Transport museum proposed in Birkirkara garden

The Birkirkara local council has applied to turn an existing childcare centre located in the Gnien l-Istazzjon into a transport museum.

A third-class train wagon, which was vandalised some years ago and is still covered by green canvas, will be repositioned in front of the proposed museum. The wagon is Malta's last surviving 19th-century railway carriage.

The museum will also include a panoramic lift.

The proposal also includes the refurbishment of the Gnien l-Istazzjon and the development of a 2.5-metre-high and five-metre-long kiosk and the placement of tables and chairs surrounding it.

The children's play area will also be relocated to make way for the kiosk.

An application by the previous mayor of Birkirkara to construct a bigger, hexagonal, two-storey kiosk in the garden was rejected by MEPA in 2011 due to its size.

The railway station at Birkirkara is the best-preserved railway station in Malta. For a number of years, the station was used as the office for the local council. In recent years, it has been used as a childcare centre.

The Malta Railway consisted of a single line from Valletta to Mdina operated between 1883 and 1931. During its lifetime, the railway had only 10 locomotives. None of them were preserved. When the railway stopped running, 34 carriages were in use. Only the third-class-carriage located at Birkirkara survived.