New documentary: Albania's last trains

[Berliner]

Though those aren't standard gauge, are they?

If Albania wanted DMUs anything fairly old (so they can be maintained by traditional mechanics) from mainland Europe would do well enough. Nothing really from the UK as it's a low-platform country so you want units with stepped entrances.

I do wonder if it'll eventually see something like Cambodia - a foreign business coming in to take it over and do it up properly with modern kit (even though that did end up back in Cambodian hands once done).

I think it may well be the best chance of train travel making any kind of comeback in Albania. I can only compare it to what I saw in Myanmar, at least around Yangon, old JR carriages were running, although they had been left to decay as many of the seats were in a poor state and some of the doors didn't close properly. Still better than mainline Burmese rail services, but not a shadow of their former self when the same trains were in Tokyo, which the old route maps seemed to suggest they had been.

If Albania was to receive any kind of international investment in its railways, I'm guessing there would be a push to link the country to those around it to create a kind of Balkans network and another stable rail link between south and north Europe.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I think it may well be the best chance of train travel making any kind of comeback in Albania. I can only compare it to what I saw in Myanmar, at least around Yangon, old JR carriages were running, although they had been left to decay as many of the seats were in a poor state and some of the doors didn't close properly. Still better than mainline Burmese rail services, but not a shadow of their former self when the same trains were in Tokyo, which the old route maps seemed to suggest they had been.

Fundamentally the issue is that Albania is very much small family business territory - there are very few large businesses or chains (not even the Golden Arches, though there is a fake version). This has its benefits, but the problem with railways is that to do anything other than change the timetable posters requires very large financial investment. If you came into a bit of money you could easily buy a minibus and put on a furgon service (the minibus type services that pervade Albania and carry most non-private-car passenger traffic outside Tirana) but you're not going to be able to spit on the railway, as it were.

The other problem with Albania is that there's a lot of corruption - and indeed I'm sure I recall hearing that there was almost a private deal to rebuild Durres-Tirana properly but it fell through for that sort of reason.

 

[JonasB]

If Albania was to receive any kind of international investment in its railways, I'm guessing there would be a push to link the country to those around it to create a kind of Balkans network and another stable rail link between south and north Europe.

That would be great, but the terrain will make it very expensive. I think there is a reason Albania has never had a rail link to any other country apart from the one line to Montenegro.

 

[nanstallon]

I have been to Albania a few times; my daughter-in-law is from Albania. The railway is a sad sight, and I'd love to see it revived, but what purpose would it serve? Road transport is more effective, and certainly so when there is no station in downtown Tirana. For example, there is a direct road between Tirana and Elbasan while the train involves a detour via Durres. I have travelled the whole passenger network as was in 2012, and enjoyed my journeys, but only because I like trains. There was some local custom, of course, but only because trains were so cheap. In reality, distances are too short for it to be worth any major investment.

Also, I suspect that many Albanian people associate trains with the Enver Hoxha era, when the railway system was developed, some lines only opening in the 1980s.

But I'd be very happy to be proved wrong. Photos of (1) 1960s Czech built loco , (2) Durres station building and (3) Elbasan station building.