Celebrating four 125th birthdays
With almost 1000 kilometres of track, we have a lot of history to celebrate here at Metro. This October we are celebrating the 125th birthdays of four of our stations on the Mernda and Hurstbridge lines.
Jolimont, West Richmond, North Richmond and Collingwood Stations all opened on 21 October 1901, connecting the Heidelberg (now Hurstbridge) line directly to Flinders Street.
Before then, trains took a very different route into the city. From Victoria Park, then known as Collingwood, they travelled along the former Inner Circle line through North Carlton and North Fitzroy. The line connected with the Upfield line at Royal Park before continuing towards the city.
It wasn’t a simple journey for trains making their way through this area and out through Clifton Hill. Locomotives would have to change ends, and the trains then returned to Clifton Hill station, where they diverged east on to the line to Heidelberg.
The opening of these four stations provided a much more direct connection. Here’s a little more about their history.