Flinders Street Station - Melbourne

Location: Swanston Street and Flinders Street, Melbourne
Opened: 1854 (main building was opened 1909)

For decades Melbournians have recited the famous line "meet you under the clocks", a tribute to the reputation of one of Melbourne's most famous and recognisable landmarks. The line refers to the row of clocks that sits above the main entrance to Flinders Street Station.

Flinders Street Station was originally known as the Melbourne Terminus, a series of weatherboard sheds opened by Lieutenant-Governer Charles Hotham in 1854. A single 30 metre platform serviced a steam engine that traveled from Flinders Street to Port Melbourne. A second platform was opened in 1877, with a third added in the 1890s.

The building we know today was a result of a design competition held in 1899 and won by James Fawcett and HPC Ashworth. Their design was constructed between 1905 and 1909, while one of the original Melbourne Terminus sheds was relocated to form part of the Hawthorn Train Station.

The station is four stories tall (five if you include the basement which is still occupied by stores) and ihas included a library, gym and a ballroom. The basement next to the main entrance has been occupied by 'City Hatters' since 1933. in 1926, Flinders Street was the world's busiest passenger station.

The famous clocks actually date back to the 1860's when they were purchased from England and were formally operated operated by Officers using long poles, and though they have now been automated, a plan in 1983 to have them replaced with digital displays with met with such outrage that the plan was abandoned.

Related:
Princes Bridge