Birkirkara station was sited just to the south of the town, close to the old parish church, its tower having a commanding presence over the platforms. Here, the line intersected Strada Fleur de Lys at a sharp angle, with two bends that limited visibility, and a wide crossing. As well as being a danger, the acute angle was unkind to wooden cartwheels
The station building at Birkirkara, looking towards Valletta. Originally a single storey structure, it was extended upwards after the closure of the railway. It’s now home to the Malta Railway museum.
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Birkirkara station seen from the east. The gardens survived the railway’s closure and are now a much loved park.
Whilst some planting survives from the original plan, many trees and features have been added to the station site. Views of the old Birkirkara church are now more limited.
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The station name survives in its Italianised form. The decorative iron grill and fanlight are similar to other stations.
Many of these MR branded flower urns, made in 1912, can still be found along the line of the railway and in nearby properties. At Birkirkara they once topped the tiered planters.
The last surviving Malta Railway carriage, one of the first purchased for the line in 1882, is now the centrepiece of the Birkirkara museum.
The carriage interior still glows with red teak
Decorative cast iron columns supporting the station canopy. These were cast at the railway’s Hamrun works.
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Garden now encroaches onto the historic platform area in this then-and-now comparison, but the station building remains a good reference point.
Garden archaeology
capacity. After commodious new single-storey station building was finished west of the original, approached axially along modern Kulleggiata, the old building and water tank were demolished and their sites subsumed into more platform extensions. Surplus land was sold for development.
Designed by Nicola Buhagiar, the stone piers with their Malta Railway urns have moved from their original position, but maintain their imposing effect at the station entrance.
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Nicola Buhagiar also designed the stations boundary walls with their integrated tiered planters and irrigation system. Much of this survives, but now unused for its original purpose and with a great deal of damage.
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Another of the tiered planters. The broken trough at the bottom illustrates how they were one used. The drum at the top once supported a flower urn.
Shelf planters were incorporated between the tiered piers, supported on chunky corbels.
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A centrepiece pond had always been planned by Buhagiar but never installed in the Railway’s lifetime. The shallow alcove with carved lion and datestone for 1910 was later modified.
At the west end of the garden, the stone coping on the ground is likely the original southern platform edge.
Looking towards Valletta, this eastern part of the garden was the location of the original small station before expansion. The lost station building would have been on the left, roughly beyond the bins.
Back on the road
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Aerial view of Birkirkara looking west. 1. Station building. 2. Old Parish Church. 3. St Aloysius College. 4. Site of Balzan station
A small hut at the west end of Birkirkara station has the hallmarks of being another guard hut and dates from the railway era. Beyond it the line of the railway continues as road in the direction of Rabat.
The railway line is now replaced beyond Birkirkara by Triq il-Ferrovija I-Qadima. St Aloyisus college is seen on the right as the route curves to the left.
