Parliament railway station

This article is about the commuter rail station in Melbourne, Australia. For the light rail station in Ottawa, Canada, see Parliament station.

Parliament
PTV commuter rail station
Southbound view from Platform 3 in March 2020
General information
Standort	Spring Street, Melbourne, Victoria 3000 City of Melbourne Australia
Coordinates	37°48′41″S 144°58′23″E
Owned by	VicTrack
Operated by	Metro Trains
Line(s)	Alamein (weekday pre-peak and post-peak only) Belgrave Craigieburn Cranbourne Glen Waverley Hurstbridge Lilydale Mernda Pakenham Sunbury Upfield
Platforms	4 (2 island)
Tracks	4
Connections	Tram
Bauwesen
Structure type	Underground
Depth	40 m
Platform levels	2
Accessible	Yes—step free access
Other information
Status	Operational, premium station
Station code	PAR
Fare zone	Myki Zone 1
Website	Public Transport Victoria
History
Opened	22 January 1983 (1983-01-22)
Electrified	1500 V DC overhead (January 1981)
Passengers
2008-2009	10.276 million
2009–2010	10.484 million  2.03%
2010–2011	10.757 million  2.6%
2011–2012	10.734 million  0.22%
2012–2013	Not measured
2013–2014	10.963 million  2.14%
2014-2015	Not measured
2015–2016	10.058 million  8.25%
2016–2017	9.855 million  2.02%
2017–2018	10.199 million  3.48%
Services
Preceding station Metro Trains Following station Melbourne Central One-way operation Mernda line Jolimont towards Mernda Hurstbridge line Jolimont towards Hurstbridge Melbourne Central towards Flinders Street Pakenham line Richmond One-way operation Cranbourne line Direction of travel on metropolitan lines below between stations on the City Loop changes to either Melbourne Central or Flinders Street depending on the line and time of day. Melbourne Central towards Flinders Street Lilydale line Richmond towards Lilydale or Belgrave Belgrave line Alamein line Select weekday peak services only Richmond towards Alamein Glen Waverley line Richmond towards Glen Waverley Melbourne Central towards Upfield Upfield line Flinders Street Terminus Melbourne Central towards Craigieburn Craigieburn line Melbourne Central towards Sunbury Sunbury line Future services (2025) Melbourne Central towards Flinders Street Frankston line Richmond towards Frankston
Track layout to Melbourne Central 1 3 L1 (upper) 2 4 L2 (lower) to Flinders Street to Jolimont to Richmond

Parliament railway station is a commuter railway station on the border of both the suburb of East Melbourne and the Melbourne CBD in Victoria, Australia. The station consists of two island platforms in a two floor configuration, these platforms are connected to street level via an underground concourse. The station is fully accesible as there are lifts linking the two concourses with both the platforms and street level.

Planning for the station had began in 1971 alongside the formation of the Melbourne Underground Rail Loop Authority. Parliament station opening in 1981 with the station being being named after the Parliament of Victoria which was located just east of the station. During the station's construction the platforms were constructed through tunneling. When the station had originally opened it was the longest escalator in the southern hemisphere however in 2022 this was overtaken by the escalators at Airport Central station in Perth.

Parliament station is one of the three underground stations on City Loop which served by eleven lines organised into four groups. The station is also served by two tram routes on Bourke Street, four tram routes on Macarthur street and one tram route on Spring Street, The journey to Flinders Street railway station is approximately 4.2 kilometres (2.6 mi) and takes 7 minutes by train.

Description

Picture taken from the Escalator at Parliament station facing towards the exit towards Lonsdale Street

Entrance to Parliament station on Spring Street in 2004

Parliament railway station is located on the border of both the suburb of East Melbourne and the Melbourne CBD. East of the main entrance is Macarthur Street as well as Spring Street and Collins Street is to the south. The station is located nearby the Parliament of Victoria, hence the station's name. The station is owned by VicTrack, a state government agency, and is operated by Metro Trains Melbourne. The station is approximately 4.3 kilometres (2.7 mi), or around a 7-minute train journey, from Flinders Street.

The station consists of a two island platforms in a two level configuration. The platforms are approximately 160 metres (520 ft) long, enough for a Metro Trains 7-car HCMT. In additon to the two platform levels there is also two underground concourses. The northern concourse is connected to street level via an exit on Lonsdale Street where as the southern concourse is connected to street level via an exit on Macarthur Street and two exits on Spring Street.

Parliament station currently has no avalible parking facilities. The station is fully accesible as there are lifts linking the concourse with both the platforms and street level.

History

The logo of the Melbourne Underground Rail Authority which was responsible in the construction of the City Loop

Melbourne Underground Rail Loop Authority (MURLA) was formed in 1971 to oversee construction of the brand new City Loop. The plan included construction of three underground stations including Parliament station.

The station platforms were constructed using tunnelling methods. A pilot tunnel was made, enabling the walls to be constructed ahead of the main excavation. Each platform is an individual tunnel, and is linked to the other platforms at the same level by a number of cross tunnels. That choice of design left the remaining pillar of rock between the tunnels too weak to support the required loads, so it was replaced with concrete.

The booking hall to the south was constructed "upside down", with the support columns being dug with augers from ground level, then filled with concrete. The roof was then constructed over the piles from ground level, during a series of staged road closures. Once that was completed, the excavation of the booking hall was carried out underneath, while road traffic continued overhead. During construction, the Parliament House fence had to be removed, stored then re-erected.

The station opened on 22 January 1983. At the time of opening, the station had the longest escalators in the southern hemisphere, but it has since been surpassed by Airport Central railway station in Perth.

In 31 January 2021 a major timetable rewrite was done to allow for the operation of High Capacity Metro Train as well as more frequent services on both the Nothern and Caulfield Groups. This included removal of Frankston, Sandringham and Werribee lines from the City Loop. The Frankston line however will return to the City Loop in 2025, once the Metro Tunnel is opened.

In 2022 and early 2023 works had began on upgrading safety features at the three city loop stations. In 2022 works had been complete for the first stage which the installment of a new intruder alarm system. On 6 February 2023 early works had commenced for stage 2 at Parliament station and are expected to be complete by late 2023.
These safety featues include:

• Upgrading Vent shafts
• Replace existing celling pannels
• Upgraded Fire Sprinker Systems
• Installment of new fire detection systems

Platforms and services

Passenger information display at Parliament station

Parliament station is currently served by 11 lines which are seperated into 11 groups and are operated by Metro Trains Melbourne.

Platform 1 is served by the Clifton Hill group which consists of the Hurstbridge and Mernda lines. Services clockwise through the City Loop, first stopping at Jolimont and then travelling together until Clifton Hill where the line splits into two.

Platform 2 is served by the Caulfield group which consists of the Cranbourne and Pakenham lines. Services operate counter clockwise through the City Loop, first travelling towards Flinders Street before travelling together towards Dandenong where the line splits into two. Services on both lines run express between South Yarra and Caulfield (Malvern during off-peak).

Platform 3 is served by the Nothern Group which consists of the Craigieburn, Sunbury and Upfield lines. Services patterns alternate during the day between clockwise and counter clockwise operations. Services run through the loop together before splitting off at North Melbourne.

Platform 4 is served by the Burnley Group which consists of Alamein, Belgrave, Glen Waverley and Lilydale lines. Service patterns alternate during the day between clockwise and counter clockwise operations. Services on the Burnley group split off three times, first at Burnley where the Glen Waverley line breaks off, then at Camberwell where the Alamein line breaks off. and finally at Ringwood where the Belgrave and Lilydale lines split into two.

Platform 1 - Clifton Group

•  Mernda line  all stations and limited express services to Mernda
•  Hurstbridge line  all stations and limited express services to Hurstbridge

Platform 2 - Caulfield Group

•  Pakenham line  express services to Pakenham via Flinders Street
•  Cranbourne line  express services to Cranbourne via Flinders Street

Platform 3 - Northern Group

•  Craigieburn line  all stations services to Craigieburn
•  Upfield line  all stations services to Upfield
•  Sunbury line  limited express services to Sunbury

Platform 4 - Burnley Group

•  Lilydale line  all stations and limited express services to Lilydale
•  Belgrave line  all stations and limited express services to Belgrave
•  Glen Waverley line  all stations and limited express services to Glen Waverley
•  Alamein line  weekday shoulder peak all stations and limited express services to Alamein

Future services

From 2025 onwards the Cranbourne, Pakenham and Sunbury lines would be removed from the City Loop and will instead be rerouted through the Metro Tunnel. As a result services on the Frankston line will serve the loop instead.

•  Frankston line  all stations and limited express services to Frankston

Transport links

Parliament station is served by seven tram routes departing from three different tram stops. Route 35 serves the tram stop on Spring Street, route 86 and 96 serve the tram stop on Bourke Street and routes 11,12, 48 and 109 serve the tram stop on Macarthur Street.

Spring Street

• : City Circle

Bourke Street

• : Waterfront City (Docklands) – Bundoora RMIT
• : St Kilda Beach - East Brunswick

Macarthur Street:

• : Victoria Harbour (Docklands) – West Preston
• : St Kilda - Victoria Gardens
• : Victoria Harbour (Docklands) – North Balwyn
• : Port Melbourne - Box Hill

External links

Media related to Parliament railway station, Melbourne at Wikimedia Commons

• Melway map at street-directory.com.au