Grattan St to reopen after six years of construction for Parkville Metro station

In a major milestone for the Metro rail project, Melbourne’s Grattan St will finally reopen to traffic.

A key inner city road will reopen after six years of work to build the Parkville Metro Tunnel station in a major milestone for the cross-city rail project.

Motorists and cyclists will from Sunday again be able to access Grattan St between Royal Pde and Leicester St for the first time since 2018.

The entrances for the underground station have been built in front of the University of Melbourne’s Medical Building, opposite the Doherty Institute.

And from mid July, services for bus routes 401, 402, 403, 505 and 546 will resume on Grattan St.

The new look Grattan St. Picture: David Crosling

Picture: David Crosling

The Parkville station, which is 30m underground, will be a vital transport hub for the university, the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and the Royal Melbourne and Women’s hospitals.

The new streetscape will feature wider footpaths, separated bike lanes, bike hoops and more than 100 trees.

Transport Infrastructure Minister Danny Pearson said Melburnians would have better access around Parkville.

“And they will soon have the option to travel by train for the first time when the Metro Tunnel opens a year ahead of schedule in 2025,” Mr Pearson said.

“The Metro Tunnel is not just about transforming our rail network, it’s also creating great public spaces and making streets safer for cyclists and pedestrians.”

The $14bn Metro project will create five new stations, with construction teams at the Town Hall and State Library stations under pressure to have the sites ready for passengers next year – the scheduled opening of the entire project.

Parkville station is 30m underground. Picture: David Crosling

The road has been closed for six years. Picture: David Crosling

Test trains have already been running on the tracks under the city.

But concerns about electromagnetic fields interfering with sensitive medical equipment in the medical precinct slowed the testing of some trains last year.

Parkville is the second station to be completed.

The Metro Tunnel will connect the Sunbury, Cranbourne and Pakenham lines,

creating a link from the northwest to the southeast.

The state government announced in the May budget that Royal Melbourne and Royal Women’s Hospital campuses planned for Arden had been scrapped amid concerns of electromagnetic interference from the Metro Tunnel.