The station was finally opened on 24 January 1981, and was named Museum Station after the adjacent National Museum of Victoria and Science Museum of Victoria in the State Library of Victoria complex on the opposite side of Swanston Street. It was the first station on the loop to open, initially services only operated for the Burnley and Caulfield Groups on platforms 2 and 4, with trains from the Clifton Hill Group starting to use platform 1 on 31 October 1982, and trains from the Northern Group starting to use platform 3 on 1 May 1984. The Elizabeth Street entrance to the station opened on 5 April 1982.