Train station restoration project grinds to a halt

EFFORTS to restore a crumbling former train station in Güzelyurt built by the British more than a century ago and turn it into a museum have hit the buffers, it has been reported.

Work that began last September to save the site from collapsing has ground to a halt, Cyprus Today’s sister newspaper Kıbrıs said on Saturday.

No activity has been seen at the building for over a month, the paper commented, with its roof having been removed and its interior “full of construction materials”.

It quoted local residents as saying the structure was now in a “worse state than before” the work had started and demanding answers from officials.

Güzelyurt Mayor Mahmut Özçınar confirmed that the work had been stopped by the Antiquities Department, which is in charge of the project.

A spokesman for the department declined to comment on the reasons behind the decision, saying they needed to “look into” the matter.

Mr Özçınar said the train station was close to schools and posed a “safety threat” to children in its current state because builders had not secured the site.

He said he was in favour of the restoration project and hoped the problems would be solved “soon”.

Tourism Minister Fikri Ataoğlu launched the two-stage initiative last year, five years after the plan was first reported by Cyprus Today. The first phase would restore annexes to the main building with the second stage focusing on the station building itself.

Güzelyurt station was in service for 46 years, with the last train departing on December 31, 1951.

It was part of the now-defunct Cyprus Government Railway line linking Güzelyurt to Lefkoşa and Gazimağusa, and later to Evrykhou, a station in the foothills of the Troodos Mountains.

Güzelyurt also served freight trains from the Cyprus Mines Corporation site at Lefke.