One of Melbourne’s busiest destinations – visited by thousands of patients, medical staff and students every day – will soon have its own train station with construction now complete on the second of five Metro Tunnel stations.
Premier Jacinta Allan and Minster for Transport Infrastructure Danny Pearson have announced the completion of major construction at Parkville Station, which will provide Victorians with a seamless connection to Melbourne’s world-leading education and health precinct when the Metro Tunnel opens ahead of schedule.
Situated 32 metres below Grattan Street, the new station features entrances directly outside the Royal Melbourne Hospital, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and The University of Melbourne, along with a pedestrian underpass beneath the busy Royal Parade – creating easy, safe connections for passengers.
Parkville Station features a 54-metre-long steel and glass canopy filling the concourse with natural light – while outside, a new level-access tram stop on Royal Parade is ready to connect people between trams and trains.
Over the past six years, hundreds of workers have built the station and the four station entrances, and installed 16 escalators, seven lifts and Victorian-first platform screen doors.
The station’s landmark artwork Vernal Glade, by internationally acclaimed Melbourne artist Patricia Piccinini, has pride of place inside the main entrance – creating an iconic space Victorians can be proud of for generations.
Crews are said to be making excellent progress on train testing through the tunnels, with test trains travelling around 18,000 kilometres so far – longer than the distance between Melbourne and London.
The Metro Tunnel will create an end-to-end rail line from Sunbury in Melbourne’s north-west to Cranbourne and Pakenham in the south-east, while freeing up space in the City Loop.
Test trains have run around 18,500km so far as part of the Metro Tunnel testing program – longer than the distance between Melbourne and London. Over the coming months, the project team will test Parkville Station systems to make sure everything works together. This includes passenger information displays, platform screen doors and ventilation.
Work is continuing on the 3 remaining underground stations – State Library, Town Hall and Anzac. Construction on Arden Station finished earlier this year.
Parkville Station will open in 2025 as part of the Sunbury to Cranbourne / Pakenham line.
