With its characteristic yellow exterior and green dome, the Flinders Street Railway Station is a true icon of Melbourne. Apart from being a major transport hub, it’s full of history and has a reported haunting too!
Getting There
This railway station enjoys a central location in Melbourne and can be found at the corner of Flinders Street and Swanston Street. Around a 12 minute walk from Oaks on Collins, it is also close to St Paul’s Cathedral and Federation Square.
Some History
The original Flinders Street Station which dates back to 1854 was in fact, the country’s first city railway station. In the 1920s it became the world’s busiest station; today it is the southern hemisphere’s busiest suburban railway station. Easy to visit for those staying at Collins Street hotels, it is also home to the 708 metre long Platform 1, the longest of its kind in Australia.
Under the Clocks
One of the key attractions here are the historic clocks outside that display the various departure times. The 1860s were when these clocks were introduced and the area became a popular meeting place as well; this is where the local phrase “meet me under the clocks” originated from.
George the Ghost
The station has its very own ghost too, who is referred to as “George”! Some say that late at night on platform 10, there appears a ghostly figure of this man with fishing gear who vanishes; there are several theories about the origins of “George” which add a fascinating element to the station’s history.
Intrigued by history, art and food, Lavinia Woolf is a writer who is passionate about the extraordinary and writes of the exhilarating and enchanting. Google+