Author: Klevis Paloka
The station of travelers waiting to travel by train from Durrës to Tirana has been empty for a long time. There are no citizens in the waiting room. The benches are empty. The only ones who seem to move tirelessly and with all the time available in these areas are the railway employees. The trains seem to be eternally frozen in the station and their disuse for a long time has led them to total degradation. Now the wagons have been turned into shelters for animals and homeless people.
The last intervention made for the reconstruction of this railway line was carried out in 1999 by the Italian firm "Fersalento". An investment that started in 1994 and ended five years later. But even this investment was realized through a loan given by the Italian government worth about 3 million dollars. Later, in the history of loans, another loan of 1 million dollars was granted by the World Bank, since the loan granted by the government did not cover the 37.6 kilometer line. Even then, the investment was not complete but only a partial intervention in the main line, not including the railway lines and stations Durrës, Shkozet, Sukth, Vorë, Kashar, Tirana.
According to the Albanian Railways, the "Tirana-Durrës" railway line has been discontinued for eight years.
"Rail transport of passengers on the "Durrës-Tirana" railway line has been stopped since the beginning of September 2013 unilaterally by the Municipality of Tirana". it is stated in the official response of the Albanian Railways, which has also led to the destruction of the railway infrastructure of the Durrës-Tirana station lines.
But contrary to what the Albanian Railway claims, Jorida Tabaku, the deputy mayor of the Municipality of Tirana in 2013, opposes this fact.
"We were discussing moving the station from the investment to the boulevard, but the railway line has never been interrupted, the station was moving to Kashar where the terminal was planned". Tabaku declares for ACQJ.
The citizens of Durrës have lost hope that train trips will return or that the railway will be reborn. For citizens, traveling by train would have a lower cost. Agimi, a 60-year-old who has been a regular traveler on the Durrës-Tirana line, expresses nostalgia.
"It's been years since the train to go to Tirana works. Although they promised they would, we haven't seen anything yet. The resumption of the Durrës-Tirana line would also have lower economic costs for us as citizens, but the travel time would also be shortened." Dawn says.
Even that line that has been operating recently has now stopped pending reconstruction.
Capitulation of trains, the next project
The statistics of the Albanian Railway, made available to ACQJ, show that the movement figures have decreased.
In 2019, 59.787 travelers traveled by rail, while in 2020, 17.948 travelers traveled by rail. One of the reasons for this large decrease is the interruption of passenger transport due to anticovid measures.
According to HSH, the railway station of Tirana was the main center for the use of railway transport.
"The station of Tirana covered about 53% of the annual revenue of the railway in the transport of passengers, thus influencing the decrease of the general revenue of the railway transport", emphasizes Albanian Railways.
This railway awaits complete reconstruction. In October, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) announced that the Italian company INC SPA was the winner of the competition for the rehabilitation project of the 34.2 km railway link between Tirana (Tirana's Public Transport Terminal) and the city of Durrës as well as the construction of about 5 kilometers of the new railway line between Tirana and Rinas Airport.
The total cost of the project is 92.1 million euro, of which 35.5 million euro grant is covered by the Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF) and 36.9 million euro is covered by the EBRD loan, while the remaining part will be financed by the Albanian government.
Will they give us the keys?
The Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy promises ACQJ that during this summer the dismantling of the existing line will begin and the works will begin in the fall.
"The project for the rehabilitation of the existing Durrës-Tirana railway line and the construction of the new railway line with Mother Teresa International Airport has already been finalized with the signing of the Contract on February 3, 2021, while the construction works will start on September 11, 2021 (after the completion of the first 6-month phase, the completion of the detailed implementation project which is in the drafting process). This Contract is of the "DESIGN & BUILD" typology (Turnkey Contract), drawn up in accordance with FIDIC Contracts according to EU standards and rules, where the Works Contractor bears the responsibility not only of the construction but also of the design of the project final for Implementation. At the same time, the Contractor has been activated with the mobilization of the Site and in order to accelerate the implementation of the works during the summer period of 2021, (June - August) the work on dismantling the existing line will begin immediately after the engagement of the Bank's Consultant who will manage the Environmental Plan and Social in the field according to the Bank's requirements. This entire contract, which has already started, has a time limit of 30 months in total (including the DESIGN period)". it is stated in the response of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy to ACQJ.
However, the State Agency for Expropriation states that no request for expropriation within this project has gone to this institution.
"The State Agency for Expropriation has not yet received a request with an expropriation project in the framework of the construction of the Tirana-Durra Railway. An orientation meeting was held on how to draft the 'request for expropriation'. The latter in order to avoid the unnecessary prolongation of the process with returns and completion of files". it is stated in AShSh's response to ACQJ.
With the prediction that this project will have a great impact as it will be the most favorable and safe alternative transport, Albanian Railways officially counts the facilities that go in favor of the citizens.
"The investment that will be made in the Durrës-Tirana-Durrës railway line, which also foresees the reconnection of the Albanian railway network with the capital of Albania, is the most favorable and safe alternative transport for citizens who live between Durrës and Tirana, as well as the entire population of the country, who use rail transport. Citizens will not use buses but will frequent the train, spending less". closes her answer to the Albanian Railways ACQJ.
Regarding this fact, ACQJ communicated with a bus driver who serves on the Durrës-Tirana-Durrës route. Deda, who has been describing this axis for several years, says that the investment will bring a positive effect to the citizens. But it will affect him and his colleagues for the worse.
"For citizens, this will have positive consequences, but for me and my colleagues, this will have negative consequences, as citizens will tend to travel by train. The pandemic has hit us a little, then this will hit us too. If it is done according to all the conditions, the bus line to Tirana will be forced to go towards bankruptcy, as it is known that the citizens will choose an option that is cheaper and maybe even safer". concludes the 54-year-old.
The train comes along with the noise
In the non-technical report, it is stated that the construction of the railway line will create noise for the houses that are built near the line.
"For the apartments that are very close to the line and the noise level exceeds the norms measured according to the standard for noise level measurement SSH EN ISO/DIS 1996-2:2007", it is said in report.
While in this report it is mentioned that: "The Tirana-Durres railway line passes through areas with an agrarian and often urban character. Also, the new Tirana-Rinas line passes through the rural agrarian area. The project of this line will cross the Tirana and Lana rivers through bridges, so there will be a minimal impact on the ecosystems on the banks of these rivers during the construction phase..
Meanwhile, from the ACQJ's research, it appears that although these data have been sent to the National Environment Agency for approval, the KTA has not yet expressed a decision on this matter.
