Flinders Street, Railway station in Melbourne central business district, Australia
Flinders Street is a railway station at the corner of Flinders and Swanston streets in Melbourne's central business district. The 1909 Edwardian building is of yellow-brown stone, with a large green copper dome topped by a small cupola and finial, flanked by two smaller green domes. A triangular pediment holding a clock face sits below the main dome, above a wide arched entrance with a glazed fanlight and the sign "FLINDERS STREET STATION".
The first station on the site opened on 12 September 1854, when the Lieutenant-Governor, Charles Hotham, inaugurated Australia's first city railway and the country's first steam train trip, to Sandridge (now Port Melbourne). The present Edwardian building was completed in 1909, replacing earlier weatherboard sheds, timber and iron structures and a telegraph station. It has been listed on the Victorian Heritage Register since 1982.
The station takes its name from British navigator Matthew Flinders, the first person to sail completely around the Australian coastline. The yellow walls and green dome roof make the building a landmark where locals arrange to meet beneath the entrance clocks.
The station sits directly beside the Yarra River and connects with 15 tram routes stopping outside the main entrance. The building offers step-free access and links all suburban lines across the commuter rail network.
The main platform, operationally split into platforms 1 and 14, is Australia's second longest and the eighteenth longest in the world. The popular story that the design was meant for Mumbai's Victoria Terminus and swapped in the post is a myth. The station has been on the Victorian Heritage Register since 1982.
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