Rail transport in Albania

HSH train on the Tirana-Durrës line

The railways in Albania are administered by the national railway company Hekurudha Shqiptare (HSH) (which means Albanian Railways). It operates a 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) gauge (standard gauge) rail system in Albania. All trains are hauled by Czech-built ČKD diesel-electric locomotives. The system is considered by many travel guides as a tourist attraction and de facto a panoramic train journey.

History

The country's first standard gauge line was not built until 1947, although some narrow (decauville) gauge lines were built earlier during World War I. There is one international link with Montenegro, the Podgorica–Shkodër railway, which has only ever been used for freight traffic, and whose last station in Albania is the Bajzë Rail Station.

The railway system was extensively promoted by the totalitarian regime of Enver Hoxha, during which time the use of private motor transport was effectively prohibited. After 1947, a significant infrastructure undertaking was the construction of the country's rail network as Albania was considered as the only state in Europe not to have standard rail service. By 1987, 677 km of railway were constructed in total linking the main urban and industrial centers for the first time since the end of World War II. Train transport was the main transportation method until 1990. After the collapse of Communism, the network fell into disregard.

Since the collapse of the former regime, there has been a considerable increase in car ownership and bus usage. Whilst some of the country's secondary roads are still in a very poor condition, there have been other developments (such as the construction of a motorway between Tirana, Durrës, and other towns) which have taken much traffic away from the railways.

As of 2015, some stations and rolling stock along the Durrës-Tirane line are being renovated and colored red and white.

Timeline

Bushtrica Railway Bridge south of Librazhd

Present day network

Main article: Hekurudha Shqiptare

The HSH passenger system presently consists of the following lines:

Renovated rolling stock on Durres Railway Station

The rails from the line Milot–Rubik–Rrëshen have been partially removed to repair the line to Montenegro. The line should have led to the Nuclear Power Plant of Klos, but was never finished. Currently a new railway link is being built between Rrëshen and the border to Kosovo.

The Librazhd-Pogradec line, the most beautiful part of the Albanian railway network was closed for passenger traffic in 2012. The stored locomotives and wagons from Prrenjas are being moved to Elbasan. As a result, the railway is probably going to be dismantled, as it doesn't link any major cities.

There are several freight-only branch lines. Regular freight trains run between Podgorica and Shkodër every weekday (with an Albanian or a Montenegrean locomotive alternating daily) and between Durrës and the oil refinery at Ballsh about once a week. The Tirana-Shkodër and the Durrës-Elbasan lines are normally served by mixed trains.

The UIC Country Code for the Albanian railway system is 41.

Statistics

Usage of the railway network of Albania is declining year by year.[1]

Albania Railways annual statistics
1950 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1989 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Passengers in thousands 3.961 4.022 3.739 3.389 1.820 2.269 2.270 2.381 2.676 2.270 2.070 1.758 1.440 1.659 1.091 822 645 430 453 448 329
in millions pass.-km 223 215 197 168 95 116 121 125 138 123 105 89 73 80 51 41 32 19 18 16 12
Freight in thousands tonnes 539 522 574 521 284 305 361 412 258 340 520 417 404 450 399 355 343 403 317 142 151
in millions ton.-km 54 53 53 42 23 25 27 28 19 21 31 32 26 36 53 52 46 66 50 25 23
Network length[2] in kilometres 115 143 193 272 319 421 447

Neighbouring railways have the same gauge.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Railway transport of goods and passengers (1993-2013). INSTAT (Institute of Statistics). Tirana, Albania
  2. ↑ Sako Z. Ilir MBA MSc (2008), Railway market: Albanian Railways - a difficult heritage
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