TIRANA, Sept. 19 – State-run Albanian railways extended its losses last year as both rail passenger and freight transport hit a historic low negatively affected by the degrading infrastructure in huge need of investment.
Annual financial reports filed with the National Business Centre show the wholly government owned Hekurudha Shqiptare (Albanian Railways) posted losses of 712.7 million lek (€5.27 mln) in 2016, up 32 percent compared to 2015 as both passenger and freight transports more than halved.
Only 89,000 passengers chose to travel by train in 2016, down from 189,000 in 2015 and about 4 million in the early 1990s soon after the collapse of the communist regime which banned private ownership of cars and public trains and buses were the key mode of transport, according to state statistical institute, INSTAT.
Rail freight transport, mainly carried out only through Montenegro, also hit a record low of only 76,000 metric tons in 2016, at only about a third compared to 2015 and eight times less compared to the early 1990s.
The railway sector was also severely affected by the demolition of the Tirana train station in late 2013 to build a new boulevard whose construction was suspended because of political disputes. A new train station outside Tirana opened only in mid-2015. However, located in the suburb of Kashar, some 10 kilometers away from the city center, it remains unappealing to downtown dwellers.
More than a decade after cancelling a contract with U.S. giant General Electric, Albania is planning to revitalize its dilapidated rail transport by reconstructing the key Tirana-Durres segment and linking it to the country’s sole international airport. London-based European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has pledged a Euro 34.5 million loan to partly fund the reconstruction of the 35 km Tirana-Durres segment and built a new 7.4 km section linking Tirana to the airport just outside the capital in Rinas.
The government is planning to fund the remaining €52 million through the state budget or another soft loan from international financial institutions. The project’s total cost is estimated at €86.4 million.
The Albanian Railways has about 1,100 people employed but its fleet has been reduced to only 34 passenger carriages and 360 wagons in the past few years.
