Rail Travel in Albania

The map has been extracted from the Railway Map of Europe with kind permission of the publishers.
You can purchase copies of the full map, as well as rail timetables, from The European Railway Timetable website

ALBANIA

Tirana itself is not presently connected to the railway network and a bus is used for the 8km run between there and Kashar which is the main terminus. Single track unelectrified lines run north to Shkoder and southwards to Durres, Elbasan and Fier (for visit to the Greco-Roman city of Apollonia). However the only scheduled train is a daily return trip from Elbasan to Durres and even these are subject to ad hoc cancellation: you would be well advised, therefore, to rely on intercity bus services for your travels in this country.

In October 2021 the governments of Bulgaria, North Macedonia and Albania signed a memorandum to complete what is known as Corridor VIII: this would enable the building of a railway infrastructure which by 2030 would link Varna on the Black Sea with Durres on the Adriatic

These websites may be of use to you when making plans:

IR October 2024