Rain almost derails light rail announcement

The meticulously planned announcement of the government's new national mass transport system was almost derailed at the get go as a heavy downpour stopped the event, forcing guests to run for shelter.

The presentation, symbolically held on the site of the old railway station in Birkirkara, was already running almost one hour late on Thursday evening.

However, no sooner had Transport Minister Chris Bonett finished his speech introducing the national strategy including an innovative light railyway line spanning 24km from St Pauls Bay, that the event had to be paused as the heavens opened.

Rain forced the planned presentation of the new mass transport strategy to stop for around an hour. Photo: Chris Sant Fournier

Guests, which included officials from Transport Malta, international consultancy firm ARUP and Maltese design company Mizzi Studios, scrambled for shelter as staff rushed to cover monitors and other media equipment.

But the government was not going to let anything rain on its parade and within an hour staff had carried all chairs underneath a canopy so that the presentation could continue as planned, albeit later than scheduled.

Staff carried chairs underneath a canopy so that the presentation could continue after the rain. Photo: Neville Borg