100 years of Flinders Street Station

Friday 22 Jan 2010
Flinders Street Station was officially opened on Saturday 22 January 1910. This event took place in what is now known as the ballroom situated at the western end of the building on the third floor. The entire third floor, in fact, was added to the design to house the newly formed Railways Institute or VRI. The VRI facilities included several classrooms, a gymnasium, billiard room with five full size tables, borrowing library, reference library, reading room, games room and a lecture hall which later became used as a ballroom.

The design for the ‘central suburban rail terminus' resulted from a competition held in 1899 by the railways department after years of disagreement between the Parliamentary Standing Committee for Railways and the Railway Commissioners. The criteria for the station was clearly defined and included the stipulation for three entrances, a long façade of a specified width running along Flinders Street and a concourse with ramps along Swanston Street. Controversy surrounded the awarding of the first prize of 500 pounds to two railway employees, James Fawcett and HJP? Ashworth, as it was claimed that, amongst other anomalies, an extension of time had been given to the railways without informing the other entrants.

Excavation of the site began in 1901 and was done without any mechanisation. In 1903, when the Commissioners decided to form the VRI and create a third floor to house the Institute, construction was well under way. In 1905 the contract to build the actual station was awarded to a Williamstown builder, Peter Rodger. Rodger's work was delayed right from the beginning by changes and disputes as to the construction and the materials to be used. Significant cutbacks were made and the roof which was to cover the platforms was removed. Rodger's progress was hampered by many factors beyond his control and he was eventually dismissed on the grounds that insufficient progress had been made. The VR Way and Works Department finished the station but Rodger, through a Royal Commission, was compensated for his loses.

In the 1970s, the station was severely under threat of being demolished and the National Trust was able to enact a Heritage Order to save it. Unfortunately, this did not extend to the original concourse along Swanston Street which was demolished in the 1980s in an action by the railways department that evoked a lot of controversy. The concourse has been changed several times since then and, apart from the original verandahs and iron posts on the street side, nothing remains of the original structure.

Today half of the building remains unoccupied and has not had any maintenance done for many decades. The VRI decided to move out of the third floor in the 1980s due to declining membership and the withdrawal of financial assistance from the railways department. This added to the general decline of the building but was by no means the cause of it.