Metro Tunnel art to add splashes of colour this Christmas

Melbourne’s rail history is being celebrated with a collection of historical images – some dating back nearly 150 years – as part of a huge Metro Tunnel arts program this summer.

Transporting Victoria showcases images from 1875 to the mid-1950s, capturing the spirit of the time, as much as an insight into the rail infrastructure of the era.

The images, which are on the site of the future State Library Station, will be displayed on construction hoarding on Franklin St opposite Melbourne City Baths until January 2023.

It’s just one of the Creative Program’s projects on display in the CBD right now.

The celebration will continue throughout December with a series of As Camp as Christmas artworks by visual and performance duo The Huxleys – produced in collaboration with Electric Confetti – adorning City Square, Scott Alley and Metro Tunnel HQ, on Swanston St. 

In a nod to the environment, the artworks celebrate the glory and beauty of Australian flora and fauna.

Elsewhere, a roller door in the popular Degraves St is now home to Dancing in the Street (2022), a work by Collingwood-based botanical illustrator, painter and installation artist Manda Lane.

And Flock Off, School’s Out celebrates the student cohort of RMIT’s Bachelor of Design (Communication Design) and their response to returning to campus after two years of remote learning, inspired by Melbourne’s unique environment.

Their images on the theme of birds and fish were installed on the Franklin St east shed in early December.

For more information head to Creative Program – Victoria’s Big Build: bigbuild.vic.gov.au/projects/metro-tunnel/community/art/creative-program

Photos: Transporting Victoria, State Library Archives.

The Metro Tunnel Project will deliver some Christmas gifts of its own, with work powering ahead on the massive infrastructure project that will transform public transport in Melbourne. 

At Arden Station – the most advanced of the Metro Tunnel’s five new underground stations – work has started on the building’s architectural features as crews continue to install the mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems.

In the coming months crews will lay more than 18 kilometres of rail in the twin tunnels beneath Melbourne CBD and continue installing state of the art signalling, communications and power equipment to get ready for test trains to start running in the second half of 2023.