ckb_flinders_st_station

 Homepage | What is a landmark | Federation Square | Eureka Tower | Royal Exhibition Building | Shrine of Remembrance | Flinders St Station | Crown Casino | Survey | Mindmap | Bibliography | Reflections | Conclusion ** Flinders St Station ** Flinders St Railway Station is located on the corner of Flinders St and Swanston St, adjacent to Federation Square and Young and Jackson's Hotel. It open first in 1854 and then newly refurbished with a new lease on life in 1910 and to this day is the oldest station in Australia. It is the busiest station in the Southern Hemisphere, with a 700 metre platform being the longest in the country.

For tourists, Flinders St is an amazing structure and a awesome landmark, but for city dwellers, comers and goers it is just part of the daily routine, a place you use to get around. However, if you stand back, look and admire its sublime architecture, only then can you truly appreciate it for what it is: one of Melbourne's truly great landmarks.

Flinders St, like Fed Square, is one of 'the' meeting places for people in Melbourne. Such quotes like "Meet me under the clocks" is ofen heard. It has become a willing slave to the people, providing the means of transport for all Melbournians since the original build in 1854. It has always been a famous landmark for our great city as well as a strong ambassador, telegraphing our wealth and becoming something worth seeing by all people all over the world.

Back in the day, when Flinders St Station was owned by a private company called Hobson's Bay Railway Company Co, the line only went about 6 inches from Port Melbourne to the city. The line was then extended in 1860 when Hobson's Bay purchased newly made lines, however, the station was still a two story box with a platform and and couple of sheds. Once the government's sticky little hands had got a hold of the whole Jollimont network in 1878, within two years, they had began a massive construction to improve, extend and to refurbish it. In 1882 they put aside around about 80,000 pounds to build a new central station and in 1901 work begain for the new and inproved Flinders St Station. The new complex was to be designed by two railway employees, architect James Fawcett and Engineer H.P.C Ashworth. Flinders St had its second major refurbishment between the 1980s and 1990s. It was nothing big, just costing a lazy seven million dollars. I think it was money well spent because it is one of the longest and most substancial railway stations that the time.

Flinders St Station consists of 14 platforms, a grand dome entry, a ever-reliable clock tower, three story office buildings (which are no longer in use) and a all-inclusive foyer. Flinders St is a combo of late-Victorian and Edwardian blended in with a bit of French Renaissance and some Roman Styling. It has Nouveau influence detailing in the stained glass and pressed meltwork, topped off with the widespread use of zinc cladding on the outside. It has an open air truss looking over the Yarra River, open air platforms extending the truss, subways connecting the platforms and most importantly, the crowd pleasing "Do Not Spit" signs. For those of you who are unaware, in 1952 there was a little 300,000 pound operation going on. Yes, I am talking about the Degraves St Subway and for the people who still are in la la land here's a picture. It was built to to thin out congestion at Elizabeth and Swanston and has done its job well. It is admired by the public and it is a art gallery of its own, with pink wall tiles, black granite columns, show cases for artists to display their work and nice little shops.

Flinders St Station is a truely magical place, with the hussel and bussel of stressed out and late for work comuters, the stunning arcitecture housing 14 lines of divine chaos and its warm welcoming heart that never ceaces to cater for our transtortation needs.

Charlie