THE FORGOTTEN RAILWAYS OF ALBANIA
28/03/2022
From 1946 to 1985, Albania was an authoritarian socialist regime lead by Enver Hoxha and under which owning a housing or a motor vehicule was forbidden. The regime invested in public transports, especially buses, public cars but also railways. After 1991 (the socialist regime lasted until 1991), owning a car was allowed again and the train use dropped dropped by 60% between 1993 and 2006 according to the State-owned Institute of Statistics. An Albanian friend also explained me that owning cars is also the symbol of the freedom that represents a market economy, as opposed to the traumas of Hoxha's regime. As the country was one of the closest in the world during Hoxha's regime, no passenger railway going beyond the borders was built. Is still doesn't exist today, which makes Albania one of the three European countries (with San Marino and Andorra) that doesn't have any international train connection !
Coming from North Macedonia by bus, there was actually a rusty railway all along that scenic road. The track that I saw was the one going across the country from west (Durrës) to east (Pogradec). Today, the trains still operate from the north to the south. It partially operates from the west to the east as it now stops at Librazhd's station, although the connection from Elbasan to Librazhd is irregular. After 1991, the train schedules also became irregular as the metal from the railway was often stolen to be sold.
Since Elbasan is a main industrial hub located in the middle of the country, I figured it would be the best place to check out the abandoned railway and maybe find some abandoned trains or railway-related buildings. My hostel (Elbasan Backpacker Hostel, which I recommand!) was actually located five minutes walk away from the railway.
It's definitely easy to tell how low frequented the Elbasan train station is, as most of the trains there were actually abandoned!... During Hoxha's lead, the Albanian carriages and locomotives were offered or exchanged against chrome with other socialist countries, notably China and Czechoslovakia. After 1985, Albania purchased second hand carriages from Germany, France, Austria and Italy, although they have been sent out of the country after a few years due to the high cost of their maintenance. Buying second hand transportations from Europe is probably common in Albania and Kosovo, as I also traveled in buses where everything was written in German or French.
The trains were actually locked apart from one. Although it was in an obvious state of disrepair, the vintage four seats cabins were worth the visit and got me travel to either Hogwarts or either on board of the Darjeeling Express...
There were also two interesting abandoned sheds around the station were trains were probably repaired. They were actually very accessible as the huge doors didn't exist anymore. They are also obviously common meeting places to buy and use drugs, as I saw many used needles on the ground and witnessed a drug transaction in the biggest shed.
The motto of the PPSH (Party of Labour of Albania, which was Hoxha's party) was a bit erased but still visible inside the main shed. It means "Holding pickhax in one hand and the rifle in the other... Brings to life the historical decisions of the PPSH". I guess this motto was written in the walls of many factories across the country in order to reaffirm the marxist orientation of the party.
As I was curious about what a countryside abandoned station from this railway may look like, I then decided to drive to the nearby village of Papër. Indeed, thanks the incredible mapping work of Oneman-Onmap, I knew that the train used to serve this station. I found a little one-room building along the railway. Its door was locked but had a hole big enough to see the inside... A crumbling wooden bench and a train schedule from Elbasan to the upper city of the network, Shkodër!...
The demolition of Tirana central station in 2013 to create a massive boulevard is a good illustration of the swing between a public transport based ciruclation to a private car based one. The new station of Tirana is actually now way smaller and located in a suburban neighborhood. Although they are now projects for private investments in the railway network and its extension, it may still take a while before it gets the approval of Albanians...
