The creative program of Metro tunnel project of Melbourne

Stefania Fabozzi, Young Member of Società Italiana Gallerie

The big Metro Tunnel Project is involving Melbourne City and will create a new end-to-end rail line from Sunbury in the west to Cranbourne/Pakenham in the south-east, with high capacity trains with twin nine-kilometres rail tunnels and five new underground stations (Parkville, Library, Town Hall, North Melbourne and Anzac station) which designs combine functionality, space and natural light with the latest in public transport infrastructure design. Once completed, the new rail system will create capacity on the network to enable more than a half a million additional passengers per week across Melbourne’s train network to use the rail system during the peak periods.

Metro Tunnel Project of Melbourne: five new underground stations (metrotunnel.vic.gov.au/about-the-project/stations) Furthermore, Metro Tunnel Project is committed to a creative program that is a uniquely Melbourne way of approaching a large construction project, harnessing the innovation,

imagination and expertise of the creative sector to help manage construction impacts. Over the period of construction of the stations and tunnels, it will be possible to notice art on hoardings, pop-up parks and planter boxes and discover unexpected delights in hidden corners of the city, offering numerous opportunities for artists, creative practitioners and businesses. The Creative Program is designed to keep the city vibrant during construction, leaving a lasting legacy for major infrastructure projects worldwide. It will enhance the PARKVILLE STATIONNORTH MELBOURNE LIBRARY STATION TOWN HALL STATION ANZAC STATION reputation of Melbourne as a destination for culture, education, major events, not only after the Metro Tunnel opens but also while it is constructed.

The focus of the program is to encourage community interaction with construction sites and support local business - at the coalface between site boundaries and where city life begins. The creative program at Town Hall station (RAILway), for example, has been developed by renowned Melbourne artist Peter Atkins, selected for display on the construction hoardings at City Square on Swanston Street.

RAILway is a project that explores the collective cultural, social and personal narratives in relationship to the graphic, abstracted designs of suburban train tickets issued between 1920 and the late 1980s that departed from or arrived into Melbourne.

«When people first encounter these works along Swanston Street – explained Peter Atkins – I expect they will be provoked into a very personal response by recalling train tickets associated from their own childhood. Perhaps triggering a sense of nostalgia through their own individual memories relating to personal or collective experiences, remembering journeys undertaken with family and friends between particular destinations...».

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