Wikipedia

Flagstaff railway station

This article is about the Melbourne station. For the Arizona station, see Flagstaff station.

Flagstaff railway station is a commuter railway station on the Burnley, Caulfield, Clifton Hill and Northern group lines, serving the Melbourne CBD in Victoria, Australia. Flagstaff is an underground premium station on the City Loop, featuring four platforms, two island platforms on two floors connected to street level via an underground concourses. It opened on 27 May 1985.

Flagstaff
PTV commuter rail station
Eastbound view from Platform 1, November 2023
General information
LocationLa Trobe Street,
Melbourne, Victoria 3000
City of Melbourne
Australia
Coordinates37°48′43″S 144°57′22″E / 37.81194°S 144.95611°E / -37.81194; 144.95611
Owned byVicTrack
Operated byMetro Trains
Line(s)
Platforms4 (2 island)
Tracks4
ConnectionsList of Melbourne tram routes Tram
Construction
Structure typeUnderground
Depth32 m[1]
Platform levels2
AccessibleYes—step free access
Other information
StatusOperational, premium station
Station codeFGS
Fare zoneMyki Zone 1
WebsitePublic Transport Victoria
History
Opened27 May 1985; 39 years ago (1985-05-27)
ElectrifiedJanuary 1981
(1500 V DC overhead)
Passengers
2019-20203.883 million[2] Decrease 20.01%
2020-20211.378 million[2] Decrease 64.52%
2021–20221.682 million[2] Increase 22.04%
2022–20232.758 million[2] Increase 64.02%
2022–20233.435 million[2] Increase 24.54%
Services
Preceding station Railways in Melbourne Metro Trains Following station
Southern Cross
One-way operation
 Mernda line Melbourne Central
towards Mernda
Hurstbridge line Melbourne Central
towards Hurstbridge
Southern Cross
towards Flinders Street
 Pakenham line Melbourne Central
One-way operation
Cranbourne line
Direction of travel on metropolitan lines below between stations on the City Loop changes to either Southern Cross or Melbourne Central depending on the line and time of day.
Southern Cross
towards Flinders Street
 Lilydale line Melbourne Central
towards Lilydale or Belgrave
Belgrave line
Alamein line
Select weekday peak services only
 Melbourne Central
towards Alamein
Glen Waverley line Melbourne Central
towards Glen Waverley
North Melbourne
towards Upfield
 Upfield line Melbourne Central
towards Flinders Street
North Melbourne
towards Craigieburn
 Craigieburn line
North Melbourne
towards Sunbury
 Sunbury line
Future services (2025)
Southern Cross
towards Flinders Street
 Frankston line Melbourne Central
towards Frankston
Track layout
Legend
to Southern Cross
to North Melbourne
1
3
L1 (upper)
2
4
L2 (lower)
to Melbourne Central

The station takes its name from the nearby Flagstaff Hill, a significant site in Melbourne's early colonial history, and serves Melbourne's legal district. It is located under La Trobe and William streets, near the north-western corner of the CBD.

History

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The station was constructed by mining methods, and has four levels to a maximum depth of 32 metres (105 ft 0 in). The site was a geological "sandwich" of basalt in the arch area, Silurian mudstone bedrock in the lower half, and silt in the middle, which precluded the construction of lower and upper platforms as separately driven tunnels.[3]

Instead, the station platforms consist of two chambers linked by cross tunnels, each having two platforms on top of each other. The side of each chamber was made up of two drift tunnels, one at the top and one at the bottom. They were then linked by 228 vertically raise bored shafts, 1 metre (3 ft 3 in) in diameter and 3 metres (9 ft 10 in) apart. The shafts and drifts were then filled with concrete, and formed the side skeleton of the station chambers. The arch of each chamber was then constructed across the top of the two side walls, the material below the arch being excavated down to the bottom of the side walls, with temporary cross struts added between the raise bored columns, until the permanent elements were added. That innovative method resulted in a $1 million saving in construction costs.[4]

Flagstaff was the last station to open on the City Loop. Although trains had run through the station site since 24 January 1981, when the Loop began operating, Flagstaff did not open to passengers until 27 May 1985.[5][6]

Initially, the City Loop did not operate at all on Sundays. That was changed with the introduction of Sunday trading but, at the same time that the other two underground loop stations opened on Sundays, Flagstaff station had its Saturday services cancelled.[7] That was due to its proximity to business-related buildings such as the Commonwealth Law Complex, banks and major office buildings, which were usually closed on weekends and public holidays. After a number of residential developments had been built in the area, the station was scheduled to open on weekends from June 2015 with both the Labor and Liberal political parties having committed to that in the 2014 Victorian state election.[8] However, that was deferred until 1 January 2016 when it permanently opened to services on both Saturdays and Sundays.[9][10][9][10]

In May 2017, CDC Melbourne operated bus route 605 to Gardenvale from Flagstaff Station.

As of 2023-24, Flagstaff is the seventh-busiest station on Melbourne's metropolitan network, with 3.435 million passengers.[11][11] [12]

Facilities

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The station is located under the intersection of La Trobe and William streets and has two entrances – via lift or escalator south of La Trobe Street, and by stairs on the north. Flagstaff has three underground levels. The concourse level has a ticket office, ticket-operated gates, toilets, a news stand and a hot snack shop. Flagstaff's four platforms are on the two levels below, with each level having an island platform. The levels are linked by elevators, 14 escalators and stairs.[4] The four platforms serve a separate group of rail lines that leave the loop and radiate out into the city's suburbs.

Station layout

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G Street level Entrances/Exits
C Concourse Customer service, toilets
P Plant Room Staff only
L1
Platforms 		Platform 1
Island platform, doors will open on the left
Platform 2
L2
Platforms 		Platform 3
Island platform, doors will open on the left or right
Platform 4

Usage

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Passenger usage at Flagstaff Station between 2008 and 2024 sorted by financial year.

Flagstaff is the seventh-busiest station on Melbourne's metropolitan rail network.[2]

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Route Number From To Stop location
  St Vincent's Plaza Docklands Stadium La Trobe Street
  The District Docklands The District Docklands La Trobe Street
  West Coburg Toorak William Street
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  •  
    Flagstaff station with an X'Trapolis train departing, March 2006
  •  
    Station concourse, Myki barriers and entrance, August 2017
  •  
    Escalators to Platforms 3 and 4, August 2017
  •  
    Flagstaff station Platform 4, August 2017, prior to the replacement of ceiling panels in 2023
  •  
    Station Platforms 1 and 2 concourse,
    December 2020
  •  
    Westbound view from Platform 1, July 2023
  •  
    Westbound view from Platform 1 with an X'Trapolis train arriving, July 2023

Notes

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  1. ^ Weekday pre-peak and post-peak only

References

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  1. ^ History of Melbourne's Metropolitan Rail System and the adoption of the Underground Rail Loop concept Metropolitan Transit Authority
  2. ^ a b c d e f Annual metropolitan train station patronage (station entries) Data Vic
  3. ^ "The Melbourne Underground Railway Loop". Technology in Australia 1788–1988. www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au. p. 383. Retrieved 20 July 2008.
  4. ^ a b History of Melbourne's Underground Rail System Metropolitan Transit Authority
  5. ^ Stations opened, stations closed Electric Traction August 1985 page 123
  6. ^ Department of Infrastructure. "Public transport – City Loop history". www.doi.vic.gov.au. Archived from the original on 20 May 2009. Retrieved 20 July 2008.
  7. ^ Carey, Adam (23 October 2012). "Push for Flagstaff to open 7 days". The Age. Retrieved 23 October 2012.
  8. ^ "Flagstaff station to open on weekends" Railway Digest November 2014 page 24
  9. ^ a b Gough, Deborah; Dmytryshchak, Goya (28 November 2015). "Countdown to Flagstaff Station opening on weekends". The Age. Retrieved 3 December 2015.
  10. ^ a b "Flagstaff Station to open on weekends in under a month". Public Transport Victoria. 8 December 2015. Retrieved 18 December 2015.
  11. ^ a b "Station Patronage Data 2013–2018". Philip Mallis. Transport for Victoria. 13 February 2019. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  12. ^ "Train Station Patronage FY2008-2014". Public Transport Victoria. 14 May 2015. Archived from the original (XLS) on 30 March 2016. Retrieved 1 November 2016. (access from [1] Archived 3 November 2016 at the Wayback Machine)
  13. ^ "Mernda Line". Public Transport Victoria. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
  14. ^ "Hurstbridge Line". Public Transport Victoria. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
  15. ^ "Pakenham Line". Public Transport Victoria. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
  16. ^ "Cranbourne Line". Public Transport Victoria. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
  17. ^ "Craigieburn Line". Public Transport Victoria. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
  18. ^ "Upfield Line". Public Transport Victoria. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
  19. ^ "Sunbury line". Public Transport Victoria.
  20. ^ "Lilydale Line". Public Transport Victoria. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
  21. ^ "Belgrave Line". Public Transport Victoria. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
  22. ^ "Glen Waverley Line". Public Transport Victoria. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
  23. ^ "Alamein Line". Public Transport Victoria. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
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  Media related to Flagstaff railway station at Wikimedia Commons

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