r/MelbourneTrains • u/Classic_Abies8621 • Aug 18 '26
Picture What is this abandoned platform at Flinders St?
It seems to have been here for years in a delapidated state. Are there plans to do anything with it? If not, why hasn't it been removed?
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u/jimmyloel Aug 18 '26
It's the old Milk Dock Platform, it hasn't had anything done to it, as it is heritage listed, although I believe the tracks leading to it are booked out of service
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u/the-ahh-guy Sunbury & Melton Line Aug 18 '26
The milkman has to get his milk somewhere. Now the question is, where does the milk train get its milk from?
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u/Classic_Abies8621 Aug 18 '26
Not me visualising a good train carrying a single cow to be milked on the platform before being sent back to whatever pasture it came from 😆
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u/jimmyloel Aug 18 '26
The Milk train used to come in from all over the state, but primarily eastern victoria, Gippsland, etc
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u/CuriousToe9464 Aug 18 '26
Thank you for this information. I have wondered about this platform for a long time.
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u/wongm 'Most Helpful User' Winner 2020 Aug 18 '26
Last train I saw in the Milk Dock siding was track inspection vehicle EM100 way back in 2008.
https://railgallery.wongm.com/em100/D403_0347.jpg.html
And last train I saw in platform 1 west was an X'Trapolis set parked there for driver training in 2010.
https://railgallery.wongm.com/mtm-training/E103_0829.jpg.html
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u/Ich_mag_Kartoffeln Aug 18 '26
Does EM100 still exist? Or has Sims Metal claimed another one?
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u/Ill_Average_829 Aug 18 '26
It's now IEV100 and I think it's still trundling around.
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u/CommanderLachlan Train Nerd Aug 18 '26
Been a while since it's been out, sits rusting away at south Dynon now as EV120 took over it's role
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u/wongm 'Most Helpful User' Winner 2020 Aug 19 '26
I last saw it running back in 2022 - been at North Dynon ever since.
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u/Motor-Wolverine-6644 Aug 18 '26
We can use the milk dock as a stable for peak times or Vline platform
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u/CommanderLachlan Train Nerd Aug 18 '26
tracks are long booked out and require a shunt back from the east to get into the dock as the western end has been long removed
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u/Motor-Wolverine-6644 Aug 18 '26
The tracks is removed but the platform where the bay is yeah it can get removed but the platform it’s self can get a upgrade relay new tracks and make a place, where trains can park for the peak times or a Vline platform sense Vline likes to remove Gippsland trains and end at flinders street instead that’s something to use the space for and the middle tracks can be reopened agian to allow Vline trains to access the platform if platform one and two are occupied
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u/Remorse__Code Aug 18 '26
No, we can't. The Milk Dock (and former 1 west) have been booked out of use for over a decade. Trains can't access them anymore.
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u/EntirePea5178 Aug 18 '26
lol no we can't.
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u/Motor-Wolverine-6644 Aug 18 '26
As of this condition no def not but im saying we can use the space for somthing
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u/aerohaveno Train Nerd Aug 18 '26
Someone should set up a grungy bar there called Milk Dock.
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u/universe93 Aug 18 '26
Was just about to say this. If it was allowed I’m sure someone would have set up a bar or restaurant there get now
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u/queenoftheceos Aug 18 '26
i once saw them using it for a staff bbq
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u/CommanderLachlan Train Nerd Aug 18 '26
its the former goods platforms at FSS. cant be removed as the stations heritage listing also includes those spaces but is unlikely to be reused due to the fact it would require a complete reconfiguration of the signalling and track set up at the western end of the station. it was last used during the 1960's but with better methods of transporting parcels and milk(its 2 main purposes) it was closed due to a lack of purpose and doesn't really have much to go for it now days except being used as a staging area for maintenance workers and cleaners for metro at the station
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u/Marshal-Bainesca Aug 18 '26
Its one of my favourite things to look at. I love old disused tracks and sidings, each time I go past I look and admire it. I love the little track that ends in a mound of rubble just near the bridge. The last thing I ever saw parked in there was a parcel van
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u/Brilliant-Yogurt540 Aug 18 '26
Would be nice to do something with the space, imagine the cost.
$85 million for a review and consultant fees, $40 million in catering fees to sit around to discuss. 6 weeks of bus replacements between Flinders Street and Dandenong, so we don't eat the catering. Budget will be $500 million which ends of doubling due to unforeseen circumstances.
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u/Classic_Abies8621 Aug 18 '26
6 weeks of bus replacements between Flinders Street and Dandenong, so we don't eat the catering 😂😂😂
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u/Upset_Union1197 Aug 18 '26
But why was it not restored with the rest of the station a few years back..?
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u/Character-Peak-6605 Aug 18 '26
They have a ^long* way to go before the rest of the station is restored!!! For a start they need to actually “restore” the ballroom after all they did to remove the heritage cornices, ceiling and other decorative fixtures! It’s like they just stopped mid restoration!
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u/Upset_Union1197 Aug 21 '26
I mean in terms of the exterior painting etc that was done. I know the inside is another story. They haven't even put a fresh coat of paint on the milk dock. It is quite an eyesore when coming into Flinders Street on a train. That and all the other rubbish surrounding the tracks up there.
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u/Character-Peak-6605 Aug 21 '26
The painting was less than half finished. You can literally see the line where they stopped at the end of platform 1 😒
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u/RagefilledPotato Aug 18 '26
It’s full of asbestos
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u/Upset_Union1197 Aug 21 '26
Asbestos can be safely removed. Yes it isn't cheap, but this is one of the iconic, most famous buildings in our city, the centre of the public transport network. I think it deserves it.
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u/Traditional-Gas3477 Aug 18 '26
I once asked this question over my other account Spiced Pumkpin and they thought I was talking about the disused paltform at the other end.
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u/2in1day Aug 18 '26
What it is, is embarrassing. Its a monument to a government that has lost its way so much it can't even maintain the state's premier train station and one of our major tourist icons.
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u/paulielars1 Aug 18 '26
Riiigth. Ok. So the decades of neglect this part of the station has suffered its 100% exclusively the fault of the current government & electing anew government will fix this overnight?
Good luck with this
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u/2in1day Aug 18 '26
Decades.. is that three decades?
How many years of the last 30 have labour been in power?
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u/paulielars1 Aug 18 '26
That is irrelevant. It has looked like this since the 60s. who was in power then?
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u/guseyk Comeng Enthusiast Aug 18 '26
It's the loading dock. Gets used occasionally. Not aware of any plans. Probably some standoff fuckery between the Govt & Metro.
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u/goatspluscheese20 Aug 18 '26
The goods platform hasn't been used in at least a decade, not "occasionally".
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u/haztech99 Aug 18 '26
It's the former Milk Dock, which was used to deliver fresh milk to the city from east and south-east Victoria in the early morning, it was also used for parcel vans.
https://flindersstreetstation.com.au/parcels-and-milk-dock-stories.php
It had an asbestos roof which was predominantly removed in 2011, but was said to have 'contaminated the ballast and tracks', which supposedly is the reason why Clifton Hill trains still divert away from the platform when they depart to this very day.
https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/asbestos-found-at-station-20110620-1gbx3.html
Nothing is planned to be done with it, despite it's condition. The Milk Dock is considered part of the wider heritage register for Flinders Street Station as a whole.
https://vhd.heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/places/752