First weekday services commence through new stations Arden, Parkville, State Library, Town Hall, Anzac

Fran La Fontaine and Richard Gogerly were college students when the City Loop opened in the 1980s. Now they are at City Hall station for a similar opening experience.

But as La Fontaine said: “It’s much better… it has a really nice airport feel.”

The duo is not devoid of comparisons for new stations.

Gogerly thinks it gives “retro sci-fi.” La Fontaine also says the elements remind him of the Burnley Tunnel.

Meanwhile, Simon Deinhardt is waiting to catch the first Metro Tunnel service because it’s now the quickest way to visit friends in Footscray.

Deinhardt hails from Cologne, Germany, but is currently pursuing an undergraduate degree in Melbourne. So how does the tunnel compare to the famous Deutsche Bahn?

“This seems like it was built for more people… the amount of space and even the security measures,” Deinhardt says. Even though he came here only six months ago, he is happy to reap the fruits of a ten-year project.

“Ten years of planning – I don’t know about that? It took about half a year,” Deinhardt says grimly.

Anzac station is still mostly populated by sightseers rather than commuters.

Every Monday, John Cahir meets a group of his former colleagues from the Bureau of Meteorology for a decent walk (usually around 10 kilometres) somewhere in the city.

Today they decided to go through all the Metro Tunnel stations, starting from City Hall.

“We will visit five stations and walk from Arden to Brunetti’s in Carlton,” Cahir said.

“Wonderful.”