The history of the modern station signage
Saturday, 18 July 2026
Currently, Melbourne's station signage is inconsistent between three signage styles the older PTV-era signs and the current modern signage. Every station on the network has one of the three, or even reminents of even earlier signage like metlink, PTC or very rarely MTA. Parts of the current signage has been around longer than you think - with the earliest reminents of it emerging over 10 years ago, in 2015.
The early days of the modern signage
The earlier reminent of the current signage began in 2015 with the use of the Network Sans font being used on the Night Network rollout. In 2016, more maps were updated with the new font, we also see the first taste of the directional signage on the Southern Cross precinct map . On the 28th December 2016, the new network map was revealed.
Flinders Street Upgrade (2017-2019)
As part of the Flinders Street upgrade project, prototypes of the directional signage appeared at Flinders Street in late-2017. In 2018, elements like the no exit signs , station enterance signs and the sign stacks were made. By 2019, the current direction signs , platform id's and the station id's came to be.
Other notable mentions during this time include the Mernda extention and Frankston station platform signage. These are a prototype of the current signage we see today however with the background being blue and without the line colour. This is in-between the current and older signage.
2020 onwards
In July 2020, the first station (from what I know of) outside of Flinders Street received the new signage being Mentone station as apart of the Level Crossing Removal Project. From there, only new stations, main interchanges or stations getting upgrades received the new signage. The only main changes to the signage since 2020 was the removal of the PTV logo in 2025, and the addition of the Transport Victoria logo in 2025.
After almost 6 years of signage updates to select stations, in June 2026 Williamstown station received new platform id signage, followed by Prahran, Sandringham and Werribee. I believe this is due to the imminent new Cross City Group arriving in September being the Sandringham to Werribee and Williamstown line. I believe some VLine stations have received it recently as well. The future will tell wheather the rollout will become mainstream.
I have listed below the list of stations that received the new signage over the years. Please note, this is only an estimate based on pictures and information avalable and may not fully accurate.
New Signage Timeline
Only including Metro stations. These are estimations
| Station | Updated |
|---|---|
| Flinders Street | 2019 |
| Mentone | Jul 2020 |
| Cheltenham | Aug 2020 |
| Coburg | Dec 2020 |
| Moreland | Dec 2020 |
| Lilydale | Nov 2021 |
| Mooroolbark | Nov 2021 |
| Bonbeach | Nov 2021 |
| Chelsea | Nov 2021 |
| Edithvale | Nov 2021 |
| Richmond | Dec 2021 |
| North Williamstown | Dec 2021 |
| Merinda Park | Feb 2022 |
| Hallam | May 2022 |
| Glenroy | May 2022 |
| Bell | Sept 2022 |
| Preston | Sept 2022 |
| Southern Cross | 2022 |
| South Yarra | 2022 |
| Oakleigh | 2022 |
| Caulfield | 2022 |
| Melbourne Central | 2022 |
| Flagstaff | 2022 |
| Parliament | 2022 |
| Jacana | 2023 |
| Greensborough | Apr 2023 |
| Montmorency | Apr 2023 |
| Union | May 2023 |
| Glen Huntly | July 2023 |
| Narre Warren | Mar 2024 |
| East Pakenham | Jun 2024 |
| Pakenham | Jun 2024 |
| Keon Park | Jun 2024 |
| Ringwood East | Jul 2024 |
| Parkdale | Aug 2024 |
| Broadmeadows | 2024 |
| Croydon | Aug 2024 |
| Burnley | Mar 2025 |
| Mordialloc | May 2026 |
| Williamstown | Jun 2026 |
| Newport | Jun/Jul 2026 |
| Sandringham | Jul 2026 |
| Prahran | Jul 2026 |
| Werribee | Jul 2026 |
| Laverton | Jul 2026 |