Some of Melbourne’s most drab and dysfunctional suburban railway stations have been reimagined as vibrant public transport hubs serviced by London-style elevated train lines, in a new exhibition that posits a future transport network designed to cope with the city's relentless population boom.

The exhibition, Dream Stations, is an attempt to breathe new life into nine stations around Melbourne that have been nominated by local councils as unattractive places disconnected from the local community.

Central to reviving the stations and their often-derelict surrounds is a proposal to elevate Melbourne’s rail lines, as an efficient way to remove level crossings and create spaces below for shops and community crossing points. Elevated rail lines already run through inner parts of Melbourne, including Richmond, Collingwood and Hawthorn.

Project leader Ian Woodcock, research fellow in urban design at the University of Melbourne, said most Melbourne railway stations ''are difficult to find and difficult to get into'', while newer stations mostly have soulless designs focused on safety and vandal-proofing.

''We can do so much better,'' Mr Woodcock said.