Visitors flock back to the Metro Tunnel’s award-winning interactive information center on Swanston St, while the urban project continues to reach new milestones.
Nearly 1,500 visitors came through Metro HQ over the Labor Day weekend and got a glimpse of the future of rail travel in Victoria.
The center is once again proving to be a major attraction for both visitors and residents of Melbourne, following its reopening in November.
“There were some big numbers – about 500 every day during the long weekend, which is very encouraging and reassuring,” said Metro Tunnel HQ senior center coordinator Hedley Imbert.
“Like all CBD venues, we are gradually rebuilding as the number of pedestrians begins to increase.”
Metro Tunnel HQ provides insight into some of the state’s largest public transportation projects ever, including a 3D city model, panoramic theater, children’s activities and gifts.
One of the highlights of the center is the unique sneak peek at the new Town Hall Station, rendered exclusively in Minecraft, which provides an exclusive preview of all seven entrances and the new underground walkway to Flinders Street Station.
The features are all part of a recent upgrade of the center.
“We’ve improved the digital offering – there are interactive touch screens, multimedia and virtual reality glasses,” said Imbert.
“These interactive experiences have been introduced to the public in order to communicate information about the projects in various forms – just to make it a more immersive, interactive and fun experience.”
The metro tunnel project has entered a new construction phase, with two nine-kilometer-long tunnels now completed, major progress at five new underground stations and preparations underway for crews to lay tracks through the completed tunnels later in the year.
The project will create capacity for more than 500,000 extra passengers per week during peak periods across the city’s train network when it opens in 2025.
Metro Tunnel HQ will remain open over Easter when Mr Imbert expects “bumper crowds”, but will be closed on Good Friday •