Community gets a sneak peek at Arden Station

Thousands of people have had an exclusive look inside Arden Station ahead of the much-anticipated Metro Tunnel opening.

The Arden open day last month gave Victorians a chance to have a look inside the station – one of five built as part of the project – before the first passenger services later this year.

Free tickets for the event were snapped up within hours by Melburnians keen to get a sneak peek into the future of train travel in Victoria.

The 3000 attendees were amazed by Arden Station’s modern design as they toured the concourse and platform levels, enjoying live entertainment, kids’ activities and showbag giveaways.

Sitting on a former industrial site, Arden Station features a soaring brick arched entrance, skylights to let natural light flow 14 metres underground and Victorian-first platform screen doors for better safety.

Thousands of workers excavated 330,000 tonnes of rock and soil, installed 3000 lights and laid 104,000 locally manufactured bricks during construction, which finished in early 2024.

Workers also fitted out mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems, installed escalators, stairs, lifts and the platform screen doors as well as laying the rail through the tunnels.

World-class Australian artist Abdul Abdullah created a large-scale permanent artwork called Come Together, which adorns the building’s eastern façade facing Laurens St.

The installation includes two aluminum hands reaching out to each other, set against graphic mosaic tiling that depicts historical imagery of the area.

The station includes bike parking spaces, drop-off zones, accessible carparks and will be within walking distance of the North Melbourne Recreation Centre, Arden Street Oval and the route 57 tram.

Work is continuing at the project’s two CBD stations – State Library and Town Hall. Both stations will be finished before the Metro Tunnel opens to passengers, along with new stations at Parkville and Anzac (on St Kilda Rd).

Trains have now travelled more than 265,000km through the twin nine-kilometre tunnels as part of the exhaustive testing and trial operations phases.

Trains on the Sunbury, Cranbourne and Pakenham lines will stop at the new stations, with passengers on every other metropolitan line able to make a single change at Melbourne Central (to State Library Stations) or Flinders Street (to Town Hall Stations) for Metro Tunnel services.

The Metro Tunnel is the biggest upgrade to Victoria’s rail network since the City Loop opened in 1981. •