Going up... bastion lift planned for mid-2007

Walk through and up Lascaris Ditch, in Valletta - where the Upper Barrakka lift once operated -and all you will be struck by, at present, is a repugnant smell, burgeoning weeds and general state of dilapidation.

However, all that is set to change in the coming months through a project finally seeing the light of day that aims to connect Grand Harbour to Valletta.

A call for tenders in relation to the vertical connection will be issued in the coming days to connect Valletta's four levels - which in total rise to 48 metres.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development said the government is confident that after shunning the proposed lift a few years ago, businessmen would be keen to tender for the new project since it offered a number of possibilities.

If all goes to plan, panoramic lifts will be in place in about 18 months time to provide cruise liner passengers with convenient access to the capital city. Built within the fortifications, they will take tourists up to Freedom Square.

But the new brief does not stop there. Although a cable car has been ruled out for aesthetic reasons, a cable-operated, or funicular, railway service that is in keeping with the historic bastions is also on the cards. Depending on the wishes of the winning bidder, it will either zig-zag across the existing structure or go straight up - connecting Lascaris Bastion and St James Ditch.

Similar railways are found at various locations in Italy, including Perugia and Genoa as well as Lisbon, in Portugal, and Budapest, in Hungary.

The successful bidder will be able to charge a fee for the use of the new services, though they are likely to be competitive in terms of price with the modes of transport, like taxis, currently available.

Meanwhile, the area known as the Yellow Garage will become a commuter-pays car park which will be landscaped and properly managed.

For the more energetic visitors, pedestrian walkways and tunnels will also be rehabilitated to provide better accessibility to areas of historical interest in and around the bastions.

The run-down building that is situated half-way up the bastion will probably serve as a café and small restaurant which visitors could use as a transit point on their way into or out of the capital city.

The whole area is expected to interact with a ferry service from the Three Cities to Valletta, the park and ride system, public buses as well as electric taxis.

Of course, it will also complement the Lm10 million Valletta Waterfront Project which was officially opened in June of last year. The new cruise passenger terminal hosted its first passengers last February.