Our Heritage

1850s: The beginning 

The station now known as Southern Cross Station first opened in 1859 as Spencer Street Station, five years after the other major Melbourne rail terminus at Flinders Street.

Running parallel to Spencer Street, the station was a dead-end terminus, with a single main platform and a dock platform at the north end. 

An extra platform was added in 1874.

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1960s: Modernisation

Work began on a new Spencer Street station in 1960, as part of the construction of an interstate standard gauge line to Sydney, New South Wales.

The 1880s iron sheds were largely replaced by a new station building and a new 413-metre platform number 1 was built.

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2000s: Redevelopment

Southern Cross was redeveloped by the Civic Nexus consortium, part of Infranexus, adopting an innovative design by Grimshaw Architects and Jackson Architecture.

Central to the design is the striking a wave-shaped roof. The redevelopment included a new entrance and concourse on Collins Street, a food court and separate retail outlets inside the station, as well as a coach interchange. A separate shopping complex between Bourke and La Trobe streets also formed part of the redevelopment.

Construction began in October 2002 and was completed in late 2006, with the majority of the transport facilities finished in time for the 2006 Commonwealth Games.