page_title: Melbourne city centre
section_title: Transport
hierarchical_section_title: Melbourne city centre / Transport
caption_attribution_description: English: Yarra River and Flinders Street Station
context_page_description: Melbourne city centre is the central built up area of the city of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, centred on the Hoddle Grid, the oldest part of the city laid out in 1837, and includes its fringes. It is not to be confused with the larger local government area of the City of Melbourne which includes this area and the inner suburbs around it.
  The boundaries are not precise as it is not currently an official area, but the area of boundaries of the Australian Bureau of Statistics Statistical Area Level 2 'Melbourne' represents the commonly understood area of what is usually meant by 'the CBD' or 'the city'; this includes the Hoddle Grid, plus the area of parallel streets just to the north up to Victoria Street including the Queen Victoria Market, but not the Flagstaff Gardens, and the area between Flinders Street and the Yarra river.
  The Central City is the core of Greater Melbourne's metropolitan area, and is a major financial centre in Australia and the Asia-Pacific region. It is home to Melbourne's famed alleyways and arcades and is renowned for its distinct blend of contemporary and Victorian architecture, and home to five of the six tallest buildings in Australia.
context_section_description: The Melbourne City Centre is the transport hub of the city.
  Flinders Street station is the hub for Melbourne's suburban train network and the busiest station, Southern Cross station, which is the hub for regional and interstate transit located on Spencer Street, and the three underground stations of the Melbourne Underground Rail Loop–Parliament, Melbourne Central and Flagstaff stations are located on the east and north fringes.
  The Melbourne trams network is the largest in the world, and most lines from the suburbs run down one of the streets of the CBD, with Swanston Street hosting of six lines, making it one of the busiest tram corridors in the world. Trams also run along Flinders, Collins, Bourke, La Trobe, Spencer, Market, Elizabeth, and Spring Streets. In recent years nearly all CBD tram stops have been rebuilt as larger all-accessibility "superstops".
  The city is also well connected by bus services, with majority of buses running down Lonsdale Street., with major bus stops at Melbourne Central and Queen Victoria Village. Most bus routes service suburbs north and east of the city given the lack of train lines to these areas.
  Major bicycle trails lead to the CBD and a main bicycle path down Swanston Street.
  Ferries dock along the northbank of the Yarra at Federation Wharf and the turning basin at the Aquatic Centre. There is also a water taxi service to Melbourne and Olympic Parks.
caption: Flinders Street station across the Yarra River
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