Station features
State Library Station’s grand main entrance features 12m-high columns topped with massive beams, reflecting the classical architecture of the nearby State Library Victoria.
The station’s platforms are more than 35m below street level and 19m wide – among the widest underground metro platforms in the world.
A spectacular 10m-high arched ceiling above the platforms features chandelier lights designed and made in Melbourne.
Precinct features
Swanston and La Trobe street trams run outside State Library Station’s main entrance for an easy interchange between trams and trains.
The streets around State Library Station will have wider footpaths and pedestrian crossings and lower speed limits to make walking safer and easier.
Around the station you will also find protected bike lanes on Franklin Street to make cycling safer and easier and more than 170 bike parking spaces, 64 of them new.
Franklin Street
Franklin Street will become a pedestrian promenade between Victoria and Stewart streets, with wider footpaths, dedicated on-street bicycle lanes and reduced traffic speeds. Boulevard-style tree plantings along Franklin Street will create a landscaped corridor.
The footpath on the southern side of the street will be widened to become a linear park with areas for socialising, outdoor dining, shade, gardens and public art.
A’Beckett Street
A’Beckett Street (between Stewart and Swanston streets) will be reinstated as a single lane, one-way street for vehicles turning left from Swanston Street, with priority access given to pedestrians. This will allow for the creation of a new public space with recreational facilities and seating.
Connecting streets and laneways
Existing laneways at Literature Lane and Stewart Street will be revitalised and extended to provide connections into the new station, opening up new walking routes and evenly distributing pedestrians around the precinct.
Over station development
A development is planned at State Library Station, above the station’s main entrance at the corner of La Trobe and Swanston streets. This building is developed by Scape. Learn more about over station development.
Accessibility
The station’s entrances are close to tram stops on Swanston and La Trobe streets. The stops have raised platforms, providing wheelchair users with easy access to low floor trams, as well as shelter and service information.
The station also includes escalators and lifts, Tactile Ground Surface Indicators, braille and tactile signs, and more accessibility features.
Find out about the accessibility features at all the new stations.