Durrës and Prishtina will be connected by a railway line. At least this is the aim of a study requested by Albanian Railways through a procurement procedure that has as its object “Feasibility Study and Project Idea for the Durrës – Prishtina Railway connection,” opened in the system of the Public Procurement Agency. The limit fund for the study is 200 million ALL or about 1.7 million Euro, informs Monitor magazine.

“The construction of the railway line (Durres – Prishtina) is of special importance for Albania and Kosova as it will enable a rapid development of the railway transport of passengers and goods.

This new railway line will first meet the transport needs of Albania and Kosova, as well as the needs of the countries of the Western Balkans and beyond, including Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria and other countries that are also connected to Railway Corridor 10 and Railway Corridor 4″ states the terms of reference for the announced procedure.

The same document also gives three reasons why this line is of special importance. “The first is that through this railway line the exchange of goods transport between Albania, Kosovo and the wider region will increase significantly due to lower costs and greater capacities; the second is related to the development of passenger rail transport which will be very attractive and beneficial for both countries and beyond; while the third is that this railway line offers the best and most favorable alternative for the shortest connection of the railway network of Albania, namely the railway corridor 8 with trailway corridor 10,” the document states.

The expected duration of the study is 14 months, of which 2 (two) months for the Initial Phase and 12 months for the preparation of the Study.

During this time, several ideas and variants have been developed for the construction of the new railway line that will connect Albania with Kosovo. Based on the technical discussions on the design concept, the working group has picked up to examine at least 2 existing alternatives, for the preparation of the Feasibility Study and Project-Idea for the construction of this railway line.

/a.p./