Birkirkara’s Victorian former train station is being misused by squatters, drug users and vandals, despite ongoing efforts to transform it into a museum.

Malta Railway Foundation chairman Paul Galea walked around the train station in disbelief – the sound of glass from smashed windows cracking with his every footstep.

“Someone broke in and not only ripped out part of the power supply, but also stole the router from the CCTV system. They even stole one of the toilets,” said a dismayed Mr Galea.

Built in 1883, the old station is set to be transformed into a railway museum that will showcase the island’s once-vital railway that ran from Rabat to Valletta.

Mr Galea said the foundation had discovered squatters living in the station just a few weeks ago and managed to evict them. The site was then targeted by vandals.

All along the facade of the building, smashed window panes, graffiti and broken drain pipes are a testimony to the abuse the train station is enduring.

Read: Malta's only surviving train carriage to get funds for restoration

Mr Galea is urging the local authorities to help protect the site against further abuse: he has encouraged action in the form of increased police patrols or the installation of improved gates and surveillance equipment to deter vandals. The Railway Foundation works to keep alive the fading memory of the old railway system, which ran for nearly 50 years between 1883 and 1931 before being supplanted by the popularity and commercial viability of the new bus service.

The only known surviving train carriage once used in Malta has also faced abuse from vandals in recent years despite the installation of security cameras and the Birkirkara local council’s decision to employ a night watchman.

The only surviving carriage from the Maltese railway system will be restored.