Author: Andi Bora, Andrea Dangli
Albanian railways today offer less than 20 kilometers of passenger transport line, at a time when budget funding, grants and loans for their development have been uninterrupted and the legacy from the past, considerable.
Albanian railways have had more than 64 million dollars in disposable income over the last 24 years and with that they have not managed to maintain or build a single kilometer of railway with acceptable standards.
In 1990, Albania inherited from the communist system 730 kilometers of railways, all of which were functional and transported people and goods.
During the last two decades in the country, not only has no intervention been made to improve and modernize the system, but Albania has only a few railway lines available, which also operate part-time.
Today, only one passenger line is operational, the Durrës-Vorë line, which is 20 kilometers long.
Meanwhile, few other lines operate for the transport of industrial materials.
Even in these segments, derailment of trains, collisions with vehicles or even defects from the damping of locomotives are often reported.
Annual sums from the state budget, donations and grants received from partner countries, as well as loans given with favorable terms by international financial institutions have not been enough for a modest operation of the Albanian railway lines.
PSE traveled to ascertain the situation of the railways in Durrës, Pogradec, Përrenjas, Lushnjë, Fier, Ballsh, Vlorë, Shkodër and Bajze, but it was difficult to ascertain on the ground traces of investments of 64 million dollars, which officially went to railways, stations and trains.
Continuous income
PSE, through the "Right to Information" law, has managed to withdraw from the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure the amounts granted by the Albanian government, grants and donations, as well as loans granted to Albanian railways from 1990 to 2016.
According to our calculations, the railway sector during the last 26 years has benefited a financial amount of about 63,879,717 dollars.
Specifically, during this period the state budget allocated 4 billion 457 million 110 thousand ALL (4,457,110,000 ALL).
In addition to these, the Albanian railway has received loans from international financial institutions in the amount of 1 billion 876 million 296 thousand 143 ALL (1,876,296,143 ALL). Meanwhile, the interest added to the received loans is also calculated to this amount.
Also, at least 15 million dollars in grants, given by the American government, have gone to the budget of the Albanian railway.
Meanwhile, significant sums of money received from the Italian, Japanese government or other countries' railways are listed in the list of grants.
The Albanian railway also has an extremely high internal debt: obligations to private companies for fuel or security Services.
The railways have also cost the state budget the loss of 10 million dollars.
In 2008, the Albanian state lost the trial in the International Arbitration against the company "General Electric" for breaking the contract for the construction of the Tirana-Durrës-Rinas line, signed by the government of former Prime Minister Fatos Nano.
The former director of the Railways, Ferdinand Xhaferraj, in a statement for PSE emphasized that, during the last 26 years, the Albanian governments have not had the developments in this field a priority.
"Building roads was also perceived as an electoral benefit, among others. In the internal plan, the numerous problems of the transition have served as a centrifugal force to bring the Albanian railway to the periphery of the governments' interests", he said.
The state of the railway
Despite the amounts allocated continuously, a survey of PSE in all railway stations of the country documents a dramatic situation, which has been getting worse.
The capital no longer has a train station. In Tirana, the train station has been moved towards Kashari to create space for the extension of the boulevard.
In order to arrive at the train station, the citizen departing from Tirana, in addition to the train ticket, needs to spend an additional cost of the city bus or any other means of transport.
Kashari railway station seems to stand closer to the conditions to meet the demands of travelers, despite its very small size. There are not rare cases when movement at this station is blocked mainly due to lack of fuel.
The railway station in the city of Lushnja has turned into a resort for residents, where during the day they bring their animals to graze in the dense bushes that have hidden the tracks.
A resident of this city told PSE that this station has lacked investment for years, leaving it to degrade completely.
"The railway was built in 1967. After 1997, the railway here did not function properly. It has been operating intermittently for almost 20 years. There were no investments. There are four or five maintenance workers and this line has not been working for about a year. I haven't seen any more trains coming here," he says.
Next we come across the station of the city of Fier. Residents use the track space behind the administration building to cross by motor vehicle.
"The passenger train has not passed here for 6-7 months, but the administration is partially at work. Meanwhile, the reconstruction of the line is expected to be done by a private company. We have been told that the reconstruction includes locomotives, wagons, crossbars, rails and everything", - an employee of this station, who asks not to be identified, tells PSE.
This entire line, which includes the Ballsh-Vlora segment, has been given a concession for 2015 years to the companies "Alb Star sh.pk" and "Matrix Construction sh.pk" since 25. In January 2016, about 16 million dollars were scheduled to be invested, while to date no sign of investment results on the ground.
But the railway line towards Vlora continues to deteriorate even further. The resident of the city, Dashnor Kamberi, points out to PSE that, for a month, he has not seen either trains or railway employees at the station.
"For now the situation is zero. The trains have taken them for melting. Only minor repairs are made, when the train sometimes derails. There are no maintenance personnel on site. One or two people may show up once a month", Kreshnik Danaj emphasizes.
The former head of the maintenance of the Rrogozhinë, Ballsh, Fier and Vlorë line, Llukan Panajoti, told PSE that, since 2010, no investment has been made in this line.
"Since 2010, the foundation of this railway is outside the minimum technical conditions. The lack of gravel and the non-replacement of sleepers has put the safety of train movement at risk," he emphasizes.
The Pogradec station used to hold hundreds of passengers, where two locomotives were stationed to pull the many wagons that meandered along the railway. But this already belongs to the past, as today the situation is completely different.
The train station is no longer recognizable. There are no guards, no wagons or tracks that can testify that the train once moved here. Instead, in the station space you can find a cattle pasture, just like in many other stations.
"We haven't heard the noise of the train for years. We used to travel safely with him. We didn't get nervous from traffic, nor were we at risk from accidents", says Dashamir Kroi, a citizen from Pogradec.
Meanwhile, further on, the situation at Përrenjas station has worsened.
The train horn has not been heard in this city for years. In front of him, there are only a few locomotives rusted by time and nothing more.
"Nothing works here. The wagons you see have served as motels to spend the night or as places to consume narcotics. As far as they have informed us, these remaining scrap yards will be scrapped. Let's stay ready, with the hope that one day it will be reopened and revive like before", says Guri Sina, the only one of the eight guards who stays at work regularly.
The situation is also serious in Elbasan station. Now this building resembles a ruin without any signs of life. With the naked eye, you can see rusted locomotives, wrecked wagons and dislodged rails.
Fadil Polis, now retired, seems that this situation hurts him a lot, since years ago he participated in the voluntary action to build the railway.
"We haven't seen any works for years. Even some metal parts that were there before are no longer there today, as the scrap thieves did not spare them. In the past, when the train came, people would line up and attack it with stones, while today they are looking for it", says the Elbasan citizen.
In 85, the train tracks were laid between the Hani i Hoti-Podgorica border, thus marking the first international line between Albania and Montenegro.
This railway segment, despite interventions to maintain it, has shown serious problems.
From PSE's observation, it is found that it is almost impossible for the drivers to take over the direction of the train, as the old locomotives break down during work.
They state that the key problem is the lack of proper specialists to maintain it.
In 2002, the state budget allocated 311.8 million ALL of investment for this line to reopen it.
PSE traveled to the key station of the international line in Bajze, where he closely observed the situation and spoke with the employees of this station. Some of them, even though drunk, took over the direction of the train, not considering the fatal consequences that could come from this adventure.
Dede Preçi, today 69 years old, has been in the first hours of the beginning of the works for the construction of this line. He says that the line is almost as it was long ago, when he was working.
"The same buildings, the same locomotives, the same signage, the same beams at road intersections. The difference is that today it is many times more degraded than yesterday.
So, in short, even what was built once has been destroyed today", says Preçi.
In the electoral debates in Albania, especially in the capital, during the last 10 years there has been talk of big plans for the construction of tram lines, for underground communication stations, for highways and axes that will connect us with neighboring countries.
The truth is that railways are no longer railways or railways.
