A Woodend man who worked on the original City Loop has got a sneak peek of the new loop during a tour of the new Parkville Station.
Peter Bishop, along with a group of former City Loop colleagues, recently took a tour of the new station that will open later this year.
Mr Bishop, 83, was the supervising engineer for construction of the loop tunnels when the city’s first underground railway was built back in the 1970s. He said the group was impressed by the design and architecture of the station.
“Having seen a few other metros in various other parts of the world … I was pleased to see it’s got all the facilities and technology that’s equal to anything else I’ve seen around the world,” Mr Bishop said.
“It’s also a nice station (with) lots of natural light and open space and the width of the platforms have been designed for peak loading in the future.”
Mr Bishop, along with other engineers and architects, compared the challenges of building the station and chatted about the advancements in technology.
He said the construction of the projects, while separated by decades, had similarities.
“The improvements in technology for doing work … there’s been big improvements in both materials and equipment, which, in theory, make it easier,” he said.
“Nevertheless, you’ve still got the people issues to deal with, in other words the labour force, and equipment.
“It’s really not a lot different but you’re able to do trickier things because of the improvements in materials and technology.”
Parkville Station will open later this year alongside the opening of the new Metro Tunnel.
