Flinders Street Station $100 million restoration to start next week   

Date
    September 21, 2015


Work will begin on a much-needed upgrade of Flinders Street station next week, although the station's historic ballroom will not be included in the restoration.

The $100 million facelift will instead focus on making the station more user-friendly for commuters, with improved signage, better access to platforms and upgraded public toilets.    

The tired facade of Flinders Street station will also be repainted, as well as repairs to the 105-year-old building's crumbling clock tower and leaky roof.   


Public Transport Minister Jacinta Allan said Flinders Street station needed to be restored not just for its heritage value but also to address passenger congestion. 

The state government also announced that Major Projects Victoria will conduct a business case for the restoration of the interior of the station, including the decaying ballroom.


Last used in the 1980s, the grand ballroom has since been left to rot, along with other vacant rooms inside the administrative part of the building.

National Trust acting conservation manager Anna Foley said the restoration of the facade and roof were urgent upgrades that had been overdue for years.

"It's important to make the building structurally sound and watertight as soon as possible, because the costs have been blowing out," she said.

Ms Foley said it was now time to make firm plans about returning public access to "one of the most important heritage buildings in the city".

Public Transport Minister Jacinta Allan said the state government had no plans at this stage for the potential uses of the ballroom.

"Suggestions have already been made but at this stage we're not ruling anything in or out because the priority has to be getting the building restored," she said.

Ms Allan said Flinders Street station needed to be restored not just for its heritage value but also to address passenger congestion.

The station is the state's busiest, with 26 million passenger movements every year.

The difficulty of moving in and out of Melbourne's biggest railway station costs the Victorian economy about $10 million a year, according to the business case for the station's redevelopment released under Freedom of Information.

Crowd levels in the morning and afternoon peaks are forecast to exceed safe standards by 2021, the report found.

Platform crushes are also likely to delay train departures, creating wider timetable havoc.

To solve the problems, consideration should be given to demolishing the narrow Elizabeth Street pedestrian subway and replacing it with a wider concourse. Escalators and stairs at the station's eastern end should also be rebuilt to improve passenger flow.

The previous Coalition government ran a $1 million design contest to come up with ideas to redevelop the station, however the plans were not enacted.

Ms Allan said another design competition was not necessary as the state government had already identified what upgrades were needed.

It is expected the upgrades will be finished in four years. Ms Allan said there would be limited disruption for passengers.   

Public Transport Users Association spokesman Daniel Bowen said it was good the government was focusing on improving facilities for passengers, rather than restoring other parts of the station.

"The ballroom is of significant heritage value to Melbourne, but restoring it is not a priority for improving train travel for the tens of thousands of passengers who use the station each day," he said.

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/flinders-street-station-100-million-restoration-to-start-next-week-20150921-gjr77o.html#ixzz3mPKTaRIF

Quote:

This subway has been cut in half by the decision to divide it in two and to use part of it for pedestrian traffic between Elizabeth St to Southbank and part of it for movements between platforms at the station. The result is a subway that's too narrow for both.

Consideration should be given to the construction of a separate pedestrian subway here.

Interesting to see mention of the ballroom, fancy that a railway station with a ballroom in it.

It seems a pity that it isnt to be restored to its former glory and put to some community use.

Call me old fashioned if you like but I thought a train station should be all about getting people on and off trains.

miketrees wrote on Sep 22^nd, 2015 at 8:35pm:

It does that fairly well, but the majority of the heritage-listed station building is in poor repair and badly in need of restoration.

Station buildings can be used for other things too - the original use for the building was administration of the railways - but at present the building is disused and is hazardous. When the building is restored, it could be used again as office space, retail or even accommodation.

Johnsmith wrote on Sep 22^nd, 2015 at 8:37pm:


Absolutely not. The space will be used every year, thanks very much.