While Flinders Street Station became one of the busiest railway hubs in the world on the eastern corner was Princes Bridge Station, the forgotten twin

Before Federation Square, the east side of Swanston Street was home to Princes Bridge Station, which dwindled until it was eaten by its grander sibling.

The old Princes Bridge Station, once a central part of the Russell St precinct, was eventually eaten by its grander sibling.

It might be joked that the only way to improve the sight of Federation Square was to whack a giant grey shoebox on the corner of Flinders and Swanston Streets.

Construction of the lofty shed, part of the Metro Rail Tunnel works, marked the impending arrival of new underground railway stations in the heart of Melbourne.

Fresh dots on the map, including ‘State Library’, ‘Town Hall’ and ‘Anzac’ near the Shrine of Remembrance, will permanently change the way the city moves.

But they’re not the first railway hubs in the city centre to rival the Flinders St terminus.

Early Melbourne had a railway station just across the road at Princes Bridge, right on the site of the big grey box.

While Flinders St became an iconic Melbourne thoroughfare, the old Princes Bridge Station, once a central part of the Russell St precinct, dwindled until it was eaten by its grander sibling.

The island platform at Princes Bridge Station in the mid 20th Century. Picture: Public Records Office Victoria

The forgotten ‘twin’

In January 1901 the whole city was decked out in red, white and blue.

Federation celebrations touched every corner of the Hoddle Grid and no expense was spared for countless new Australian flags and miles of streamers.

Standing each side of the northern end of Princes Bridge were two ornate decorative towers, built over the entrances of twin railways stations.

On the western corner was Flinders St Station.

Princes Bridge Station, pictured in 1918, stood in the shadow of its sibling Flinders St. Picture: State Library of Victoria

Years before its grand dome and iconic clocks were dreamed up by architects Fawcett and Ashworth, its modest facade showed the strain of a growing city.

Within decades it would become one of the busiest railway hubs in the world.

On the eastern corner was Princes Bridge Station, the forgotten twin.

Although its Federation tower stood just as high, this station’s modest island platforms and underdeveloped facade handled just a few railway services to Melbourne’s east.

It was destined to fade over the course of a century until it was demolished altogether, its remaining usable platforms simply added to its swollen neighbour.

Federation decorations on Princes Bridge Station and Flinders St Station in 1901. Picture: State Library of Victoria

Princes Bridge Station was once a bustling rail hub. Picture: Public Records Office Victoria

Gateway to the east

Princes Bridge Station opened in 1859, when Melbourne was just 24 years old, and five years after the original Flinders St Station was constructed.

Steam-powered services ran from Princes Bridge to Richmond, Prahran and Windsor on what is now called the Sandringham Line, separate from lines connected to Flinders St.

During the 1880s the station’s close neighbour was the Melbourne morgue, which was eventually purchased and demolished by rail authorities around 1890.

That was after a rail company merger saw the station mothballed for a decade and a half between 1865 and 1879, but reopened to service the Gippsland Railway.

An entrance to Princes Bridge Station once stood at the bottom of Russell St. Pictures: Public Records Office Victoria, Google

By 1910, although the Flinders St and Princes Bridge stations continued using separate names, they were effectively joined.

Princes Bridge’s main platform became an extension of Flinders St’s Platform 1, known for a while as Platform 1 East.

Its other stops, either side of the island platform, were labelled 15 and 16.

But the station retained its own separate and distinct character.

Am early 20th Century photograph, taken from the top of Flinders St Station, shows Princes Bridge Station on the opposite corner. Picture: State Library of Victoria

In the mid 20th Century, the interior of Princes Bridge had all the bustling grandeur of the oldest parts of Flinders St Station.

Decorative arched iron clung to the pitched platform coverings, advertisements for Allen’s lollies and the Herald newspaper were plastered here and there, station clerks and attendants hurried to a fro, and at the Swanston St end the bewitching smell of fresh bread from McAlpin’s bakery tempted the scurrying commuters.

A large entrance at the bottom of Russell St was crowned with a light-up sign for Bafra cigarette papers, and led passengers across a short walkway to stairs descending to the island platform.

Just as it is in Flinders St today, a chemist inside Princes Bridge Station did a roaring trade with the after-work crowd, while shops selling flowers, snacks and basics also thrived.

But the eventual decommissioning of Princes Bridge seemed written in the stars.

In the 1960s the main station buildings were knocked down to make way for the Gas and Fuel towers, which stood on Flinders St until they themselves were demolished in the 1990s to make way for Federation Square.

The station itself technically operated until the 90s when it was formally and finally merged with Flinders St.

Some of its platforms still remain, and its sleeping foundations are now unsettled by the grind of progress, as a new train line is laid deep in the soil.