Hamrun remains – The Malta Railway

Hamrun to Msida

Cherished survivals

Approaching Hamrun station from the St Joseph High Street, up Il-Ferovija, you pass the back-end of the railway depot buildings. A public toilet has been inserted in one of these before the blocked arches and high-level openings of the workshops punctuate the otherwise-featureless wall.

The railway engineering works dominate this view down onto the station precinct from the east. The attached station building is obscured behind them. The single-storey building beyond, just to the right incorporates part of the original 1883 engine shed.

The back of the engineering works fronting Il-Ferovjia. The public toilets have been inserted beneath one of the original window openings.

Glimpses of the ornamental frontage added to the east front of the depot by Andrea Vassallo might already have been glimpsed if the Mile End portion of the trackbed was followed. A closer look can be gleaned from the back entrance to Benna, somewhat obstructed by the huge modern security gates.

Returning to Il-Ferovija, large trees in the road ahead of you indicate the former alignment of the road to the west of the station and where the boundary wall once ran. These trees may be railway-era planting and are certainly aligned in a row that follows the former station boundary. The observant will spot sections of rail reused as tree supports before their role was reversed by the expanding tree trunks.

Currently leased to Benna, the railway depot survives in good shape.

Hamrun station building was recently restored and repainted in the colour scheme introduced when the building was substantially extended in 1903-4, possibly to disguise the scars left by the work.

Looking back towards Hamrun station from the west.
1. The truncated end of the 1883 engine shed. 2. The station building. 3. Site of the ticket office and station master’s office. 4. the back of the engineering works. 5. Approximate alignment of the track. It’s possible that the trees are part of the original planting within the boundary of the station.

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Reused railway rails form tree supports on the street nearby, possibly for specimens that date to the railway era.

Hidden along a private lane, the architectural detail of the north side of the 1883 engine shed can be appreciated.

Rail road replacement

Aerial view of Hamrun looking west with the line of the track highlighted.
1. Hamrun station precinct. 2. Line of back yards across re-developed trackbed. 3. Beyond the church of the Immaculate conception (built on the vacant railway line) Triq il-Kappillan Mifsud replaces the course of the railway as far as…. 4. The site of Misda station

1.

Triq il-Kappillan Mifsud now follows the line of the railway curving into the distance on its journey towards Msida beyond.

Floriana remains

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Msida remains