New North Melbourne Metro Tunnel station renamed due to emergency fears
It’s the train station that caused confusion when it was initially announced. And now, the station has been renamed before it has even been built — this is the reason why.
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A new station in the $11 billion Metro Tunnel has been renamed before it is even built amid fears ambulances would get lost during an emergency.
The confusing name change is also because it would cost thousands of dollars to relabel wires and signal boxes around the network.
In 2017, the Andrews Government left commuters scratching their heads by revealing the current North Melbourne interchange would be renamed West Melbourne when the mega project was finished.
The new Metro Tunnel station, near Arden St, would be known as North Melbourne instead.
But the Sunday Herald Sun can reveal the Andrews Government has scrapped this plan because of financial and safety concerns.
Authorities were told moving around the name of the century-old station would be difficult for ambulance signalling and create too much confusion for triple-0 callers.
It was also discovered thousands of wires and signal boxes would have to relabelled to ensure trains were still safely directed around the network.
From today, the new Metro Tunnel station will be known as Arden instead.
Transport Infrastructure Jacinta Allan said the decision had been made after lengthy investigations and discussions with authorities.
“This is the right decision for the Metro Tunnel and the right decision for passengers,” she said.
Arden was the most popular choice in the government’s 2017 competition to name each station but was not picked at the time because the North Melbourne label better reflected its location.
It attracted more than 50,000 suggestions, with hundreds of other votes to name the area Kangaroo or Shinboner in honour of the nearby AFL team.
Rail Projects Victoria chief executive Evan Tattersall said the most responsible choice was to keep North Melbourne’s name the way it is.
“Further detailed investigations were always needed to fully understand the unique complexity of transferring an existing station name to a new station,” he said.
The new station, currently the site from which two massive tunnel boring machines have been launched, will have a bold archway design and be at the centre of a new urban renewal zone.
Both machines have dug hundreds of metres towards the tunnel’s entrance northern since they were briefly turned off in December over a dispute about cost blowouts.