Melbourne Underground Rail Loop Authority

Compiled by TrickyMario7654

Background: The Melbourne Underground Rail Loop Authority was a government authority established in 1971 to oversee the construction and operation of the Underground Melbourne Rail Loop (better known as the 'City Loop'). The loop was designed to relive the congestion caused by trains using Flinders Street station by building a circular railway that allowed trains to continue past Flinders Street & Spencer Street (now called Southern Cross) stations, turn around via an underground rail line, and back into the suburbs of Melbourne. The underground portion of the loop consists of four tunnels in a 2x2 arrangement (each carrying a set group of lines) and three stations. Parliament, Melbourne Central (known as Museum until 1997), and Flagstaff, alongside the already existing Flinders Street, and Spencer Street (as mentioned before, now known as Southern Cross) stations. Construction began in June 1971, with the loop opening in stages starting with Melbourne Central station and the Caulfield and Burnley group tunnels on January 24, 1981. Over the next four years, the City Circle, Clifton Hill, and Northern group tunnels opened on various dates (December 6, 1981, October 31, 1982, and January 7, 1985 respectively). Parliament station opened on January 22, 1983, and the final station, Flagstaff, opened on May 27, 1985, thus completing the project. During the planning and construction of the loop, two short documentary films were produced by the Authority. The first called Loop (filmed during the planning stages), and the other called Action Loop (shot during the seventh year of construction in 1978). A third film was meant to be shot after the completion of the loop, but after the scaling back of the authority, the third film was never shot.

(Early 1970's-1978)

Melbourne Underground Rail Loop Authority (Early 1970's)Melbourne Underground Rail Loop Authority/Filmpartnership Melbourne (1978)

Logo:

Loop: Superimposed over an overhead view of Melbourne, we see the MURLA logo (consisting of a loop and two lines coming out of the top-left and bottom-right side of the loop) in orange. Below it, is a text notice in white reading 'Produced by R. Barrington Scott for the Melbourne Underground Rail Loop Authority'. Action Loop: Superimposed over one of the loop tunnels under construction, we see the following in-credit notice in white...

produced for

Melbourne Underground

Rail Loop Authority

byFilmpartnershipMelbourne

FX/SFX: None, unless you count the live-action footage in the background.

Music/Sounds: Just the closing audio/dialogue of the film.

Availability: Seen on the two short documentary films produced by the authority, Loop and Action Loop. Both of which can be found on Public Transport Victroia's YouTube channel.

Editor's Note: None.