Walking the line

The railway line in Malta was inaugurated in 1883 and carried passengers between Valletta and Mtarfa on the northern side of the ancient city of Mdina. It was never a huge success financially and was forfeited to the government in 1890, extended northwards with a half mile tunnel built under Mdina by the British in 1896 and then finally closed in 1931. What remain are some additions to the secret underground spaces of Valletta, remnants of bridges and embankments scattered between the two old cities, stations at Hamrun, Birkirkara, Rabat and Mtarfa, some unusually straight sections of road where the old lines used to run and the beautifully constructed circular tunnel under Mdina that is now used as a mushroom farm.

On Sunday, Malta Geographic organised a walk/coach trip tracing the route of the railway from Valletta to Mtarfa. We met at the old ruins of the Opera house where I was surprised to discover that the old train station was actually located at the side of what will become an open air piazza/theatre in the reworking of the entrance to Valletta. The new Parliament building will be sited over the station where people used to descend into the underground tunnel to board the train at the start of the line. What a great opportunity for park and ride into the capital to attend cultural events!

We walked out through City gate and across the bridge entrance so that we could look down into the ditch on the left hand side. Here we could see where the train used to exit the tunnel from the ramparts of the city, crossed a bridge and re-entered another tunnel on the other side. Already, everyone in the group was buzzing at the possibilities presented by this century old construction. How will the beautifully arched stone railway bridge be used in Renzo Piano's designs for the new entrance to the city?

We followed the line of the tunnel across the bus terminus and along the footpath by the side of the granaries. Here there are gratings that used to serve as ventilation shafts for the tunnel after they had first been used in construction. At one point near the granaries, the tunnel builders discovered an underground water storeage system and had to detour slightly to the right. This got us thinking about the juxtaposition of the underground storeage system for grain, the aquaduct bringing water to the city that someone suggested finished at an unmarked fountain in the linear park next to the granaries and the transit tunnel for the railway. Is the whole complex system mapped somewhere?

Near the Argotti Gardens, we observed the ramp down to the Floriana station site and found our way down to the Filippo Neri Garden, one of the hidden gardens nestled into the ramparts in Valletta and Floriana. Looking over the rampart walls at the far side we discovered where the tunnel exited the underground shaft and crossed the ditch to re-enter the ramparts. Re-tracing our steps to Port-de-Bombes we could see this from ground level as well as discover where the train re-emerged again to cross another neat small bridge. This is the photo that I've used to head up this post. At this point, everyone was dreaming about walking/cycling routes into Valletta using the old railway tunnels.

From there we followed the busy main road from Valletta to Hamrun. This parallels the old railway that ran over ground from Port-de-Bombes until the tunnel under Mdina. I was getting excited now but for a more personal reason. My mother used to talk about family walks from Valletta to Hamrun when she was a little girl. We were probably walking in her footsteps. Sure enough, we passed the old Lyceum building in Hamrun where my grandfather used to teach.

Just round the corner, we found the old Hamrun station now used by the scouts. The station here is almost intact including the old corrugated iron platform cover. Inside there are framed photos of the old railway and outside there is a stack of old rails. For the first time, here we noticed how mature trees often mark the route of the old railway.

Now we picked up the coach for the section to Birkirkarra. I have already visited that station with a tour of Birkirkarra run by the Malta Council for Culture and the Arts, so the station, with it's park and old carriage were familiar. I have used the photo of the third class carriage in my post about the conference on Communicating Poverty. What was stunning at this time of year was the display of bouganvilleas all down one side of the park and once again, the mature trees running along the side of the track. I'll use that photo in another post soon!

On to Corinthia near San Anton gardens where we walked along the railway embankment up to the site of the Attard Station. At this stage, I was enjoying how the trip was helping me to link up odd bits of information that have been crowding into my head since I started to explore this amazing island that is now my home. Some time ago I read a snippet in the paper about how a local council was trying to get rid of a colony of cats that had established themselves in a local park supported by a local eccentric. The sign outside the little park at the start of this section of the walk banned several things including cats. Yet inside there were several cats as well as cat kennels, feeding basins and a woman going round filling the bowls with water. I hear an expression almost every day here: "Only in Malta" It is an expression of loving exasperation.

Now our guide, Frans Attard, who had done a wonderful job of getting together our programme and guiding us along the route with the help of his grandson, started to become mysterious. The plan was to drive along Triq il-Linja (Street of the line) to Mdina road where we would walk up to the Rabat station. There was now a slight change of plan and we were to go to the end of the line at Mtarfa for a reason that he would explain later.

The Notabile tunnel had been built under Mdina by the British in order to service the troops' barracks and hospital at Mtarfa. If this seems like an extravagance, it also opened the railway line for further expansion to the north of the island. We stopped at the lovely old bridge across the valley that is now used by the little road train that circumnavigates Mdina and walked up to an old railway building that has been used as a restaurant but is now planned as a railway museum. Here we could see the exit from the tunnel but it was closed and gated. People were starting to wonder why we were hanging about here and some were even starting to make their excuses to leave the group and head home. When an old car drove up the road and through the group, I just assumed it was normal traffic, but in fact it was the mushroom farmer who had arrived to open up the tunnel for us. The mystery was solved!

For many people this was the highlight of the trip. We were able to walk in through part of the tunnel and learn something about the process of growing mushrooms. We even got to see the remarkable circular tunnel construction that needed to be put in place at this section under Mdina because it went through the blue clay that is under the globigerina limestone of Malta's geology.

After that, the walk back from the station at the other side of Mdina through the fields was almost an anti-climax although I enjoyed the evening stroll. It had been a long day and we didn't get back to Valletta until after half past seven. I was due at Manoel theatre at that time to see the contemporary dance performance of "Being Caravaggio" but by the time I'd raced home for my ticket and back to the theatre I only managed to catch the final half hour of the show. But at least I was alone in the gallery with my walking boots on! And my internal map of Malta now includes a bit of an idea of where the old railway used to run.