There’s a wealth of evidence for the railway in Floriana, though most is largely inaccessible outside of special events. Two station sites, one underground and one partially open to the sky, are located near the western end of the tunnel from Valletta.
The original Floriana station, located deep beneath the fortifications. This view looks towards Valletta, the platform being seen on the left. Illuminated on the far left is the entrance down steps from the street-level ticket office.
At surface level this small building, hidden at the back of the former Methodist church, was built to accommodate a small ticket office and the start of the stepped passage to the station platform. The door seen here was the main entrance for passengers.
Beginning with the surface remains of these, the original 1882 plan was largely implemented with a ticket office and station entrance behind the Methodist church. The tiny building, enough only for a ticket office and entrance lobby for passengers, still survives. Now extended into a much longer building, the original structure is crammed into a corner at the far west end of the church.
The stonework has recently been cleaned and simple projecting door and window architraves and a cornice band are the only concessions to decoration. The slanting head to the stepped passage down to the platforms might be discernible as a scar in the paintwork in the building to the right.
Any visitor to the site will notice how inconvenient the booking office site is, and how anonymous and uninviting it is.
There’s no longer any access down through the building so today any explorer must enter from below; Concrete blocks form a wall at the head of the steps leading underground.
There are two flights of steps separated by a half-landing about halfway down their length. Interpretation of the Victorian station features is confused by later alteration of the station as bomb shelters in WWII.
The first flight of steps has a vaulted roof formed of ashlar blocks, and a haphazard collection of steps down to the landing; Oddly, this is divided by an stone archway.
Half the landing on the other side of the door has been formed with steel rails and concrete, likely to be blocking the original light vent designed into this location.
Looking down the first flight of stairs from the street. These lead to a half-landing where the passage turns back on itself and another set of steps leads to platform level.
An arch divides the half-landing between the two flights of steps. Not part of original drawings, it’s an oddity that appears to date from construction. A later wall and doorway on the left leads to the second flight of steps down. An open well in the roof once allowed natural light to penetrate from above and provided ventilation.
Looking back up the passage toward the half landing from platform level. The vault is broken into several sections to accommodate smaller landings in the steps, however, the profile of the roof doesn’t match the rhythm of the present steps, suggesting they were added later.
At the foot of the stairs passengers would have passed through this arch onto the platform.
Post-railway passages and another blast wall separate the lower flight of steps from the landing. This section is roughly dug into the bedrock. The blockwork steps make their final approach to the platform turning left, through an archway at their foot.
The station itself is defined by a widened section of the railway tunnel, the platform occupying its northern side. Whilst it feels spacious today, with a smoking locomotive and train pulling-in and only a 10ft deep platform it must have felt claustrophobic and mildly terrifying.
Once at platform level passengers would have waited in the dark confines of the tunnel. Standing on the low platform this view looks in the direction of Rabat. The added width of the tunnel to accommodate the station is clear.
Looking back toward Valletta at the north end of the platform. The tunnel from the Capital opens out at the station. In the roof a large oval opening once vented smoke through a shaft to the surface. The platform edge is obvious.
The platform edge remains well defined, stretching back up the tunnel in the direction of Valletta for 120feet. At the far end an oval vent in the crown of the vault was the only ventilation for the whole station.
It’s unclear what the mined-out sections are on the south side of the station tunnel. It’s likely that this was a fault in the geology that needed removal to make it safe, and a block-built section of tunnel wall supports this theory and the vault itself!
The tunnel continues westward towards the site of the new station, but we’ll return to the surface to explore its approaches.
Two iron-wheeled hand trolleys lie discarded in the tunnel beyond the underground station. Both are painted dark green like the railway locomotives and carriages. If they are from the railway, they must have been used on the ramps at the second station…
A surfeit of stations: The second station
The historic military tunnel from Floriana down to St Philip’s Bastion, later the access to the public gardens and, after 1895, to the new station.
The new facility made use of existing ramps cuth through the city’s fortifications by the Knights. A long ramp along the edge of Argotti Gardens passes directly behind the original station building and on towards St Philip’s Bastion. Off this a new junction was made into a large trench cut down to track level.
A new ramp descends off the earlier alignment at right-angles, immediately crossing over the railway by means of a steeply angled bridge. The original iron railings and hand rail survive here, but the ramp is clogged with vegetation and not entirely safe for modern use.
The way to the station diverges from the old ramp at right angles. It descends into a deep cutting, here crossing directly over the railway line before doubling back to meet track level.
After passing over the track the ramp descends on the left before turning and continuing down through the vegetation towards towards the former platform level.
The station ramp approaches the station site from the left, marked by the recent tree. It’s upper section can be seen crossing over the viewer at the top of the image. This view looks towards Rabat, the platform being located along the left of this widened section of trackbed. Structures now built into the section of tunnel the middle of this view are later.
The opposing view looking towards Valletta. Modern structures to the right and in front of the tunnel mouth now confuse interpretation.
The ramp meets a landing before turning and completing its descent to platform level. Here, another widening of the tunnel has been made, making space of a platform on the south side of the track. Although located deep below ground level the space is light and feels generous despite some post-railway era structures infilling parts.
Some scars and compartments cut into the rock date to the railway era, including what is likely to have been a ticket office directly beneath the ramp. Another reminder of the railway is the smoke-blackened vault. Engines approaching Floriana were forced to make a steep ascent through the tunnel requiring a good head of steam and no doubt a well-stoked firebox.
To the west of the station site, and forming the present access to it on open days, the surviving military guardhouse is perhaps unique; It’s gun ports still look onto the trackbed.
Visitors should take note of matching cuts into the tunnel sides at this point. The distinctly curved features are designed to accommodate some unknown part of the lift-bridge mechanism, another defensive measure at this point of the line.
The guard house protected the west end of the Floriana tunnel. The door on the right connected to the gun room with emplacements cut through the tunnel wall. Within the tunnel section now open to the sky was a lift-bridge.
Either side of the tunnel opposite the guard house are matching deep curved cuts coming up from track level then turning horizontal. These and associated metal fixings are likely remains of the original 1883 lift-bridge mechanism.
The tunnel roof over the lift bridge site is open to the sky. It’s not clear if this was an original addition, a benefit of the cut-and-cover approach to tunnel construction used here, or a later addition to give better light to the new station.
The tunnel continues west beneath St Philip’s Bastion, its southern wall hollowed out for some distance to accommodate the narrowest of platforms stretching back from the station site.
The corresponding curved cut on the north side of the tunnel has the gun emplacements cut into it. The slit furthest right retains steel bolt ends fixed from above and the vertical cut likely received steelwork.
The tunnel is still defended by steel gun slits set within the gun emplacements
The 1883 guard house was situated underground at the same level as the railway track. The door on the right lead into the tunnel whilst access from above approached by way of the one on the left. The window looked out on anyone approaching. The fireplace was a simple comfort for soldiers manning the facility.
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The stone vault f the guard house is visible here, with the gun slits looking directly into the railway tunnel
Access to the guard house was afforded through the bottom of the ditch between Floriana’s curtain wall and St Philip’s Bastion. It is the current access to the Floriana station complex on Malta Railway Foundation open days.
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Looking down into the tunnel above the guardhouse. It’s unclear if this was always open, or was cut through later.
Floriana railway tunnel continues westwards beyond the station sites. The indent along the left side of this section may have accommodated a narrow platform before the tunnel reduced down to its original width again.
Beyond the Walls
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The railway exited the fortifications into the ditch at Notre Dames, below St Philip’s bastion. It was subsequently blocked-up when a WWII telephone exchange was installed here.
Here in Notre Dames ditch there was originally a drop-ditch and wooden bridge defending the tunnel portal from attack. Later, a railway guard house was situated here in Notre Dames ditch, protecting the road crossing.
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A glimpse into Floriana tunnel from Notre Dames ditch. It’s possible that the slit in the roof and other cuts were part of further protective measures against would-be attackers.
The line crossed Notre Dame ditch and quickly entered another tunnel through the Fosse Bray.
The railway bursts through the last of the liee of defensive walls close to Porte des Bombes, just visible behind the trees beyond. The line crosses the ditch here by means of a handsome stone bridge, a fortunate survivor.
Despite the loss of parts of its parapet, the bridge is well preserved. The Fosse Bray tunnel was subsequently blocked at this point but the bridge and surroundings are all publicly accessible.
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Looking along the bridge towards Rabat. At the end of the ditch two sets of steps lead down and across rail level. Beyond these are two raised abutments, perhaps once intended for a bridge but now framing the blocked and infilled trackbed.
Beneath the stone arches are traces of its predecessor structure. Stone piers once supported a timber structure here.
There’s a marked difference in angle in the original bridge piers and the more robust stone replacement of 1891
Looking down on the bridge in the direction of Valletta from the infilled cutting.
Feint traces through to Mile End
The railway clearly made some basic provision for passengers to join the train here, even providing a short platform, but there’s little information on how it was used, by which trains, and when. Considering the official station at Floriana wasn’t used by all trains, the halt at Guard hut No. 1 can’t have seen much more traffic.
Aerial view looking west towards Hamrun: 1. Fosse Bray tunnel. 2. Stone railway viaduct through ditch. 3. Lost site of Princess Melita Road bridge. 4. Surviving embankment stones. 5. Track alignment lost behind later development. 6. Hamrun station
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These are the likely remains of part of the east abutment of Princess Melita bridge. Behind it, in the direction of Valletta, the railway cutting is infilled and was planted to mark the Jubilee of 1935
Aligned stone blocks exposed through a car park are surviving edges of the railway line here. It was dug into the slope on the left side and embanked on the right in this view towards Rabat.
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More railway stonework through the car park near Blata i’-Bajda looking eastward.
Another view tracing the embankment coping stones looking back in the direction of Valletta.
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To the limits of Hamrun
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Once giving access for farmers beneath the railway, this underpass survives at the end of a dead-end lane at the eastern limit of Hamrun’s station site.
The last surviving corbeled section of the railway embankment survives in a private garden. Houses with basements now abut the road that replaced the railway here.
Looking down on the curved track alignment approaching Hamrun from the direction of Valletta. The surviving section of stone corbel edging to the embankment is arrowed, with modern walls raised above it.
