Under the Clocks at Flinders Street: Coronavirus Style

            "Meet me under the clocks at Flinders Street," has been a common cry of Melbournians for generations looking for a central place to meet.  

Yet, in the time of Coronavirus, no meetings are happening under the magnificent Art Nouveau domed entrance of Flinders Street Railway Station.

Today I had to go out for an important appointment that required me to catch the train from Flinders Street Railway Station.  The desertion I arrived to was both beautiful and eerie.  There were practically no people around, and there were no noises of busy passengers, nor the coo of the city pigeons or squawk of the city seagulls: only the constant blast of Metro Trains safety announcements coming from the loudspeakers, echoing hollowly around the empty entrance hall.  The crowds are gone, staying home due to social distancing restrictions and an underlying and very real fear of Coronavirus.  As the crowds have gone, there is no longer food for the savaging seagulls and pigeons, so they too have left.

The saying "Meet me under the clocks at Flinders Street," refers to the row of clocks above the main entrance, which indicate the time-tabled time of departure for trains on each line.  Another saying, "I'll meet you on the steps", refers to the wide staircase underneath these clocks. Flinders Street Station is responsible for two of Melbourne's busiest pedestrian crossings, both across Flinders Street, including one of Melbourne's few pedestrian scrambles.  Yet today I was alone crossing one of these intersections across Flinders Street, which was almost entirely devoid of traffic!

Flinders Street railway station is a railway station on the corner of Flinders and Swanston Streets in Melbourne.  It serves the entire metropolitan rail network.  Backing onto the city reach of the Yarra River in the heart of the city, the complex covers two whole city blocks and extends from Swanston Street to Queen Street.  It was the first railway station in an Australian city and the world's busiest passenger station in the late 1920s.

The main station building, completed in 1909, is a cultural icon of Melbourne. The art nouveau style building, with its prominent dome, arched entrance, tower and clocks is one of the city's most recognisable landmarks. It is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register.  The station boasts Australia's longest platform which is 708-metres long and is also the fourth longest railway platform in the world.

Taken in: Australia / Victoria / Melbourne City Centre (show map)

Taken on: April 24, 2020

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Flinders Street

Flinders Street Railway

Melbourne

Victoria

Australia

Railway Station

Railway

Station

Art Nouveau

Nouveau

Federation Style

Stained Glass

glass

Stained Glass Window

window

flower

dome

entrance

entranceway

entrance hall

Swanston Street

Swanston St

clock

clocks

arch

archway

tile

tiling

tiles

empty

deserted

Coronavirus

COVID19

building

architecture

1908

1900s

Edwardian

Edwardiania

Marvellous Melbourne

Twentieth Century

20th Century

booking hall

hall

booking office

ticket booth

ticket office

James Fawcett

H.P.C. Ashworth

Fawcett & Ashworth

Fawcett and Ashworth

architecturally designed

Green Light

French Renaissance style

pandemic

Coronavirus Pandemic

Covid19 pandemic

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Sets appears in: • Edwardiana • Marvelous Melbourne 1800 - 1914 more » • Photos During the Time of Pandemic « less

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Camera: Canon DIGITAL IXUS 80 IS, f/2.8, 1/500 sec, 6.2mm, ISO 100 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Canon DIGITAL IXUS 80 IS
Aperture:	f/2.8
Exposure Time:	0.002 sec (1/500)
Focal Length:	6.2mm
ISO:	100
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	Auto, Did not fire
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Color Space:	sRGB
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