The pedestrian subway that once ran beneath Spencer Street Station only closed in 2005, yet in that time it has become shrouded in layers of mystery. So let’s sort fact from fiction, and see what’s left of it beneath today’s Southern Cross Station.
Finding the entrances
The first remnant of the Spencer Street Station subway is on Little Collins Street, outside the Savoy Hotel. Now boarded up, it once contained a stairwell down into the subway.
A roller door on the Spencer Street side of the Savoy Hotel was another entry point, secured by a roller door.
It remained in this state until May 2019, when the stairwell inside was covered over.
And the space converted into a shop.
Meanwhile on the other side of the street, the basement of the old Spencer Street Station building still exists, converted into staff offices.
But the connection under Spencer Street was bricked up.
And a second life
The subway might no longer continued under Spencer Street, but beneath the station it has been retained as a ‘back of house’ area.
The path it takes beneath the platforms still visible.
But the ramps from platform level have been fitted with doors to keep prying eyes out.
Storage cages filling the subterranean space, along with water, power, data, gas and fire systems.
And the western end turned over to a reclaimed water treatment facility.
And new users
Passengers might be gone from the old subway, but rail staff still use it everyday.
Luggage hall staff use the subway to deliver parcels and baggage to trains.
As do V/Line catering staff delivering food to buffet carriages.
V/Line fitters on their way to fix trains.
And Travellers Aid volunteers in their electric buggies.
Helping passengers unable to walk long distances around the station.
But the most famous users passed through on 27 August 2009.
Victorian Premier John Brumby, Public Transport Minister Lynne Kosky and Federal Infrastructure and Transport Minister Anthony Albanese.
Who used the subway to reach the future site of platform 15 and 16, where they turned the first sod for the Regional Rail Link project.
What about reopening it?
With Southern Cross Station at capacity in peak times and pedestrians spilling out onto Spencer Street, many people have called for the pedestrian subway to be reopened, including the City of Melbourne.
Pedestrian subway may re-open
CBD News
April 1, 2016The City of Melbourne has pledged $750,000 to investigate the re-opening of a subway between Little Collins St and Southern Cross Station.
According to a council spokesperson, the tunnel formed part of the passenger subway through the former Spencer Street Station, before it was redeveloped as Southern Cross Station.
“Council has agreed to allocate funding in the current capital works budgets to investigate the feasibility of re-establishing a connection to an existing tunnel which runs under Spencer St and which could connect the station frontage to Little Collins St,” the spokesperson said.
According to the council spokesperson, the disused subway now supports a number of service and utility ducts for the station.
But these proposals came to nothing.
A council spokesperson said an investigation found that “significant” underground services had been installed in the tunnel along the west side of Spencer Street.
“These large pipes prevent access through the tunnel,” the spokesperson said.
With the only upgrades completed since being an extension of footpaths along Spencer Street.
Bonus content – a second subway to the north
At the northern end of country platforms 1 through 8 is another set of ramps, secured with automatic gates.
And ‘DANGER KEEP OUT’ signs at bottom.
This subway was once used for the transport of baggage to country trains, and is large enough for light trucks to pass through, such as the V/Line toilet pumping truck.
And also has road access to the wider world via the coach terminal.
Footnote – more photos
Over on Reddit someone posted some photos showing the current state of the station subway.
One of the eastern exits was an escalator – I think it was the one that was in the Savoy hotel. I’m also quite sure there was a southerly exit into or near the MMBW building.
The ‘country’ part of the subway had a number of retail outlets on the southern side – these can be seen on the modern plan – and a refreshment outlet on the northern side. The only retail outlet that I can remember in detail was a very tiny Commonwealth Bank branch. This was surprisingly busy in the days before EFTPOS, but closed in the early ’90s when the Commonwealth rationalised its city branches.
Spot on – the Savoy Hotel exit had stairs and a decommissioned escalator.
As did the southern exit that emerged in the ground level of MMBW House.
I’ve got some more detail around the shops in the station subway itself, but that’s for a blog post coming up next week. 🙂
The northern subway also had access across Spencer St into the basement of the Mail Exchange (which was the GPO at the time this tunnel was built). I believe at the western end of the northern subway there was a pistol range.
Thanks for that extra info on the subway – I omitted mentioning the Mail Exchange connection and pistol range because I didn’t have anything definitive on them.
[…] week I went sniffing around Southern Cross Station, on the hunt for the remains of the pedestrian subway that until 2005 was the main access route through the station This week we go digging deeper into […]
Yes they should reopen the underground subway at Southern Cross Station to Wurundjeri Way and Little Collins Street and to Bourke Street and they should do redevelopment and upgrade the subway at Southern Cross Station
I used to think the same thing before Covid, but with peak hour crowding gone for the time being, the pressing need for it has also gone.
[…] July 2021 piece on the remains of the Spencer Street Station subway also got a run, alongside my follow up piece Building the Spencer Street Station subway – a […]
I have an old door which I was told when I brought it, that it was the old counting room door where they use to pay the workers. looks like an timber door on the outside but on the inside is covered in steel with a multi point rivers lock. looking for some info or pics to verify.
Unfortunately I don’t have any photos, but I wonder if it was from Spencer Street Station, or from the Victorian Railways head office down the street.
There was also a pistol range under the old Spencer Street platforms, where some station staff were trained in pistol use back in the 70’s and even later, and railway investigation officers did annual re assessments there also. Victoria Police also used it at times, if they could not gain a spot at their own range.
There were also 2 jail type cells for ticket examiners and investigation officers to use for railway offenders, but they ended up as storerooms due to their location being too far from the offices of RIO’s, and also had no air conditioning.