Albanian railways preparing to connect to the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia

A European Union grant will help Albanian railways improve their network and connect Albanian localities at higher speeds, reports the local press (Panorama, 29.06.2009). Amounting to nearly 53 million Euros, the grant is given to Albanian railways in order to improve the infrastructure, the signaling capacities as well as the speed and the security capacity of the network. Train speed is expected to increase from 60 km/h to 100 km/h. According to the General Director of the Highways, Zamir Ramadani, this will make railways a preferable means of transport for passengers and goods. He quotes nearly “Š260,000 passengers have taken the train in the first five months [of 2009] and almost 150,000 tons of goods transported via railway Ţ The main imports and exports carried to and from the Montenegrin border are stated to be fuels, perishables, iron, cement and bricks.
Albania is actually connected by railways only to one neighbor: Montenegro. The train connection goes from Shkod철to Koplik and then to Hani i Hotit (in Albania) and thence to Podgoric련in Montenegro). The connection to the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia border is yet only a project. Connection to the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia railways would enable transportation along the trans-Balkan axis. That would connect the Adriatic seaports of Durr쳠or Vlor련Albania) -to the Black Sea port cities of Varna or Burgas (Bulgaria).
In their eastern stretch, the Albanian railways go up to the city of Lin, which could be used as a hook-up to make a connection to K쳧ov련Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia). The whole railway distance between Lin and K쳧ov롩s believed to be nearly 45 kilometers, out of which only nearly 2.8 kilometers are within Albanian territory.
The General Director of the Albanian Highways, Zamir Ramadani, estimates the cost of the connection to the border of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to be nearly 5 million Euros. The remaining railway connection (over 40 kilometers) that would be constructed in the territory of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia faces not only financial cost but also difficulties arising from a broken mountainous terrain. Ramadani keeps high hopes that Albanian railways will be connected to those of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia within the next 3 years.