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Fresh from a visit to Pristina, Prime Minister Sali Berisha, has requested that the Transportation Ministry conduct a feasibility study into a rail link between Kosovo and Albania.
“A railway link would strengthen economic ties between our two countries,” Berisha said in a cabinet meeting.
“The Kosovo railway is of wide interest for Albanian ports, because it connects with Serbia and central Europe,” he added.
Albania is in the process of completing a one billion euros highway linking the port of Durres, on the Adriatic coast, with Kosovo.
The highway, which is Albania’s largest public works project in two decades, has been marred by corruption allegations and cost overruns.
Tirana has also offered Pristina the use of Shengjin port in northern Albania, through a concessionary agreement, which would give Kosovo an outlet to the sea.
Albania currently only has one international rail link, with Montenegro. The state-owned company which operates the railways is heavily-subsidised by the state.
Before the fall of Albania’s communist regime, under which private vehicle ownership was illegal, railways were often the only mode of transportation for Albanians.
Since the communist system collapsed, in 1991, passenger and cargo numbers have dwindled and tracks and equipment have fallen into disrepair.
Balkan Insight / BIRN