The Durrës–Tirana railway was a

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

line which initially joined the two biggest cities in

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

Durrës Durrës ( , ; sq-definite, Durrësi) is the List of cities and towns in Albania#List, second most populous city of the Albania, Republic of Albania and county seat, seat of Durrës County and Durrës Municipality. It is one of Albania's oldest ...

and

Tirana Tirana ( , ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in Albania, largest city of Albania. It is located in the centre of the country, enclosed by mountains and hills, with Dajti rising to the east and a slight valley to the northwest ov ...

. The line connected to the Shkodër–Vorë railway halfway in

Vorë Vorë ( sq-definite, Vora) is a municipality in Tirana County, central Albania. It was formed at the 2015 local government reform by the merger of the former municipalities Bërxullë, Prezë and Vorë, that became municipal units. The seat of th ...

, and connected onwards to the Durrës-Vlorë railway and Durrës-Pogradec railway in Durrës. The Durrës–Tirana line was built during 1948-1949, based exclusively on the work of volunteers and was the second passenger railway in Albania after the Durrës-Peqin railway which had been completed a year earlier. It was operated by

Hekurudha Shqiptare Hekurudha Shqiptare or HSH ''(Albanian Railways)'' is the state-owned operator of the Albanian railway system and became a private company in 2005. The system's main passenger terminal was Durrës located in the port city of Durrës. HSH's infra ...

. In September 2013, the Tirana end of the line was dismantled as the Tirana station was torn down to make way for the lengthening of the Tirana main boulevard. As a result, passengers to and from Tirana had to initially use the Vorë station in 2013, and later the renovated Kashar station in May 2015. The station in Kashar was itself closed in 2018, ending the rail connection from Durrës to Tirana. There is now no rail connection between Tirana and Durrës. In 2021, HSH signed a contract with Italian company INC for the rehabilitation of the Durrës-Tirana railway line and the construction of a new leg linking the line to

Mother Teresa Airport A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the case of gestatio ...

. Works are now expected to finish in 2025, after two delays from the original 2024 deadline.

History

The railway was 38 km long connecting the two most important cities of Albania, Tirana, the capital, and Durrës, the second largest city. It was built during 1948-1949 and was the second standard gauge passenger railway in Albania after that which linked Durrës to

Peqin Peqin (, sq-definite, Peqini) is a town and municipality in Elbasan County, central Albania. The municipality was formed at the 2015 local government reform by the merger of the former municipalities Gjoçaj, Karinë, Pajovë, Peqin, Përparim, Pe ...

, which was completed in 1948. The works started from the

Shkozet Shkozet is a village situated in the central plains of Albania's Western Lowlands region. It is part of Durrës County. At the 2015 local government reform it became part of the municipality Durrës Durrës ( , ; sq-definite, Durrësi) is the ...

station (near

) on April 11, 1948. Overall 29,000 young people of the

Labour Youth Union of Albania The Labour Youth Union of Albania (Albanian language, Albanian: ''Bashkimi i Rinisë së Punës së Shqipërisë'') was the youth organization of the Party of Labour of Albania. Founded on November 23, 1941 as the Communist Youth it was official ...

and 1400 qualified technicians from all Albania participated to the building of the railway. In addition, young volunteers sent from the Youth sections of the Communist parties of

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

and

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

participated in the construction. During the Albanian-Yugoslavian split in 1948, the Yugoslavian volunteers were accused of

sabotage Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening a polity, government, effort, or organization through subversion, obstruction, demoralization (warfare), demoralization, destabilization, divide and rule, division, social disruption, disrupti ...

, especially the engineers. The works continued under the supervision of

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

engineer ''Valeri Gaydarov''. Rails were imported from the Soviet Union through the port of Durrës. The volunteering ''brigades'' had as a goal to finish the railway by the 31st anniversary of the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

, on 23 February 1949, and the goal was successfully achieved. Two of the most important works during construction were the ''Rrashbull Tunnel'' (212 m) and the

Erzen The Erzen ( sq-definite, Erzeni) is a river in central Albania. The long Erzen has a catchment area, including the southern Tirana District and eastern Durrës District. Name The ancient Illyrian name of the river was ''Ardaxanos'', which ...

Bridge (91 m long). The bridge was finished on October 16, 1948, the 40th birthday of then

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Enver Hoxha Enver Halil Hoxha ( , ; ; 16 October 190811 April 1985) was an Albanian communist revolutionary and politician who was the leader of People's Socialist Republic of Albania, Albania from 1944 until his death in 1985. He was the Secretary (titl ...

. The tunnel was dug by the Bulgarian youth group ''

Georgi Dimitrov Georgi Dimitrov Mihaylov (; ) also known as Georgiy Mihaylovich Dimitrov (; 18 June 1882 – 2 July 1949), was a Bulgarian communist politician who served as General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Bulgarian Communist Party from 1933 t ...

'', which was eventually given the ''Flag of the Brigades'' award (). The brigade of the Albanian Police was instead awarded five times the ''Attacking Award'' (). The inauguration was made by future would be

Politburo A politburo () or political bureau is the highest organ of the central committee in communist parties. The term is also sometimes used to refer to similar organs in socialist and Islamist parties, such as the UK Labour Party's NEC or the Poli ...

member

Spiro Koleka Spiro Koleka (7 July 1908 – 22 August 2001) was an important Albanian statesman, communist politician and a high-ranking military officer during World War II. He was a civil engineer by profession. Spiro Koleka served as a parliament member in ...

2010 accident

An accident occurred on the railway on July 25, 2010. A police

SUV A sport utility vehicle (SUV) is a car classification that combines elements of road-going passenger cars with features from off-road vehicles, such as raised ground clearance and four-wheel drive. There is no commonly agreed-upon definition ...

was on the rail and the train could not avoid the collision with it. As a result, the police car was pushed for a certain distance until the train went to a complete stop. Not only were the three Albanian policemen not injured, but they also went to argue with the machinist to accuse him that he had to stop earlier and pay more attention.

Future

Renovation of the line

In October 2016, the tender for the renovation of the entire line was about to start with a cost of . In 2019, another tender was announced. In 2021, HSH signed a contract with Italian company INC for the rehabilitation of the Durrës-Tirana railway line and the construction of the new leg extending to Mother Teresa Airport. In 2023, the Albanian government said the works are set to be completed in 2024. The completion of the project was initially pushed back three months due to delays in the construction of several bridges, then delayed another year to 2025 to accommodate the stations closer to the city center of Tirana.

Stations

References

Sources

Albanian railways in English

External links

A communist era program on the building of the railway
{{DEFAULTSORT:Durres-Tirana Railway Railway lines in Albania Railway lines opened in 1949