School students get a sneak peek of Parkville Station

Grade 6 students from primary schools in Sunbury and Cranbourne got a sneak peek at Parkville Station ahead of the Metro Tunnel opening later this year.

Students from Killara Primary in Sunbury and Rangebank Primary in Cranbourne were shown into the concourse and down to the 220metre-long station platforms, 25 metres underground, where they learned about the station and the project.

The young future passengers were amazed by the size of the station and the length of the platforms, and enjoyed peering through the platform screen doors to see the tunnel and tracks.

They also had a great time trying guess which animal made the tracks as they moved through the station looking at Maree Clarke’s artwork Tracks on the platform floor.

The students were full of questions, with many already planning ahead to catch the train to go to Melbourne University.

“I love it. I love all the art and it’s just so big. It’s amazing!” said one.

“I think it’s fantastic and I love the atmosphere. I love how it’s all organised and how it’s set up,” said another.

Parkville Station features Victorian-first platform screen doors that will mean better safety and less noise, some of the widest metro platforms in the world, spaces for shops and cafes and a pedestrian underpass below busy Royal Parade.

It will allow Victorians and visitors to catch a train to the city’s world-renowned major hospitals for the first time, and mean train access for students and staff to the University of Melbourne for the first time in its 170-year history.

The Metro Tunnel will link the Cranbourne and Pakenham lines via a new tunnel and five new stations at Anzac (on St Kilda Road), Town Hall and State Library (under Swanston Street in the CBD), Parkville and Arden (North Melbourne).

Town Hall Station and State Library Station will have direct connections with Flinders Street and Melbourne Central stations so people can change to City Loop services without touching off and on again.

The Metro Tunnel will open later in 2025. •