Train well and truly missed

Given all the wonderful sights seen today, why have I blipped a derelict building? Well, this was once the western terminus of the Malta Railway. Opened in 1883 operating a metre gauge track, it ran 7 miles east-west between Valletta (the capital) and Mdina (the ancient previous capital) with various stops between. To begin with the railway terminated at Notabile on the eastern side of Mdina. Due to poor finances the railway went bankrupt and closed for the first time in 1890 after only seven years! The Maltese government stepped in, undertook improvements to infrastructure and the line re-opened in 1892. Included in the improvements was an extension west tunnelling under Mdina to a new passenger terminus at Museum Station which is shown in the photo. From here the line ran on further to service British army barracks at Mtarfa a short distance beyond. This extension opened in 1900. Due to competition from a short lived tramway and then the introduction of the iconic Maltese buses, the railway sputtered out in 1931. What a shame, a mere 48 years in existence. Even worse, none of the locomotives were preserved.
Museum Station building was renovated and used as a restaurant during the 1980s until around 2008. The trackbed to Mtarfa is now a road, during WW2 the tunnel under Mdina was used as an air raid shelter. My photo shows the track-side of the former station, which is now derelict. Other remnants of stations/infrastructure exist along the railway's old route. With increasing traffic congestion, a light rail service would now be a boon to Malta, however I don't think this will ever come about. The classic buses have been withdrawn too and replaced with modern air conditioned stock (including a large number of bendy buses) which are run by private operator Arriva.

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