The Malta Railway Museum Shows the Need to Rehabilitate the Railway's Image as a Modern, Future-Oriented Transport Option

"That's just wishful thinking," the old gentleman slowly shook his white-hair-topped head as I mentioned the plan for the Maltese government to construct an island-wide modern subway system to alleviate the ever-worsening traffic on its clogged roads. It is a largely expected answer given that the government has already announced the plan's cancellation to much dismay of the population that is looking for alternatives for being stuck in the country's narrow roads that are unable to cope with the increasing population and the proportionate number of cars.

But I somehow had expected something a bit more optimistic from this gentleman, one of the few enthusiastic volunteers who help run the Malta Railway Museum, a small two-day-a-week exhibition in one of the few remaining railway stations from Malta's previous experience with running a railway system. While the previous railway was put out of business in 1931 by the growing popularity of the nascent nationwide bus service, the fact that the railway's memories live on, I thought, meant that it was not simply a matter of nostalgia but a strong advocacy to bring the railways back.

Indeed, through lengthy but fluent explanations, the Museum's volunteer staff explained that much of the railway's infrastructure, despite not having been used for nearly a century, exists in some way or form, signalizing the possibility that at least some of it can be revived. Beyond the train station where the Museum is situated, other railway stations are also being restored as heritage sites, and many of the bridges and viaducts where train tracks run are preserved in some form of completeness. Considering that the old railway ran through the island's most populated parts, the same can be done today.

Of course, it is not just as simple as digging up old tracks and connecting them to heritage stations. The Malta of the 1930s was a much less populated and lawless place, with a colonial administration that prioritized the needs of the British Empire before the personal interests of Maltese residents. Putting a railway in place today, even with some of the original infrastructure, will face the issues of evicting and compensating thousands, if not more, and incurring the ire of many more others irritated by construction, noise, and the unsightliness of trains running through their neighborhoods.

Yet, as I mentioned to the older gentleman, the issue with traffic is real. Building more roads is hardly the solution, given that the same NIMBYism prevents the widening of existing thoroughfares and cutting across even remote agricultural plots to bypass populated townships for faster commutes. For all the short-term disturbances, building something akin to a subway system, out of sight for ground-dwelling and owning people, is an expensive but ultimately fruitful venture. The gentleman's headshake is an indication of a lack of trust in the country's politicians to overcome the immediate vocal opposition.

Perhaps an overhead, hanging train system, akin to many in Germany, Japan, and China, could be an alternative for Malta, the gentleman suggested. But he quickly backed down when I suggested how much the existence of such a system would change the visual looks of Malta. In a country where architectural heritage is preserved diligently through the construction of even many new buildings in the traditional, stone-centered, beige style, there is simply no way that a modern overhead train can proceed without the accusation of being a nationwide eyesore. 

Every initiative to create public good will have its pros and cons, and that is particularly true for a major project like a railway. It is ultimately up to the few rail enthusiasts in the country, like those running the Museum, to extol the benefits of mass transport that can be efficiently had without taking up any more space on the slow-moving Maltese roads. Only then will the Maltese public see the country's relationship with the railways as not just a piece of history that increasingly few are familiar with, but a possible part of a formula for Malta's continued future growth as a wealthy but also livable country.

To achieve this goal, it is essential for the Museum to not only showcase the railway as a history that has no place in modern Malta but also that the historical example is a precursor to what Malta could look like in the future. By implicitly suggesting that the replacement of the railway by the buses and cars that form the backbone of daily commute is an aberration that ought to be corrected over time, the Museum, and its political backers, could find popular sentiment swinging to support the railway's reestablishment in some form, even if many personal interests are harmed in the short term.