The term depot is not used in reference to vehicle maintenance facilities in the U.S., whereas it is used as such in Canada and the United Kingdom. The world's first recorded railway station, for trains drawn by horses rather than engined locomotives , began passenger service in 1807. It

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5772-444: The concourse or platform level. Much of the top floor was purpose-built for the then new Victorian Railway Institute, including a library, gym and a lecture hall, later used as a ballroom . Those rooms have been largely abandoned and decaying since the 1980s. For a number of years in the 1930s and 1940s, the building featured a creche next to the main dome on the top floor, with an open-air playground on an adjoining roof. Since 1910,

5883-529: The construction of stations, from those boasting grand, intricate, Baroque - or Gothic -style edifices, to plainer utilitarian or modernist styles. Stations in Europe tended to follow British designs and were in some countries, like Italy, financed by British railway companies. Train stations built more recently often have a similar feel to airports, with a simple, abstract style. Examples of modern stations include those on newer high-speed rail networks, such as

5994-417: The cross-loading of freight and may be known as transshipment stations, where they primarily handle containers. They are also known as container stations or terminals. Station Pier Station Pier is a historic Australian pier on Port Phillip , in Port Melbourne, Victoria . Opened in 1854, the pier is Melbourne 's primary passenger terminal, servicing interstate ferries and cruise ships , and

6105-409: The current pier was built between 1922 and 1930 and is the largest timber piled wharf structure in Australia. The Stothert and Pitt cranes were erected in 1949 for goods handling. The original supports are still underneath the current pier, chopped down when the replacement was built. The new pier was designed so that passengers landed at the terminals above, while goods traffic moved underneath, in what

6216-467: The deleted Princes Bridge station to platform 1. The final round of changes were completed by 2007. It included refurbishment of the building roof and concourse foundations, an upgrade of platform 10 with escalators and a lift replacing the ramp, the relocation of all ticket booking offices to the main entrance under the main dome and new LCD passenger information displays installed on the platforms, subways and concourse. In March 2009 an escalator replaced

6327-435: The design of the connection with the 1950s Campbell Arcade to preserve the site's heritage character and small, art deco shopfronts. In 2019, a section of Flinders Street was closed to cars to allow the construction of the underground connection between the two stations. The connection, named Flinders Link, will allow for a paid-area interchange between Metro Tunnel services at Town Hall and Flinders Street services. As part of

6438-553: The east of the station were rebuilt between 1997 and 1998 to clear the way for the Federation Square project. Jolimont Yard was eliminated, with $ 40 million spent to reduce 53 operating lines between Flinders Street and Richmond Station to just 12. The number of points was also reduced, from 164 to 48. These changes also saw a reallocation of platform usage at the station, country trains being shifted from platform 1 to platform 10, and Clifton Hill group trains being shifted from

6549-468: The existing ad-hoc station buildings. A design competition was held in 1883, but the winning entry, by William Salway, featuring a pair of grandiose Italianate buildings either side of a yet to be rebuilt Princes Bridge , was not built. Well over a decade later the Railway Commissioners prepared an in-house design for a new "Central Railway Station". It was published on 28 July 1898, and featured

6660-449: The exterior of the main building. By July 2017, the station had been almost completely repainted in the original 1910 colours. The distinctive yellow mustard colour was replaced with more muted shades of stone and red, which were determined based on a forensic analysis of the original paint layers on the surface of the building. As painting continued in January 2018, a further round of works

6771-470: The goods facilities are on the opposite side of the tracks from the station building. Intermediate stations also occur on some funicular and cable car routes. A halt , in railway parlance in the Commonwealth of Nations , Ireland and Portugal , is a small station, usually unstaffed or with very few staff, and with few or no facilities. In some cases, trains stop only on request , when passengers on

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6882-401: The layout of the platforms. Apart from single-track lines, the most basic arrangement is a pair of tracks for the two directions; there is then a basic choice of an island platform between, two separate platforms outside the tracks ( side platforms ), or a combination of the two. With more tracks, the possibilities expand. Some stations have unusual platform layouts due to space constraints of

6993-417: The less developed KTM East Coast railway line to serve rural 'kampongs' (villages), that require train services to stay connected to important nodes, but do not have a need for staff. People boarding at halts who have not bought tickets online can buy it through staff on board. In rural and remote communities across Canada and the United States, passengers wanting to board the train at such places had to flag

7104-485: The lift to platform 12 and 13, with platform 13 also extended west into daylight along the alignment of the former platform 11. In 2008, the retail pavilions on the concourse were rebuilt, increasing their area. An investigation of the potential of the abandoned spaces in the station, overseen by a task force comprising representatives from Connex , the Committee for Melbourne , Melbourne City Council , Heritage Victoria ,

7215-481: The lines to the west of the city, and was isolated from the eastern side of the network until a ground level railway was built connecting it to Flinders Street in 1879, this track being replaced by the Flinders Street Viaduct in 1889. Princes Bridge station was originally separate from Flinders Street, even though it was only on the opposite side of Swanston Street . Once the railway line was extended under

7326-530: The loading and unloading of goods and may well have marshalling yards (classification yards) for the sorting of wagons. The world's first goods terminal was the 1830 Park Lane Goods Station at the South End Liverpool Docks. Built in 1830, the terminal was reached by a 1.24-mile (2 km) tunnel. As goods are increasingly moved by road, many former goods stations, as well as the goods sheds at passenger stations, have closed. Many are used purely for

7437-549: The main building completed by 1903. In 1904, in mid construction, the plans were extensively modified by the Railways Commissioners . The proposed single platform roof was replaced by individual platform roofs, and it was decided not to include the arched concourse roof. To increase office space, a fourth storey was added to the main building, which resulted in the arches above each entrance on Flinders Street being lowered, decreasing their dominance. In 1905, work began on

7548-430: The main entrance, a tall clock tower over the Elizabeth Street entrance, an entrance opposite Degraves Street, and two subways. There was to be a roof over the platforms "supported by 12 columns", of corrugated iron and with minimal amounts of glass to protect against the summer sun (drawings of it have not survived). The Swanston Street elevation does survive, and shows an impressive three-arched roof running east–west, with

7659-403: The main reception facilities being at the far end of the platforms. Sometimes the track continues for a short distance beyond the station, and terminating trains continue forward after depositing their passengers, before either proceeding to sidings or reversing to the station to pick up departing passengers. Bondi Junction , Australia and Kristiansand Station , Norway are examples. A terminus

7770-416: The nearby Princes Bridge station with Flinders Street with improved passenger connections in the 1890s, but failed to obtain funding from the state government for the project despite the massive redevelopment works. Nevertheless, the two stations were merged for signalling and operational purposes in 1910, and in 1966, platform 1 at Flinders Street was extended to meet its counterpart at Princes Bridge, creating

7881-577: The original name of the station. Leo Harrigan, in his book Victorian Railways to '62 , writes that it was first named "Melbourne Terminus". Newspaper articles about the opening in September 1854 refer to "Melbourne terminus" with a lower case "t", which may have caused the misapprehension. H.K Atkinson, in his book Suburban Tickets of the Victorian Railways , lists the station as being called "Flinders Street" from its opening. Early tickets for

7992-784: The other. For instance, in Istanbul transfers from the Sirkeci Terminal (the European terminus) and the Haydarpaşa Terminal (the Asian terminus) historically required crossing the Bosphorus via alternative means, before the Marmaray railway tunnel linking Europe and Asia was completed. Some cities, including New York, have both termini and through lines. Terminals that have competing rail lines using

8103-459: The pier was removed in October 1937, with the remainder unused from 1939 until removal in January 1950. In 1987, the railway line too was closed, and replaced by tram route 109 , which runs to Box Hill via the city. The Centenary Bridge was demolished in 1991. The Sandridge Trail runs parallel to the tram line. When refurbished in 1998/99, tram tracks were included in the new concrete decking on

8214-585: The platform indicate that they wish to board, or passengers on the train inform the crew that they wish to alight. These can sometimes appear with signals and sometimes without. The Great Western Railway in Great Britain began opening haltes on 12 October 1903; from 1905, the French spelling was Anglicised to "halt". These GWR halts had the most basic facilities, with platforms long enough for just one or two carriages; some had no raised platform at all, necessitating

8325-406: The project, and the station was essentially finished by mid-1909. The verandah along Flinders Street, and the concourse roof and verandah along Swanston Street, were not completed until after the official opening in 1910. Frederick Karl Esling , superintending engineer, was responsible for building Flinders Street Station, as well as the widening of Swanston Street over the railway lines, resolving

8436-458: The project, six lifts are being installed on Flinders Street station platforms 1–10 to allow for accessible access via the Degraves Street underpass. The platform layout at Flinders Street is almost entirely composed of through tracks – a product of the constrained geography of the site and the haphazard development of the rail network around it. The first platform at the station, constructed near and parallel to Flinders Street itself,

8547-466: The provision of steps on the carriages. Halts were normally unstaffed, tickets being sold on the train. On 1 September 1904, a larger version, known on the GWR as a "platform" instead of a "halt", was introduced; these had longer platforms, and were usually staffed by a senior grade porter, who sold tickets and sometimes booked parcels or milk consignments. From 1903 to 1947 the GWR built 379 halts and inherited

8658-535: The railway just show "Melbourne" as the destination. Moreover, a newspaper report of December 1854 mentions that the Hobsons Bay Railway Company shareholder meeting was held at "Flinders Street Station". In all likelihood, the station was called "Melbourne, Flinders Street" from the outset, and the somewhat superfluous "Melbourne" was gradually dropped through common usage. When Prince's Bridge station opened across Swanston Street in 1859,

8769-528: The ramps, and 16 new shops opened on the concourse. A restaurant was built on the southern side facing the river, which opened in October 1985, but closed soon after, instead becoming the "Clocks on Flinders" poker machine venue in 1994. The main steps were embedded with electrical circuits to keep them dry in June 1985. In 1993, the Elizabeth Street subway was extended and opened at the Southbank end. Conservation work

8880-460: The renovation as "vandalism of historically important sections of the station", and in 1997 the National Trust of Australia described the additions to the concourse as unsympathetic and detrimental to the station, having "the character of a modern shopping centre". The television displays used to display next train information were added to each platform in July 1980. In 1982, a $ 7 million refurbishment

8991-545: The south-west corner of Swanston and Flinders Streets . An additional platform was provided in 1877, along with two overhead bridges to provide passenger access, followed in 1879 by additional timber and corrugated iron buildings, and a telegraph station . The first signal boxes were opened at the station in 1883, one at each end of the platforms. By the 1890s, a third island platform had been constructed. Melbourne's two other early central-city stations, Spencer Street and Princes Bridge , opened in 1859. Spencer Street served

9102-407: The station building itself, starting at the west end and progressing towards the main dome. Ballarat builder Peter Rodger was awarded the £93,000 contract. The building was originally to have been faced in stone, but that was considered too costly, so red brick, with cement render details, was used for the main building instead. Grey granite from Harcourt was used for many details at ground level on

9213-405: The station entrance and platforms are on the same level, is also common, but is perhaps rarer in urban areas , except when the station is a terminus. Stations located at level crossings can be problematic if the train blocks the roadway while it stops, causing road traffic to wait for an extended period of time. Stations also exist where the station buildings are above the tracks. An example of this

9324-477: The station frequently set up a jointly owned terminal railroad to own and operate the station and its associated tracks and switching operations. During a journey, the term station stop may be used in announcements, to differentiate halts during which passengers may alight and halts for another reasons, such as a locomotive change . While a junction or interlocking usually divides two or more lines or routes, and thus has remotely or locally operated signals ,

9435-561: The station location, or the alignment of the tracks. Examples include staggered platforms, such as at Tutbury and Hatton railway station on the Crewe–Derby line , and curved platforms, such as Cheadle Hulme railway station on the Macclesfield to Manchester Line. Stations at junctions can also have unusual shapes – a Keilbahnhof (or "wedge-shaped" station) is sited where two lines split. Triangular stations also exist where two lines form

9546-462: 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

9657-414: The station. In October 2012, after receiving 118 submissions, six finalists were selected. The public could vote and the jury's choice and people's choice winner were announced on 8 August 2013. The competition winner was Hassell + Herzog & de Meuron , while the people's choice winner were University of Melbourne students Eduardo Velasquez, Manuel Pineda and Santiago Medina. No funding was attached to

9768-425: The station. Platform expansion began in earnest following the 1882 recommendation that Flinders Street be developed as a major terminal, and the subsequent government acquisition of the railways between 1889 and 1892, three further platforms were constructed on land acquired from the former fish market in anticipation of additional traffic, which eventuated when Essendon, Coburg and Williamstown trains were routed across

9879-399: The street in 1865 to join the two, Princes Bridge was closed. It was reopened in April 1879, and from 1909 slowly became amalgamated into Flinders Street. Federation Square now occupies its site. Up until the 1880s a number of designs for a new station had been prepared, but none ever went further. By the 1880s, it was becoming clear that a new central passenger station was needed to replace

9990-557: The street to underground rapid-transit urban rail stations. In many African, South American, and Asian countries, stations are also used as a place for public markets and other informal businesses. This is especially true on tourist routes or stations near tourist destinations . As well as providing services for passengers and loading facilities for goods, stations can sometimes have locomotive and rolling stock depots, usually with facilities for storing and refuelling rolling stock and carrying out minor repairs. The basic configuration of

10101-474: The top of each motor car in red letters along with exterior lighting. Operating direct from Flinders Street station to Station Pier, the service was discontinued in October 1939. In 1934 the Victorian Centenary Bridge was built over the railway lines, carrying Beach Street traffic over the pier railway sidings, as well as providing road access to the centre of the pier. Overhead wiring over half

10212-442: The train down to stop it, hence the name " flag stops " or "flag stations". Accessibility for disabled people is mandated by law in some countries. Considerations include: In the United Kingdom, rail operators will arrange alternative transport (typically a taxi ) at no extra cost to the ticket holder if the station they intend to travel to or from is inaccessible. Goods or freight stations deal exclusively or predominantly with

10323-524: The viaduct in 1894. Development continued with the completion of the 1899 ground plan, which specified a total of 11 platforms – platform 1 along the main building and five pairs of island platforms to the south. The remaining platforms were constructed as works progressed on the main building, and in 1909, a decision was made to extend platforms 10 and 11 eastwards, creating two new platforms originally numbered 10 East and 11 East and now numbered 12 and 13. Railway officials proposed amalgamating

10434-578: The western side for a possible extension of tram route 109. In 2001, the area at the base of the pier was redeveloped to include a boardwalk and a number of new restaurant and cafe buildings, including 3 Station Pier and Waterfront . At the end of the pier is Rex Hunt 's Delish Fish . Station Pier has four operating berths , two on each side of the wharf . Each berth has a maximum draft of 10.3 metres. The pier operates 24 hours per day, and open for pedestrian access from 6am to 9 pm except when cruise ships or naval ships are visiting. In addition

10545-602: The world was Crown Street railway station in Liverpool, England , built in 1830, on the locomotive-hauled Liverpool to Manchester line. The station was slightly older than the still extant Liverpool Road railway station terminal in Manchester. The station was the first to incorporate a train shed . Crown Street station was demolished in 1836, as the Liverpool terminal station moved to Lime Street railway station . Crown Street station

10656-575: Was The Mount in Swansea , Wales, on the Oystermouth (later the Swansea and Mumbles ) Railway. The world's oldest station for engined trains was at Heighington , on the Stockton and Darlington railway in north-east England built by George Stephenson in the early 19th century, operated by locomotive Locomotion No. 1 . The station opened in 1827 and was in use until the 1970s. The building, Grade II*-listed ,

10767-555: Was also carried out to the main building, with the external facade repainted, exterior feature lighting installed, and the stained glass feature windows above each entry restored. Further changes were made through the late 1990s with the opening of access from the main Swanston Street concourse to platform 1, platform resurfacing with tactile tiles , and the replacement of the remainder of the original platform access ramps (except platform 10) with escalators and elevators. The tracks to

10878-465: Was announced by the Minister for Transport, Steven Crabb , divided into four phases, designed by the railways architect Kris Kudlicki. Completed by 1984, the first escalators at the station provided on platforms 2 and 3 replaced ramps, and new public toilets were provided, replacing those over the platforms. The main station concourse was tiled and extended westward over the tracks, with skylights added above

10989-468: Was announced including the renewal of the Elizabeth Street pedestrian subway and rebuilding of the subway's south entrance to include direct access to platform 10. In 2018 the pedestrian forecourt in front of the station's main entrance was expanded and new security bollards were installed to protect pedestrians from cars, as part of the security response to the January 2017 Bourke Street car attack . From 2025,

11100-464: Was barely even 30 m (98 ft 5 in) long, and allowed trains from Port Melbourne to terminate. The opening of the rail connection under Swanston Street in 1865 enabled trains from Brighton to access the platform, and so it was later extended to enable the simultaneous arrival of trains from the east and west. A second platform to the south of the first was provided in 1877, after the amalgamation of railway companies began to increase traffic at

11211-526: Was called a "rail motor stopping place" (RMSP). Usually situated near a level crossing , it was often designated solely by a sign beside the railway. The passenger could hail the driver to stop, and could buy a ticket from the train guard or conductor. In South Australia, such facilities were called "provisional stopping places". They were often placed on routes on which "school trains" (services conveying children from rural localities to and from school) operated. In West Malaysia , halts are commonplace along

11322-445: 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. The Melbourne saying "I'll meet you under

11433-637: Was completed the same year, but the conclusions were not made public. In January 2010, one of the first announcements by the new Minister for Public Transport was that the government was investigating the refurbishment of the abandoned spaces for "cultural uses", showing tram lines, February 2010|alt=The facade as viewed from Flinders Street, showing tram lines, February 2010]]In mid-February 2015, Premier Daniel Andrews and Minister for Public Transport Jacinta Allan announced that $ 100 million would be spent for urgent refurbishment works to upgrade station platforms, entrances, toilets, information displays and to restore

11544-623: Was converted to a goods station terminal. The first stations had little in the way of buildings or amenities. The first stations in the modern sense were on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway , opened in 1830. Manchester's Liverpool Road Station , the second oldest terminal station in the world, is preserved as part of the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester . It resembles a row of Georgian houses. Early stations were sometimes built with both passenger and freight facilities, though some railway lines were goods-only or passenger-only, and if

11655-472: Was covered with advertising hoardings and neon signs. In 1962, the Minister for Transport and HKJ Pty Ltd signed an agreement for a £30 million redevelopment of the station that would have resulted in the demolition of the clock tower and its replacement by an office building up to 60 storeys high. Work was to begin in 1964 but, instead, the Gas & Fuel Building was constructed over Princes Bridge station. In 1967,

11766-514: Was in bad condition, but was restored in 1984 as an inn. The inn closed in 2017; in 2024 there were plans to renovate the derelict station in time for the 200th anniversary of the opening of the railway line. The two-storey Mount Clare station in Baltimore , Maryland , United States, which survives as a museum, first saw passenger service as the terminus of the horse-drawn Baltimore and Ohio Railroad on 22 May 1830. The oldest terminal station in

11877-465: Was opened on 12 September 1854 by the Lieutenant-Governor , Charles Hotham . The terminus was the first city railway station in Australia, and the opening day saw the first steam train trip in Australia. The train travelled to Sandridge (now Port Melbourne ), over the since-reconstructed Sandridge Bridge and along what is now the light rail Port Melbourne line . There is some confusion over

11988-515: Was progressing more slowly than planned, with the expected completion date of April 1909 increasingly unlikely to be met. Rodger's contract was terminated in August 1908. A Royal Commission was appointed in May 1910, finding that Rodger could be held accountable for the slow progress in 1908, but he should be compensated for the difficulties before then. The Way and Works Branch of the Victorian Railways took over

12099-693: Was provided with eight tracks, four along each wharf face. The outer eastern end of the new pier was 390 feet east of the outer eastern end of the old pier, to make the new pier exactly parallel with the Prince's Pier. In January 1921 electric passenger services were extended to the platform at the Bay Excursion Pier, two years after electric trains had been extended to Port Melbourne. It was served by two trains per hour Monday to Friday, until their withdrawal in November 1930 as they were not financially rewarding to

12210-403: Was quite forward thinking for the 1920s. It has a wharf length of 933 metres, and is capable of berthing ships 305 metres long with a draught of 10.3 metres. When originally built the pier had five railway sidings running onto it, as well as a passenger platform on the southern side named 'Bay Excursion Platform', a westward extension of Port Melbourne station . After the pier was rebuilt it

12321-505: Was to be built over the existing platforms in a style sympathetic to the existing station, and be completed by 1992. Planned to feature shops, restaurants and cafes, the project was abandoned in 1991 after the inability of the financiers to come up with the $ 205 million required due to the early 1990s recession . In November 2011, the Victorian Government launched a $ 1 million international design competition to rejuvenate and restore

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