Federation Square opens Town Hall entrance on 29 October
Published on 10/31/2026 at 08:40 | Editorial responsibility: Rafael MĂĽller, Editor-in-Chief AD HOC NEWSNew access and architectural setting
- Victorian Government opened the Town Hall Station entrance on 29 October 2026.
- Maree Clarke’s 45-metre Barerarerungar installation marks the entrance with 30 glass panels.
- LAB Architecture Studio and Bates Smart designed the square, which opened in 2002.
- Town Hall Station links Federation Square with ACMI and the Melbourne Arts Precinct.
Federation Square reopened a new access point to Melbourne’s Town Hall Station on 29 October 2026, extending the transport links beneath the city square. The entrance serves the cultural precinct around Federation Square, including ACMI and the Melbourne Arts Precinct.
Town Hall Station entrance opens at Federation Square
The Victorian Government announced on 28 October that the Town Hall Station entrance at Federation Square would open to passengers the following day. The announcement made 29 October 2026 the decisive date for the new access point, which is the final entrance to open at the Metro Tunnel station.
The entrance connects passengers with Federation Square, ACMI, the Melbourne Arts Precinct, Rod Laver Arena and the Melbourne Cricket Ground. The government says the station had recorded 7.7 million journeys since opening, while the wider Metro Tunnel had passed 25 million journeys across its five stations. The new entrance is now open according to Victoria’s Big Build.
The entrance forms part of Town Hall Station rather than a separate railway station. Its light-filled canopy sits within the square’s contemporary setting, giving rail passengers a direct arrival point beside the cultural venues and public spaces.
How the new station access fits the square
Federation Square opened on 26 October 2002 after construction began in 1998. The operator describes the site as a 38,000-square-metre city block built above one of Melbourne’s busiest railway corridors. Its buildings and public spaces are arranged as interlocking and cascading forms, with steel, masonry, glass, sandstone and zinc shaping the precinct.
The new entrance adds transport infrastructure to a place already built over rail lines. That relationship is the practical link between the reopening and the square’s history: visitors now reach a Metro Tunnel station through a civic precinct whose deck was designed to carry galleries, cinemas and broadcast studios above active tracks. Federation Square’s history and design are documented by the precinct operator.
The entrance also carries a substantial public artwork. Maree Clarke’s Barerarerungar measures 45 metres and includes 30 large glass panels. The work celebrates the five Kulin Nations and acknowledges the Tanderrum ceremonies once held on the site, continuing Clarke’s Tracks installations at the five Metro Tunnel stations.
Visiting Federation Square: what travellers from Western Europe should know
- The new Town Hall Station entrance opened at Federation Square on 29 October 2026, beside the cultural precinct in central Melbourne.
- The access point is open to passengers and links the square with ACMI, the Melbourne Arts Precinct, Rod Laver Arena and the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
- Federation Square is at the junction of Swanston Street and Flinders Street, opposite Flinders Street Station. Town Hall Station now provides another rail access point, while the square is also within Melbourne’s Free Tram Zone.
- The precinct is built above active railway lines and contains interlocking public spaces, steps and changing levels. The square covers 38,000 square metres, so visitors should expect an urban architectural environment rather than a single enclosed building.
- Entry requirements depend on your nationality; UK travellers can check the FCDO travel advice at gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice, Irish travellers the Department of Foreign Affairs at ireland.ie.
Searching for Federation Square on social platforms
These links open searches for Federation Square on each platform.
Frequently asked questions about Federation Square
What changed at Federation Square?
The Town Hall Station entrance opened on 29 October 2026, creating a new passenger access point beside the square.
Where is Federation Square and how do you get there?
It stands at Swanston Street and Flinders Street in central Melbourne, opposite Flinders Street Station and within the Free Tram Zone.
What is Federation Square?
It is a cultural and public precinct that opened in 2002 and was built above active railway lines.
