Flinders Street Station is the hub of Melbourne's suburban public transport system and the major meeting point for residents of every corner of Greater Melbourne. As a result, you will find people of every kind, from the deathly poor junkie who hangs around asking for change to the fat Toorak businessman who is forced to catch the train after one too many drink-driving incidents. Goths, punks, homies, stoners, Christians, cops, nuns, schoolchildren, old people, tourists - they're all there.

Marcin, in his node Flinders Street, describes the station as:

"...basically the heart of the Melbourne's railway system. It connects all the lines from around Melbourne... Flinders Street is often pictured on postcards and is characterized by being a light yellow with several clocks."

How boring a city can Melbourne be, you may ask, that its railway station should be considered such a landmark that we "often picture" it on postcards?! Or, alternatively, How incredible can this railway station be?

Well, it's kind of pretty, but nothing amazing with regard to looks. And no, Melbourne is not a city with wonderful Paris/NY style monuments - but we have lots of nice parks and stuff and some cool buildings, so usually it's the trams, railway stations, phallic symbols and gardens which end up on the postcards. I read somewhere (I think it was in the Lonely Planet) that "Melbourne is not a city for great monuments but one where the primary interest for the visitor is the people". Agreed. The people are mostly fucking wankers though (I can say this, I was born here. Actually, anyone can say this, because it is true. And even if it wasn't, you could say it anyway... yeah).

The thing is, Flinders Street is quite a significant part of Melbourne culture. To Melburnians, it's more than just a train station, it's kind of our town square, since the former official City Square wasn't very big nor coveniently located and now has a hotel on it, and Federation Square is yet to be built. When you say that you'll be meeting someone "under the clocks" or "on the steps", everyone knows what you are on about.

If the weather is nice there will be a great many people gathered in the small atrium and on the steps all day long. If the weather sucks, there'll just be fewer people. Some are there to meet friends and depart, others stay for hours. Some have nowhere better to go, most should be at school. On weekends there are people gathered until well after midnight, when the trains end. Usually on weekday afternoons Brian the busker plays his bagpipes - Connex tried to ban him, the bastards, but he's back - though not at peak time.

People share cigarettes, scab cigarettes, pool money for a deck of cigarettes. Bottles in brown paper bags are passed around. Occasionally someone scores some weed, and if the station is crowded a small group will get up and depart for the river or a park. Melbourne Grammar Schoolboys sneak joints under the escalators on Platform one.

Recent times have not been so good for ye olde station. It certainly was in need of some severe renovation, and to the delight of most Melburnians the government committed the large-sounding sum of $A28m to this end. Obviously this was not enough money to do anything decent, since the place defnitely looks worse now.

Positive changes:

• Addition of lifts for disabled people, and escalators
• Removal of Hungry Jacks (Burger King)

Negative Changes:

• Replacement of traditional dark red tile with eye-hurting cheap-looking off-white/some black tiles
• Addition of cop shop; increase in undercover police
• Some REALLY cheap looking windows and panelling put up. Good in theory.
• Replacement of traditional food stall (potato cakes etc) with coffee stall and many ad displays, people handing out bullshit etc.

That's about it, really. $A28 million.

In a recent blitz, undercover police arrested 104 men during the course of a few weeks for soliciting sex in the Flinders Street toilets. I don't know how anyone could stand to have sex in those toilets, let alone work there for hours on end tryig to catch people at it. They are truly foul. The mirrors are not glass, since they would get smashed; hence, they do not function properly as mirrors.

Undercover cops seem to be everywhere in Melbourne now but they're particularly prevalent at Flinders Street. I have personally seen two men whom I would have swore to be junkies or alcohlic bogans come up to some guy, whip out ID and frisk him. A friend tells me of an incident recently where a friend of his (dressed as a punk) accidentally bumped into a very dodgy looking guy, turned around to apologise and was confronted with ID and a request to emoty his pockets. Wak-sheesh.

Following the renovations and the increase in Big Brother's activities Flinders Street died down a bit and for a time it seemed as if Melburnians would have to find another meeting place. However, in the last few weeks I have noticed that the station is alive again on weekends at least. A band of evangelical Christians are there Friday and Saturday nights, singing along to terrible modern hymns on their little tape player with a mike. Easily ignorable, but if you're bored they can be your key to an entertaining few minutes/hours.

So if you ever come to Melbourne, try and do more than what the pamphlets and guidebooks tell you there is to do - come along to Flinders and hang around with the local people. Tell them you're a tourist, ask them for some drugs or whatever and if they don't find some way of ripping you off you might well have a good time.

Melbourne author Barry Dickens wrote a great essay about the culture of the station but I am unable to find it. Anyone who does know where to get a copy please /msg me.

The street and the station are named after British explorer Matthew Flinders who charted much of the surrounding area.