Hekurudha Shqiptare

Hekurudha Shqiptare

Newly painted T-669 Locomotive at Kashar transit station
Locale	Albania
Dates of operation	1945–
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ¹⁄₂ in)
Headquarters	Durres Railway Station, Durrës, Albania
Website	http://www.hsh.com.al/

Hekurudha Shqiptare or HSH (Albanian Railways) is Albania's state-owned operator of the Albanian Railway System. The network's main terminal is the Durrës Railway Station in the port city of Durrës.

HSH's infrastructure runs east to Pogradec (up to Librazhd as of 2012), south to Vlorë and north to Shkodër. There is also a branch line to the capital Tirana (up to Kashar, 10 km away as of 2015). The network was extended beyond Shkodër in the 1980s into what is now Montenegro, via the Albanian border town of Hani i Hotit. But this section of the system is for freight only. There is also no physical rail connection between Albania and neighbouring Macedonia or Greece. Albanian Railways has been described by many travel guides as a tourist attraction and a de facto panoramic journey.

HSH is totally non-electrified, and trains are hauled by Czechoslovak T-669 diesel electric locomotives. The entire system is normally single-track, with bypasses at various points throughout. Second-hand passenger rolling stock from Germany's DB, Italy's FS, Austria's ÖBB, or Poland's PKP is used on the system. Trains have suffered from vandalism such as damage from rocks thrown at carriages or damage to the interiors. Periodically, some lines do not run on a full schedule as parts of the rail track is damaged from landslides or stolen for iron scrap. Plans exist to upgrade the Durrës–Tiranë line linking it with Rinas Airport starting in 2013 although a similar previous plan was rejected by the Albanian government.

Passenger services

Renovated wagon interior in 2015.

In 2015, some rail stations and rolling stock along the Durres-Tirane line were renovated and adopted a red and white livery. The scenic Librazhd-Pogradec line was closed for passenger traffic in 2012. The stored locomotives and wagons from Prrenjas are being moved to Elbasan. As a result, this section may be dismantled, as it doesn't link any major cities.

There are several freight-only branch lines. Regular freight trains run between Podgorica and Shkodër every weekday (with Albanian and Montenegrin locomotives alternating daily) and between Durrës and the oil refinery at Ballsh once a week. The Tirana-Shkodër and the Durrës-Elbasan lines are normally served by mixed trains.

As of May 27, 2015 until further notice, the following daily trains are in service:^[1]

07:20 Durrës - 10:06 Elbasan - 11:00 Librazhd
15:15 Durrës - 18:02 Elbasan
05:15 Elbasan - 08:00 Durrës
13:00 Librazhd - 16:36 Durrës
05:30 Shkodër - 09:20 Durrës
13:00 Durrës - 16:45 Shkodër
05:00 Vlorë - 09:45 Durrës
14:10 Durrës - 19:00 Vlorë

System Map

Hekurudha Shqiptare (HSH)

Legend

From Podgorica (freight only)

Border crossing with Montenegro

Hani i Hotit(freight only)

Shkozet

Durrës Railway Station

Durrës

Plazh

Xhyrë(freight only)

Qukës(freight only)

Prrenjas(freight only)

Lin(freight only)

Memelisht(freight only)

Gur i Kuq(freight only)

Lushnjë

Fier

Ballsh(freight only)

Vlorë

Rolling stock

Current

Locomotives

Class	Image	Type	Top speed		Number	Remarks	Built
Class	Image	Type	mph	km/h	Number	Remarks	Built
T-669 1000		DE locomotive		90	61 (series 1001-1061)	^[2]	1978

Carriages

Class	Image	Type	Top speed		Number	Remarks	Built
Class	Image	Type	mph	km/h	Number	Remarks	Built
AB 39-78					11 (series 401-411)	Former Italian coaches^[3]	>1959
					45	Former Austria^[2] Former Austrian numbers 50 81 20-04 000-059.	Arrived around 1999
Pafawag					8 (series 52-59)	Former Poland typ Osshd Y. Not sure if new or secondhand^[4]	1981
Pafawag Bwixd^[3]					10 (series 61-70)	Former Poland typ Halberstadt/120A. Not sure if new or secondhand^[4] 67 stil in service in 2009.	1981
		By, Byuu, ABy			12. Series 51 41 21-43 013 - 24^[2]	Halberstadt mitteleinstiegswagen, bought secondhand from Germany. Original built for GDR railways. German numbers 51 80 21 43
		UIC-X			63 (series 301-?)	Former Italian coaches series type B 29-38, B 29-40, B 29-70^[3]	1992-1993
A 19-40					5 (series 501-505)	Former Italian coaches^[3]

Retired

Class	Type	Top speed	Number	Remarks	Built
Class 56.3400	1'D h2 Steam locomotive		4	A gift from Sovjet Union, this former Austrian and Hungarian rolling stock was a trophy from the WOII.^[4]
Class 20	Steam locomotive		2		19?
Class 31	Steam locomotive		1 (31)	Steamless shunter	1940
Class 72	Steam locomotive		1 (72)		1941
Class 01	1'D1 ' 2-8-2 Steam locomotive	80	6 (TKt 48.01-48.06)	New, built in Poland. Similar to Polish TKt48 class.^[4] Possible in service until 1991.^[3]	1951, 1952
			5	Former German 'Schnellzugwagen' type AB4ü-28. Probably a gift from Sovjet Union, this rolling stock was a trophy from the WOII. Present during the 1949 opening of the first Albanian railway.^[4]
Krauss-Maffei 2000	DE locomotive	140	5 (2001-2005)	Former German locomotives DB Class 221, bought secondhand in 1989. Shipped in 1989-1990. Taken out of service around 1993. Most scrapped.	1956
T435 0500	DE locomotive	60	10	Identical to Czech 720 class. In 2009, 0524, 0526, 0591 were found in Prrenjas.	1958
T211 0450	DE locomotive	40	4	Identical to Czech T211 class	1959
T458/459 1500	DE locomotive	80	8	Identical to Czech T458 class. In 2009, 1523, 1525, 1526, 1530, 1531 were found in Prrenjas	1963
D			10 (01-10)	Chinese built bagage vans. Originally green, later brown colored.^[3] Some were seen in 2011, out of service.	1966-1972
B			41 (70-110)	Chinese built second class stock.^[3]	1966-1972
			4 (series 151-154)	Second class coach. Built byu Shkodër Wagon Works^[3]	1980's
			4 (series 151-154)	Second class coach. Built byu Shkodër Wagon Works^[3]	1980's
B10t (type Bruhat)		140	43 (series 201-243) (in France: 50 87 20-47 423, 491, 496-812)	French stock, bought secondhand in 1980's. Originally constructed between 1956 and 1962 in a serie of 318 coaches, reconstructed from 1900-1920 PLM coaches. In France called 'modernisées Sud Est' of 'Bruhat'^[3]	1981-1982

References and notes

↑ HSH Official timetable
1 2 3 Focken, Heiki (2008), Lok Report: Albanien. Auf Schienen durch das Land der Skipetaren,
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Angelfire.com: HSH Passenger Stocklist
1 2 3 4 5 Drehscheibe Online

External links

National railway companies of Europe

List of railway companies Rail transport by country Railway companies by country

Albania HSH Armenia SKZD¹ Austria ÖBB Azerbaijan ADY Belarus BŽD/BČ Belgium SNCB/NMBS Bosnia ŽFBH² and ŽRS³ Bulgaria BDŽ Croatia HŽ Czech Republic ČD Denmark DSB Estonia EVR Finland VR France SNCF Georgia SR¹ Germany DB Greece TrainOSE Hungary MÁV Ireland IÉ Italy FS Kazakhstan KTŽ¹ Kosovo HK/KŽ⁴ Latvia LDZ Lithuania LG Luxembourg CFL Macedonia MŽ Moldova CFM Montenegro ŽPCG Netherlands NS Norway NSB Poland PKP Portugal CP Romania CFR Russia RŽD¹ Serbia ŽS Slovakia ŽSSK Slovenia SŽ Spain Renfe Operadora Sweden SJAB Switzerland SBB/CFF/FFS Turkey TCDD¹ Ukraine UZ United Kingdom NR⁵ / NIR⁶

¹Country partly in Asia ²For the Federation BH ³For Srpska ⁴State with limited recognition ⁵For Great Britain ⁶For Northern Ireland

Hekurudha Shqiptare (HSH) rolling stock

Locomotives

Steam	Class 01 Class 20 Class 31 Class 56 Class 72

Diesel-electric	Class T211.0 Class T435.0500 Class T458.1500 Class T669.1000 Class 2000

Coaches

Second hand	Silberling UIC-X

See also Category:Rolling stock of Albania

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