Albania - General Information
Country Name
Albania (Shqipëri)
National railway system
Hekurudha Shqiptare (HSH) was the state-run system, which was restructured as a state-owned company Hekurudha Shqiptare sh.a in 2000. HSH sh.a has been financially constrained which has led to a steady decline in services as the infrastructure and assets degraded. In January 2018 legislation was passed to establish a European style structure of regulatory and licensing authorities. Further legislation was passed in 2021 to enable the split of HSH sh.a into separate companies to manage the infrastructure, passenger operations, etc. Meanwhile a concession was awarded to Albrail sh.p.k in 2016 to rehabilitate the lines south of Fier for the transport of crude oil, then in December 2018 Albrail was licensed as the Infrastructure Manager for those lines.
The compilers particularly welcome reports of railway operations from travellers to Albania.
National Railway Operator
Hekurudha Shqiptare sh.a (HSH), who are responsible for all lines other than those operated by Albrail. They also have a Facebook page but this is mostly concerned with administrative matters.
Albrail sh.p.k (Albrail) operates the lines south of Fier. They only operate freight trains at present but their network statement reveals that the concession agreement permits them to restore a passenger service.
Language
Albanian
Currency
Lek
UIC code
numeric 41; alpha AL.
Timetable
Journey Planner
None.
Downloadable Timetable
Timetables for current services can normally be found on the Home page of the HSH website. Note that the Albanian language page is updated more reliably than the English language page.
An alternative source for timetable information is the TRAINSINALBANIA Facebook page.
Printed Timetable
No printed timetable is published by HSH.
The European Rail Timetable has timings for Albania but given the fluid situation these may be out of date.
Engineering Information
None.
Maps
Printed Maps
- European Railway Atlas (All-Europe Edition) by M.G. Ball.
- European Railway Atlas (Regional Series: Book 3) by M.G. Ball.
There is no official HSH railway map.
Quail Map Company published the Albanian Railway Guide in 1997, which includes track diagrams, motive power details and other information, but this is now out of print, although available on the second-hand market. Modern general maps are available from respected publishing houses such as Freytag & Berndt which should be accurate - earlier maps may have been based on inaccurate information provided by the former communist government.
Web-based Maps
- Railway map of Albania provides a useful overview, available on Wikipedia
- Map of Albania and North Macedonia dated July 2024.
Ticketing
There is no railrover ticket covering Albania, but fares are extremely cheap and based on a zonal system. Tickets are not sold in advance, and are valid only on the first train following issue.
Infrastructure
Infrastructure Authority
HSH sh.a is responsible for all lines other than those south of Fier
Albrail sh.p.k is responsible for the lines south of Fier, to Vlorë and Ballsh
Network Statement
No Network Statement is known to be publicly available for HSH.
The 2025 Albrail Network Statement (in English) is available here.
Gauge
Standard
Electrification
None
Rule of the road
There are no double track lines, except in the immediate vicinity of principal stations, and the track used depends on operating convenience.
Other Railways
None
Tourist lines
None
Metro
None
Trams/LRT-Systems
None
Recent and Future Changes
Changes in 2026
A service to Laç has run in each of the last four years on thirteen Tuesdays between March and June for pilgrims attending the annual devotion of Saint Anthony, however no such service has been advertised for 2026.
Changes in 2025
The service between Plazh and Peqin was cancelled with effect from 10 November 2025, ostensibly due to construction work, temporarily leaving the country without any scheduled passenger services.
The service on the line to Elbasan was suspended from 7 February 2025 following the derailment of the morning service near the village of Përparim, east of Peqin. A service was restored from 6 June 2025 running between Peqin and Plazh only on Fridays to Mondays.
Changes in 2024
On 6th July 2024 HSH started a new service between Plazh and Lushnjë (on the line towards Vlorë) running on Saturdays and Sundays, that connected in/out of the Elbasan train at Rrogozhinë. This was quickly amended from 20th July to become a train between Lushnjë and Rrogozhinë connecting with the train to/from Plazh. The train ran until the end of the summer timetable on 22 September 2024.
Changes in 2023
Durrës station was temporarily closed in early 2023 to enable upgrade work to proceed on the Tiranë line rehabilitation project, with trains starting and terminating approximately 2km away at Shkozet. With the start of the summer 2023 timetable the terminating point was moved 1.5km further away to a new platform at Plazh, beyond the junction of the Tiranë and Elbasan lines. Durrës station is expected to reopen again in Spring 2024.
Changes in 2022
The 2022 winter timetable shows only a single pair of trains on SSuO, running from 19 September 2022 until 10 June 2023, over the Durrës to Elbasan line.
Services returned between Shkodër and Laç for 13 Tuesdays from March 15th 2022 for pilgrims attending the annual devotion at the church at Laç. This was repeated 15 March to 13 June 2023, with the train extended by one station from Laç to Gjormë.
Older Changes
For details of older changes see Albania - Older General Information.
Future Changes
Rehabilitation of the Tiranë - Durrës line and construction of new line to Tirana International/Rinas airport
Work started in November 2021 on the rehabilitation of the Durrës – Tiranë line and the construction of a 7.4 km branch from a triangular junction at the 27 km point to serve Tirana International Airport. This is being financed with the aid of a €36·9m loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction & Development and up to €35·5m in grants from the European Commission and other institutions. The line was originally planned to terminate in Tiranë at the new Public Transport Terminal, several km from the centre, however it was recognised early on that a continuation of the line to a site close to the original station should also be constructed including the possibility that this might be a separate light rail line. Work to reopen the line as far as Tiranë PTT was scheduled to be completed in late 2024.
By late-2024 it was expected that the main construction work on the Durrës / Tiranë Airport / Tiranë PTT line would be complete around March 2025. However, the existing contracts did not include construction of any of the planned new stations and this additional work was to be tendered separately meaning that train services were not expected to start before mid-2026. Ultimately it was hoped to electrify the line but it was still not clear when this further work might be carried out. Finance had been secured for the extension from Tiranë PTT to the city centre (New Boulevard) but this work was still at the planning stage.
In mid-2025, with the basic infrastructure to Tiranë PTT largely completed, a decision was finally made to electrify the line and tenders for this work as well as for a passenger train operating concession were announced. Services will not restart before this final stage of work is complete which means that trains are unlikely to return before Spring 2027 at the earliest.
Rehabilitation of the Vorë - Hani i Hotit (border with Montenegro) line
In February 2022 the European Commission announced a package of €267m in grants and loans to support the “Rail Route 2” project, described as a key project for the region linking the capitals of Tiranë and Podgorica. The project covers the rehabilitation of 120km of line and rebuilding/construction of 13 stations and has subsequently been expanded to include electrification of the line at an additional cost of around €60m. Work is expected to start in late-2025, with completion by 2030.
Rehabilitation of the Durrës - Rrogozhinë line
In December 2023 it was announced that the EU had awarded a grant of EUR 62m towards the cost of upgrading 33.5km of line between Durrës and Rrogozhinë, which forms part of Pan-European Corridor VIII that is planned to connect Albania via North Macedonia with the rest of South-Eastern Europe. The upgrade plan includes electrification and the total cost is expected to be around EUR 120m. The work is expected to start in 2027, with completion in late 2028.
Durrës to Prishtinë “Red and Black” Railway
In an effort to improve connectivity in the region and in particular access for Kosovo to the Adriatic port of Durrës, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed in 2020 between the two governments for cooperation in railway transport. A conceptual design for a direct rail connection was published in April 2025, which would make use of existing lines between Durrës and Shkodër and between Gjakovë and Prishtinë with 105.8km of new line between Shkodër and Gjakovë. This project falls outside the scope of the EU TEN-T Network and is therefore not eligible for direct EU financial support.
Rehabilitation of the Durrës - Pogradec - Lin railway line and construction of the new line Lin – border with North Macedonia
An October 2018 statement on the HSH website announced a European Union-financed feasibility study for the rehabilitation of the Durrës – Elbasan - Pogradec railway line and the construction of a 2.8km new line from Lin to the border of North Macedonia. This line is part of the EU Trans-European Corridor VIII but is not considered to be a Core route and as such is unlikely to receive any significant financial support before 2030 other than for studies / planning.
The initial section from Durrës to the junction at Rrogozhinë has separately been approved for upgrade already. The line between Lbrazahd and Pogradec was taken out of use in 2012, due largely to poor condition of the infrastructure, and the formation has since been breached in several locations by road construction works.
Porto Romano – Skuth (freight-only) line
In connection with the relocation of freight handling activities from Durrës to a new port complex at Porto Romano, a line will be built between the port and a junction at Sukth on the Durrës to Vorë line.
Rrogozhinë – Vlorë – Vlora International Airport
With the opening of the new Vlora International Airport in 2025, the government has proposed that a new line be built linking it to the city of Vlorë and to rehabilitate the line between Rrogozhinë and Vlorë.
Historical Information
Prior to the collapse of communism in the early 1990s, Albania had a well-used and maintained standard gauge network including some notably scenic lines such as that between Elbasan and Pogradec. The dire financial situation facing the new democratic government however meant that expenditure on the railways was severely restricted and the system gradually fell into disrepair, with several lines closing completely during the following 20 years. The lack of finance even led to short periods of complete system shutdown due to the lack of basic supplies such as fuel. The number of passenger journeys declined from around 3.9 million in 1993 to less than 450 thousand in 2012 (88% decline). In 2013 the downward trend was exacerbated by the closure of the main station in Tiranë so that the site could be incorporated into the New Boulevard development. With the entire route between the two biggest cities (Tiranë and Durrës) closed temporarily for reconstruction, less than 7,500 passenger journeys were recorded in 2023.
Albania formally applied for membership of the European Union in 2009, although disputes between some neighbouring countries have delayed accession talks. Albania is included in the newly created EU Western Balkans – Eastern Mediterranean TEN-T Corridor (established in 2023) but had already benefitted from EU grants and loans for upgrading the rail network, such that by late 2024 several major projects were either in process or fully funded and ready for tendering
Special notes
By comparison with other European systems, HSH is a very primitive railway, using elderly rolling stock acquired second hand and now in very poor condition. It is common to find carriages in service with broken glass in the windows.
There are no international passenger trains to Albania, the one cross-border railway, that to Montenegro, being used only for freight traffic. Routes from Western Europe are by air or road, or by ferry from Bari (Italy). Coaches operate between Tiranë and various German and Eastern European cities.
Further information about Albanian Railways can be found at www.angelfire.com/ak/hekurudha/index.html although this website has not been updated for several years.
