TIRANA, July 19 (Xinhua) -- The reconstruction of the entire Albanian railway network is estimated to cost 427 million euros (492.4 million U.S. dollars), officials from the Albanian Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure said Wednesday.
The ministry said in a press release that it already had an economic evaluation report which included all existing lines, from Han i Hotit in North of Albania to Vlora in South and Pogradec in Southeast.
It includes Tirana-Durres line and two segments used for goods transport, one line that goes to Ballsh and another one to Fushe-Kruja cement factory.
Meanwhile, the statement said that the project for the Tirana-Durres line was ready and funds were granted.
Study showed that the rehabilitation of only this segment mounted up to 40 million euros.
The Rinas airport segment is not related to this study, and its total is 46.4 million euros.
Railways are being seen as an opportunity to reduce the transportation of goods and connecting it through the entire region, cutting the travel time, since the current trains only travel at a speed of 40 km/h.
The Albanian railway has 66 passenger wagons, 225 wagons for goods and 25 locomotives. The capacity in theory is 2 million passengers and 500 million goods a year.
The Albanian government has signed an Association-Stabilization agreement with the European Union (EU) which foresees a reconstruction of the Albanian railway based on EU principles.
