Eurostat: Albania, the country with the lowest railway density in Europe

All of Europe has prioritized the construction of railways as a more efficient means of transporting passengers and goods and with a much lower impact on the environment.

The European Union has also given importance to railway construction in its infrastructure projects. In contrast, Albania, in its 30 years of transition, has not focused on improving its railway system, which it inherited from the past, or on building new lines.

The latest Eurostat data shows that Albania had only 9 meters of railway per square kilometer in 2023, the lowest in Europe. In the region, Serbia has the highest density with 44 meters per square kilometer, followed by North Macedonia (27.4), Kosovo (22.8m), and Montenegro (18.4m).

Although belated, steps have recently been taken to revitalize the railway network. The Tirana-Durres railway, financed by the EBRD, is being built.

The tender for the construction of the Vorë-Hani Hotit railway has been opened. The Rrogozhinë-Vlorë railway is in the tendering phase of the project idea. The Durrës-Pristina railway is in the project drafting phase. The project is ready, and financing has been requested from the EBRD for the Durrës-Rrogozhinë railway.

According to Eurostat, in 2023, the EU rail network had a total length of 200,947 km, with the highest density of rail lines concentrated in major cities and other population centres.

The highest density of the railway network was recorded in the Czech Republic, with 123.2 metres of railway line per km². Other EU countries with high density were Belgium (119.2 m/km²), Germany (109.5 m/km²) and Luxembourg (104.8 m/km²).

On the other hand, the lowest rail network density was recorded in Greece (14.0 m/km²) and Finland (19.4 m/km²). Low densities were also recorded in Sweden (26.8 m/km²), Estonia (27.2 m/km²), Portugal (27.8 m/km²), Latvia (28.9 m/km²) and Ireland (29.8 m/km²).

Expansion of high-speed rail lines in the EU

On the EU rail network, high-speed rail lines, designed for speeds above 250 km/h, often cross national borders, enabling seamless high-speed travel within the EU.

This interconnected network has experienced significant growth over the last decade. From 2013 to 2023, its length expanded by 2,744 km (+47.2%), reaching 8,556 km.

In 2023, Spain led with 3,190 km of high-speed lines, a 66% increase from 1,919 km in 2013, followed by France with 2,748 km (+35% from 2,036 km), Germany with 1,163 km (+32% from 881 km) and Italy with 1,097 km (+63% from 675 km). Belgium registered 211 km of high-speed lines and the Netherlands 90 km (unchanged from 2013). Denmark has 57 km, inaugurated in 2019./MONITOR