Kosovo train Fushe Han of Elez is expected to resume by one year late

The rehabilitation of the Fushe Kosovo railway segment Han of Elez is expected to be completed by the end of this year, Infrako officials confirm the company operating with Kosovo's railway network.
This line has been under repair since 2019, and originally it was the first to complete the work in 2021.

The line has continued towards northern Macedonia and has been the only one connecting Kosovo to a Western Balkan country.

The train's rotation has been suspended in March 2020, robbing citizens of a travel vehicle considered cheaper.

This, then, has caused financial problems for Traankos, the company that offers railway transport services in Kosovo and collects revenues from ticket sales.

We are not damaged, but disabled”, says Nol Deday, chairman of Trainko's board, for Radio Free Europe.

I have sometimes requested from competent authorities the reason for not completing jobs in railway infrastructure, but I have not received answers. We demand that transportation of travelers and goods resume. This is seriously damaging us financially”, Deday says.

Prior to the interruption of the Kosovo Fushe train Han of Elez, Dedaj says the average annual income from the sale of tickets has been around 100,000 euros.

This amount, in 2021, has been reduced to about 51 thousand euros, while this year to 45 thousand euros, as only Pristina and Pristina trains have remained in circulation.

Kosovo's Statistics Agency data also supports claims of reducing the number of travellers.

Of the more than 120 grand that was the number of people who traveled by train in 2018, this number was reduced to about 60 thousand in 2021, the ASC's data showed.
The breakthroughs of the works are linked to a range of reasons, including the coronary pandemic, say Infracos.

The Mulaj Bridge, the task of chief executive in the company, says the delay has caused some unbroken explosive vehicles, found under the railway body and believed to date back to world wars.

After Sancing this problem, he confirms that rehabilitation of the Fushe Kosovo segment Elez's Han will be completed in December.

The REL has also contacted the Italian company “General Construsion Ferreviore” (GCF), which has been selected by Infracos for performing operations in this segment, but, until the publication of this article, has not been answered.

Work on this line, which has included local subcontractors, has reached the value of about 78m euros.

Tools have been provided mainly through loans from international financial mechanisms.

Osova has begun rehabilitation of other railway segments as well.

Infrako officials suggest that, in the month of October, works have been launched in the Kosovo Fushe segment Mitrovica, which is expected to end in January 2024. This line could connect Kosovo with Serbia.

Officials have also said that the railway network associated with Albania is in the feasibility phase, or the assessment of the plan.

Kosovo Railways have a length of about 333km, and Kosovo trains have once circulated on international lines.

Railways have not been properly maintained since the early 1990s, when even wars in the territory of the former Yugoslavia have begun, and their degradation has continued year after year. Many train stations are also in serious condition.

Deday, from Trainkos, says that even when railways are repaired, travellers will not have better accommodation conditions on trains.

This because, according to him, locomotives and wagons are old and high expenses are needed for their replacement.

“From friendly states, we're asking for donations or mobile vehicles for travelers and goods, so that with the modernisation of the railways, there will be more speed trains”, Dedaj says.

He does not elaborate on which states the donations were requested and if they received any answers from them.
Current trains cannot move faster than 60 miles per hour [60 km], while with the renovation of railways, speed will likely increase to 150 miles per hour.

In 2018, the Government of Kosovo, then led by Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj, has promised that by 2022, Kosovo will have a complete Kosovo rail network, including Elez's Hani and Fushe Kosova Leshak, on the border with Serbia.

One more month until the end of 2022, this has not happened.

Officials of the current government of Kosovo have confirmed earlier for Radio Free Europe that they are working on the network linking Kosovo with the countries of the region and beyond, but that when all works are finished, they are not known.