Location (refer Melways 2L, H12)
The Prahran campus of Swinburne University, Building PA, is quite close to the intersection of High St and Chapel St, Prahran.
By train
- By train to either Prahran or Windsor stations on the Sandringham line. Building PA is a 3-4 minute walk from Prahran, or 10 from Windsor.
- You can plan your trip and examine alternatives with the Metlink journey planner.
- Train timetables are available here. (Choose the Sandringham line.)
- Sandringham line trains run every 20 minutes off-peak (includes all day Saturday).
- Travel time from Flinders Street to Prahran it is 7 minutes and from Richmond to Prahran Station is just a mere 4 minutes.
- On weekends, all trains on the Sandringham line run from Sandringham (Prahran) to Flinders Street via the City Loop (except Flagstaff) and direct from Flinders Street to Sandringham (Prahran).
- Prahran station offers wheelchair access
- For those on the Pakenham, Frankston or Cranbourne lines, Armadale station is also on High Street and then just catch the #6 Tram to Swinburne - about 10-15mins.
- Note not all trains on these lines stop all stations, so you may need to change trains at another station, like Caulfield, first.
- The same applies for Glen Iris station on the Glen Waverley line, but the tram would be about 15-20 minutes to Swinburne.
By tram
- Route 6 (Melbourne Uni – Glen Iris) runs along High St (stop 31), while routes 78 (North Richmond – Prahran) and 79 (North Richmond – St Kilda) run down Chapel St (stop 45).
- Once again, you can plan your trip with the Metlink journey planner.
- Tram timetables for all lines are available here.
- Trams run every 12 minutes along High Street on Saturdays, and on Chapel Street the two Routes run every 15 minutes (and are supposed to be about 7 minutes apart from one another)
- Plenty of trams run down St Kilda Road and you can interchange to the #6 tram that runs along High Street at the cnr of St Kilda Road and High Street (or earlier along St Kilda Road).
By bus
- There are no buses running down High Street, but each of the major roads just a block North, West and East of Swinburne do have bus routes
- Commerical/Malvern Road to the North has Route 220 & Route 219. Route 219 also runs down Williams Road to the East. Punt Road to the West has Route 246 running down it.
- Trams interconnect at the corners of each these roads and High Street.
By car
- See parking hints and map below.
- When driving to Swinburne, it is recommended that you avoid Chapel Street if possible — Williams Road/Hotham Street or Punt Road provide smoother runs north/south; come down them and turn into High Street.
Parking (refer maps below)
The best place to park is to the east of Chapel St, across from Windsor Station, where a $6 fee will protect you from the parking inspectors for the whole day (7am - 7pm). This park is a 7-10 minute walk from Building PA. (Casual parking here is $1.20/hour.) The car park entry (which can easily be overshot if you're not paying attention) is beside The Paint Spot.
An alternative is a car park on Cato St, between Wattle and Chatham Streets – a 5 minute walk from Building PA. This is a large park but the fee is $1.20 per hour for the first 2 hours then $2.00 per hour thereafter. It would cost you $10.40 to get 6 hours of parking. It could be a good option if you are coming for a one or two SIGs, when $2.40 will give you two hours, or $4.40 three hours.
The James St car park is a 5 minute walk. Parking is free, but limited to 2 hours.
The "Ticket Parking" area shown on the Swinburne map above is theoretically available to us, but free spaces may be difficult to find..
There are a number of other timed parking places in the vicinity, many of them for 3 hours duration, but they are popular at weekends and you can't be assured of finding one free. A disabled sticker on your car will entitle you to double the posted parking time, if you do succeed in finding a place. This applies both to street parking and to the Windsor Station and Cato St. car parks.
Free parking - see the section following this map:
Free parking (refer map below)
Following are the results of some research into the availability of free parking within walking distance of Swinburne.
Parking in the zone defined between the rail line, High Street and Chapel Street is a tall order. There are many time restrictions and the area is continually busy. However to the west of the rail line there is quite a bit of parking that is not subject to permit restriction. ANDREW, UPTON and RALEIGH streets have been identified as likely to have spare spaces available for cars other than those of the residents. Some of the minor streets may offer other opportunities.
To the east of Chapel Street there are many streets with parking opportunities. Restriction signs are displayed but these mainly relate to weekdays. Residents’ cars are in the streets but there are many spaces still available. The following streets in the block between High St, Chapel St, Dandenong Rd and Williams Rd: THE AVENUE, GERTRUDE, HORNBY, MARY, LEWISHAM, WREXHAM, FERN, NORMANBY and ERICA. There may be additional opportunities in the streets between Hornby and Chapel Streets, though these areas were not surveyed in this study.
Public Transport References
