A recent visit to Victoria included a two night stay in Melbourne. This unusual occurrence meant that K could go shopping and I could wander around with my camera – something I haven’t done in Melbourne for a while. However, my wandering wasn’t aimless – I had the five new Metro Tunnel stations in my viewfinder.
Melbourne’s new Metro Tunnel
The new underground rail link features two 9 km parallel tunnels and five new stations: Arden; Parkville; State Library; Town Hall and ANZAC. With preparatory work commencing in 2015 and construction commencing in 2019, the tunnels were partially opened on 30 November and became fully operational on 1 February 2026. At a cost of $15.5 billion this was a significant investment for Victorian tax payers, but it claims to be a ‘game changer’ for commuters and visitors by relieving pressure on the city loop lines.
The Photography
It had been a while since I had taken any serious architectural photographs, so it was with great anticipation that I set out to indulge myself.
My first introduction to the tunnels was arriving by train from Sunbury and alighting at Town Hall station. At 30m from the station platforms to street level, it took a few escalators to deliver us to Swanston Street in the middle of the afternoon.
I had planned to wait until the next day to visit each of the stations, but during the evening, I decided to walk to Town Hall Station, a short walk from our hotel. Without descending too deeply into the station, I was happy to take a few night shots around the entrance.
As K and I parted company the next day, I descended into Town Hall Station and caught the train to Anzac Station, the next and last station in the tunnel, where I spent time at street and platform levels. As became a habit at the other stations, I found myself going up and down escalators in order to position myself for some of the shots.
From there I travelled to Arden Station at the northern end of the tunnels, and back to Parkville. By the time I finished there, I had run out of time to visit the State Library Station on account of a lunch appointment. I spent the afternoon in the NGV at Federation Square, aware that I would have time for that last station the next morning.
On many previous occasions when trying to photograph interesting buildings and interiors, I have been tapped on the shoulder by security and told that photography was prohibited. I am trying to avoid winging about this when everyone with a phone these days can and do take photos everywhere and anywhere and just because I have a ‘proper camera’ I am not allowed. I therefore checked on-line and discovered that photography is allowed, provided it is not for commercial purposes and that accessories such as tripods are not used (fair enough).
So unrestrained, I happily went about my business of capturing and enjoying a range of aspects of the stations, from small design details to larger expanses of the stations and platforms.
It was great to be taking these types of photographs again, however, I discovered when I viewed the results on the computer that my eye is slightly out of practice, not that most of you would notice. That said, I am delighted with the results and pleased that I found a series of subjects that were quite inspirational.
In this post, I have only presented a cross section of the shots from the two days, but if you wish to see more, please visit this gallery on my website: Metro Tunnel Stations
If you would like to be notified of my posts when they are published, please subscribe below, unless you have already done so.
8 Responses
Wonderful photos. I haven’t seen any of the new stations yet as the Ballarat line is not connected at this stage. Worth a trip just to see them.
Thank you, yes it is worth a trip next time you are in the city.
Hi Martin
Loving the symmetry your photos. Excellent hand held images (sure you didn’t sneak a tripod into the tube stations?)
Thank you, Paul. A few are not ‘spot on’ unfortunately, but you can’t tell at the scale on the post. It felt good getting back into – a nice change from holiday photos.
Hi Martin
Many thanks for the post…the photos are fantastic…… well done.
Gus from Normanville.
Hi Gus, many thanks, its good to hear from you again.
Stations appear to be remarkably quiet. Would be interesting to know the impact of these constructions on flow around the city and potential development to the north and south on this line. Like the symmetry and colour pick out in your collection – the light and space of the stations are captured. Glad you enjoyed the delights of the big build.
Hi Nigel, yes the trains were busy, but the platforms cleared quickly (which suited my purpose)..I guess time will tell if the investment has been worth it.