Transport in Albania

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Private minibuses ensure the connection to the villages - even today, many areas of Albanian transport are not strictly regulated.

The traffic in Albania , passenger and goods transport on land, sea and in the air is from the Albanian Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy ( Albanian  Ministria e Infrastrukturës dhe Energjisë ) regulated.

With major investments in the infrastructure since 2000 - in the picture A1 motorway near Kukës - the development of the country has been significantly promoted.

Traffic in Albania - compared to international developments - remained modest until the end of the 20th century, limited also by the mountainous topography . It was not until the first half of the 20th century that an initial, simple network of traffic routes was built, mostly driven by military targets by the occupiers. Since the collapse of the communist regime , the Albanian transport system has undergone fundamental changes, significant growth and noticeable expansion in recent decades. Improvements in road infrastructure, public transport in cities and aviation have significantly improved the traffic situation. This also made economic growth in the country possible. The economy in turn is based, among other things, on the flourishing construction industry and growing tourism .

history

Early history and lack of development

The Via Egnatia connected Dyrrachium with Byzantium.

In ancient times , the region of the modern state of Albania was located on important traffic routes such as the Via Egnatia , the Roman road from Dyrrachium (today Durrës ) to Byzantium and the eastern part of the connection between the two centers of the Roman Empire . Illyria was "quite a member of the Orbis terrarum ". Many cities prospered thanks to their proximity to the coast, for example the ancient Orikum , which is still used as a port - today the Pashaliman naval base . Inscriptions in the Grama Bay in southern Albania testify to the brisk navigation along the Albanian coast for thousands of years.

In the Middle Ages there was still brisk maritime trade across the Adriatic . With the occupation of the region by the Turks in the 15th century, it was integrated into the economic life of the Ottoman Empire . As a result, foreign trade fell sharply. Trade with Italy intensified again from the beginning of the 18th century, but the Albanian trading cities only gradually regained importance. Venice was once again dominant in trade . Later Albanian and Aromanian merchants took over the market leadership.

Albania was a fringe province of the Ottoman Empire. The region also remained severely underdeveloped for strategic reasons, driven by power politics, with no connection to the European markets. The difficult spatial conditions did their part. So had to Herbert Louis hold even in 1929 that Albania is indeed at major international trade routes, but is completely separated.

Lack of transport infrastructure at the beginning of the 20th century

Bridge in Northeastern Bania
Austro-Hungarian troops wade through the Mat in northern Albania.

Unlike the rest of Europe, no railways were built in Albania . But there was also a lack of roads - and the few existing ones were mostly in such poor condition that they could hardly be used - especially in the wet season. Until the 20th century, the transport of goods and people on land was limited to pack animals that fought over mountain paths and through swamp areas. Impressive stone arch bridges throughout the country testify to the caravan routes today. In the 1920s, caravans with over 100 horses and mules left Albanian port cities inland. Due to these difficult conditions, there was still hardly any trade between the individual regions of the country, which traded particularly with Italy - this was also observed when there was a shortage in one region and a neighboring region had an abundance of these goods. Cities like Shkodra were cut off from the rest of the country in winter. Reports from travelers testify not only of the difficulties, but also of the dangers posed by robbers and obstruction by the Ottoman army .

Because of the lack of land transport routes, sea traffic has always been important and connected the country to the world, but also to Constantinople . In the shallow Albanian ports, however, the steamers and merchant ships had to anchor in roadsteads . In the past, regular services on the Adriatic were mainly handled by Austrian Lloyd ships , and later increasingly by Italian companies. Shipping traffic across the Skadar Sea connected Shkodra with Montenegro , and boats on the Buna ensured the connection with the neighboring Adriatic ports.

Road with light railroad tracks built by Austria-Hungary during the war in northern Albania

The occupying powers laid out an initial road network during the First World War , which inevitably left gaps in the contested areas. The Austrians mainly built traffic routes from Shkodra to the south and beyond Durrës. The Italians built a long road from Saranda to Korça and the connection from Vlora to Saranda in mountainous southern Albania . A total of around 1500 kilometers of road were built. The construction of roads and field railways , with which the Austrians and Italians wanted to ensure supplies to the front, took time. Meanwhile, the operation Joint Army in northern Albania between Lezha and Vora a 42-kilometer transport cable car through the swamps of the coastal plain. Elsewhere in Albania, too, cable cars were built to supply the troops, but their use was nowhere near as extensive as on the Italian front and the Macedonian front .

The infrastructure continued to be built in the interwar period. There are different statements about the length of the road network in Albania. In 1912 there should have been only 160 kilometers. Despite the alleged construction of over 1,000 kilometers of roads during the war, a League of Nations envoy reported from his visit in 1922 that there were only 500 kilometers of roads in the country. They were in poor shape and often not connected. The road network of Albania was described in the mid-1920s with a length of around 1000 kilometers. After signing a contract with Italy in March 1925, the newly founded Italian company Società per lo Sviluppo Economico dell'Albania (SVEA, roughly “Society for the Economic Development of Albania”) was heavily involved in the expansion of Albania's infrastructure. In the period 1925/26 alone, 511 bridges were built, most of them on state roads. Important buildings of the 1920s were the first motorable road between Tirana and Korça, which opened in the middle of the decade, and the bridge over the Mat on the road between Shkodra and Tirana, built in 1927 and named after Ahmet Zogu . The new building planned by German and Swiss engineers with five large steel arches on concrete pillars spans 480 meters. The expansion of the road network continued, although car traffic was still modest at the time. However, many regions of the country remained completely untapped.

Coastal shipping also remained modest - mostly operated by ethnic Greeks from the Albanian Riviera . The expansion of the port of Durrës, which received jetties for the first time , was another important commitment of the SVEA.

Due to the poor traffic conditions on land, domestic mail and air traffic developed as early as the 1920s. At that time there was hardly any tourism .

Numerous road construction projects were carried out by the fascist Kingdom of Italy in the 1930s and during World War II . By the end of the war there were around 2,800 kilometers of motorways, but these were marked by the war. Many bridges were also destroyed.

People's Socialist Republic

Typical horse cart in May 1991

The communists, with support from their communist brother countries, pushed the economic development of the People's Socialist Republic forward and further expanded the infrastructure. In addition to generating energy, the expansion of the transport network was an important prerequisite for the industrialization of the country. The establishment of a railway network had priority, but this dragged on for decades.

"Transport is one of the most important branches of the national economy and plays an important role in the territorial organization of work and production, in the comprehensive development of all regions and in the equal use of natural resources."

- Arqile Bërxholi, Perikli Qiriazi : Albania. Geographical overview (1987)

In 1985 Albania boasted three times as many motorways as it did before the war. In an international comparison, the asphalt road network in Albania remained modest, although by 1986 it had grown to over 11,000 kilometers. In the 1980s, a large part of the remote mountain regions of Albania were connected to the capital Tirana and the ports on the Adriatic and the Ionian Sea , around 40% also by paved roads. In the mid-1980s, more than half of the transport of goods (around 90 million tonnes in total) and more than three-quarters of passenger transport (a total of 174 million passengers) were handled through them.

Street scene in Tirana in 1991

An important infrastructure project in the years from 1947 was the construction of a railway network, the first section of which was the Durrës – Peqin line . At the beginning, Albania was the only country in Europe without proper rail transport. In 1987, the country had 677 kilometers of railway lines connecting the main cities and industrial centers. The railway was the most important means of transport until 1990. After the collapse of communism, however, it lost more and more importance and is now in a precarious state.

Many railway lines and also some roads were built in supposed volunteer work by the youth of the country. However, the simple work equipment used by the young “volunteers” brought with them qualitative problems such as bumps and poor superstructure . In 1946, 5,000 volunteers are said to have built the 65-kilometer “Road of Youth” from Kukës to Peshkopia in just five months . At the end of the 1960s, the “Road of the Great Mountains ” to Kelmend was built in a similar action , which finally also brought the northernmost part of the country was accessible by motorized vehicle. Many of the new traffic routes were used to develop mining regions or the large hydropower plants on the Mat and Drin .

Due to the ban on private car ownership, the lack of well-developed public transport and travel restrictions imposed by the regime, the volume of traffic remained very modest. Many people moved on foot or by bicycle, some of them with small motorbikes. Often the loading areas of trucks were also used to transport people. Animal transport was widespread. The cities were characterized by countless pedestrians on traffic-free streets and squares. The roads, not only in the mountains, were narrow and wound in countless curves through the landscape.

“The whole country seems to be one enormous pedestrian zone. A country without traffic lights and without motorization. "

- Paul Lendvai : Lonely Albania (1986)

The tourist was in communist Albania, no substantial economic factor. There was a modest domestic tourism, the number of guests from abroad was deliberately kept very low. Only group travel was allowed. Tourism thus had no influence on the transport infrastructure, perhaps apart from the range of flight connections.

Post-communist transformation years

Mercedes-Benz vehicles on Tirana's main street

After the political change, Albania faced a major transport emergency. The central government lacked the finances to maintain the streets. And the state fleet of 15,000 trucks, which used to handle most of the traffic, quickly fell into disrepair. Many remote regions were no longer connected to the outside world and were no longer supplied with goods. In Operation Pelikan, the Italian army secured supplies with hundreds of its own trucks for more than two years.

Until 1991, only 5,000 to 7,000 cars were registered in Albania - all of them state-owned. Then the government lifted the ban on private individuals owning cars. As a result, a large number of used cars were quickly imported. In order to be able to regulate the increasing traffic, traffic lights had to be installed in Tirana for the first time . Traffic within the country was kept up with old buses from Greece and other countries owned by their private drivers.

The Albanians prefer cars from German manufacturers, especially Mercedes . As well as being a status symbol , these are valued for their durability, reliability and suspension as the vehicles are exposed to many potholes and unpaved roads. Albania is the country with the highest density of Mercedes-Benz cars - but they are often older vehicles, robust old series with as few electronics as possible. King Zogu had received a dark brown Mercedes 770 as a wedding present in 1938 , and since Enver Hoxha and other Politburo members had Mercedes vehicles, the brand was able to gain a foothold in Albania even though private ownership of cars was prohibited.

“Anyone who thinks Mercedes-Benz is a luxury brand needs to visit Albania urgently. Because there he will quickly be taught better. Mercedes drives half of Albania; almost every intercity taxi comes from Daimler-Benz. Mercedes is the Volkswagen of Albania! "

- Jörg Dauscher : 111 reasons to love Albania (2019)
The highway called Rruga e Kombit , which runs across the mountains, connects Albania with Kosovo.

When the number of vehicles in Tirana rose to over 300,000, air pollution quickly became a problem. Most of them are old diesel vehicles , whereby it is assumed that the fuel sold in Albania contains higher proportions of sulfur and lead than in the European Union .

The improvement of the international connections was important for the previously isolated Albania. At first the port of Durrës played an important role in the international movement of goods and people. In the 21st century - thanks to a new, modern airport terminal and management - air traffic also became increasingly important. The road network across the country has been expanded. High-speed roads were built that now connect Albania to its neighbors across the mountains - new high-performance border crossings promote trade. The construction of the motorway in Kosovo is of particular importance, not only opening up the "traffic-technically completely underdeveloped north" ( Chrstiane Jaenicke : Albania. A country portrait ), but also making a significant contribution to the creation of a cross-border cultural and economic area (see Albanosphere ).

While road transport is characterized by constant growth, rail traffic has meanwhile practically come to a standstill.

air traffic

Air Albania is the national airline of Albania

In the absence of a developed road network or other means of transport in Albania, a range of domestic flights was established in the second half of the 1920s. The Company Adria Aero Llloyd flew from 1 May 1925 by Tirana first two times a week Shkodra, Korca and Vlora on, and later other places in Albania: Gjirokastra 1930, subsequently also Kukes, Peshkopi and Kucove, center of the oil industry. It was flown first with the single-engine Albatros L 58a , later with the Junkers F 13 and from 1931 with the Savoia-Marchetti S.71 . In addition to passengers, mail and other freight were also transported. Initially, they landed on a 400 by 200 meter field that was south of the city center at the location of today's pyramid . In the mid-1930s, the new Lapraka airfield on the outskirts of Tirana went into operation.

1930s air traffic statistics
year route Passengers Mail (kg) Freight (kg)
1933 Italy – Albania 1,623 2,574 9,179
1934 Roma – Brindisi – Tirana – Thessaloniki 1,632 1,071 30,068
1935 Roma – Brindisi – Tirana – Thessaloniki 1,387 5,442 37.010
1936 Roma – Brindisi – Tirana – Thessaloniki 2,079 5,870 57,870
1937 Rome – Tirana – Thessaloniki 3,961 7,030 101.205
1934 Tirana-Shkodra 363 906 2,296
1937 Tirana-Shkodra 1,039 600 12,569
1934 Tirana Vlora 158 479 940
1937 Tirana Vlora 437 231 7,306
1934 Tirana-Korça 259 520 1,886
1937 Tirana-Korça 684 338 10,437
1937 Tirana – Kuçova 267 2 3,578
1934 Tirana – Kukës 322 343 2,287
1937 Tirana – Kukës 372 461 5,478
1937 Tirana – Peshkopia 657 434 7,762
1937 Tirana – Korça – Vlora – Tirana 322 491 4,819
1937 Tirana – Kukës – Shkodra – Tirana 506 321 4,707

Adria Aero Lloyd , founded with a German participation by Deutsche Aero-Lloyd , passed into Italian hands in 1927: Società Aerea Mediterranea , a state institution and a predecessor of Ala Littoria , was the new owner. From 1935 the concession for air traffic was transferred to Ala Littoria.

Regular flights from Brindisi have been offered since April 1928 . Direct connections to Rome were added later. In 1938 Aeroput started a connection via Podgorica to Belgrade . During the Italian occupation of Albania from 1939 there were connections to Milan , Ancona , Bari , Sofia , Thessaloniki and Trieste . In September 1937, Deutsche Lufthansa tested a connection from Berlin to Kabul with numerous stopovers, including Tirana and Tehran .

In the 1930s, an airline from Trieste along the Dalmatian coast via Durrës to Brindisi was operated for several years with seaplanes of the type Cant 10ter and Cant 22 (Cantieri Aeronautici e Navali Triestini) .

After the Second World War, civil aviation ceased. Albania's airfields were used for military purposes and for agricultural aviation. The Albanian Air Force , founded in 1951, was initially stationed in Lapraka. Until the end of the 1950s, the Lapraka airfield was also used for civil flights. At the beginning of the 1950s, however, there was hardly any civil air traffic to Albania, and there were no scheduled connections at all for over a year.

In 1958 the new Tirana Airport opened, today the most important and only international airport in the country. Albtransport was used for the non-military services related to aviation . In 1977, Olympic Airlines , an airline from a capitalist state, resumed regular air traffic for the first time since the country was sealed off in the early 1960s . It was later followed by Swissair (1987) and Lufthansa (1989), among others .

Tirana Airport

The old airport was in operation until 2007 when a new terminal opened. The number of passengers exceeded one million for the first time in 2007 and two million for the first time in 2016. In 2005, an American-German consortium received a twenty-year concession for Tirana Airport with the exclusive right to offer international flights to and from Albania. As a result of this monopoly, landing fees are among the highest in Europe, so the market for low-cost airlines , which are important providers in neighboring countries, is not very attractive.

After many years of negotiations, the license was shortened by five years. The Albanian government also agreed with the airport operators to lift the exclusive right to international connections. So is Kukës Airport can offer for a not yet completed expansion also international flights. There are also projects for airports in the south of the country, for example the construction of Vlorë Airport .

The concession for Tirana Airport was sold by Avialliance to China Everbright Limited from Hong Kong.

Air Albania was founded in 2018 as a consortium of Turkish Airlines , the state air navigation service provider Albcontrol and private investors. It serves destinations in Italy and Turkey. There is also Albawings , an Albanian low-cost airline that primarily serves Italian destinations. The state-owned Albanian Airlines and the other private companies Belle Air , Ada Air Albania , Albatros Airways , Star Airways and Ernest Airlines all had to cease operations for economic reasons.

Albcontrol is responsible for air traffic control. The Autoriteti i Aviacionit Civil të Shqipërisë is the national aviation authority .

Road traffic

Motorways and the main national roads

Until the 1990s, the country had only a very backward road infrastructure, which was in poor condition. The sudden lifting of the ban on private car traffic and the rapidly increasing traffic created many troubles. The many new drivers was missing initially not only the startup routine, but in many cases the ticket . Even today, Albanian drivers have a reputation for interpreting traffic rules generously. The number of accidents is well above the European average.

After 2000, the main axes were expanded nationwide, but there are still shortcomings in terms of construction and road safety. Traffic routes have been newly built or expanded and modern signs have been put up: In the meantime, all major cities are accessible via developed national roads. Completely new connections are being created in individual regions in order to cope with growing mobility. Many road construction projects are also a source of income for corrupt officials.

Registered vehicles
Type 2013 2015
Passenger cars 341,691 403,680
buses 005,713 006,477
truck 072,074 078,839
motorcycles 026,664 033,079
total 446.142 522.066
Even if the important roads are in good condition today, one always comes across unusual means of transport

In the 1990s, the first motorway (but not classified as such ) was the SH2 between Tirana and Durrës. As a result, the most important traffic axes were gradually renewed, above all the Albanian part of the Pan-European Transport Corridor VIII . New, straight lines were laid on north-south connections in as flat an area as possible, for example for the SH1 between Fushë-Kruja and Shkodra and the SH4 between Kolonja and Fier and between Levan and Damës . Three multi-lane motorways were built, some more or less parallel to existing national roads, some in mountain valleys that were previously barely accessible to traffic: the A1 autostrada from Thumana via Milot and Kukës to the Kosovar border near Morina , the A2 autostrada from Levan to Vlora and the A3 autostrada from Tirana to Elbasan .

The mountainous landscape still shapes the traffic route network. Several national roads lead over mountain passes such as the Krraba Pass ( 800  m above sea level ), the Qafë Thana ( 937  m above sea level ), the Qafa e Malit ( 955  m above sea level ), the Qafa e Muzinës ( 572  m above sea level ) m above sea level ), the Llogara pass ( 1027  m above sea level ) and the Qafa e Buallit ( 842  m above sea level ). Tunnels were built along the highways that are among the longest in the Balkans: the Kalimash Tunnel and the Krraba Tunnel .

Road connections in peripheral areas are less developed. But the Albanian Development Fund is also promoting road construction in rural regions . Other road renovations are aimed at promoting tourism and the economy. For the construction of the TAP natural gas pipeline , entire regions in south -eastern Bania were opened up with new roads.

In the meantime horse-drawn carts and donkey carts are no longer seen as often on Albanian roads, but they are still part of everyday life, especially in rural areas.

The roads in the country are almost exclusively owned by the state (competent authority: Autoriteti Rrugor Shqiptar ) and are maintained by the state (competent authority: Ndërmarrja Shtetërore Rruga-Ura ). The operation and maintenance of the A1 with the Kalimash tunnel was assigned to a concessionaire who collects road tolls . A concessionaire will also be able to collect a toll for other new routes such as the Rruga e Arbërit , a new road connection under construction from Tirana through the mountains to the east in 2020. New roads are also being built through undeveloped mountain areas between Elbasan and Korça and between Tepelena and Saranda .

Other planned new construction projects are the Adriatic-Ionian motorway , a north-south connection in the Western Balkans , the extension of the A1 towards the south from Thumana to Kashar , the ring road from Tirana and bypasses of Gjirokastra , Lezha , Tepelena and Fier .

Rail transport

Train on the way to Elbasan in March 2020

During the First World War , the Austro-Hungarian army and the Italian troops set up a long network of field railways to ensure the supply of the troops in the pathless country. These facilities were used for a short time even after the war. With the Ferrovia Decauville a Valona was bitumen from the mines in Selenica transported to the port of Vlora; it was in use until the early 1990s.

The construction of the standard gauge network after the Second World War was mainly used to transport minerals from the mines to the port of Durrës and to the processing factories. The mountain landscape posed great challenges for the builders. It was not until the mid-1980s that the Podgorica – Shkodra line was connected to the international rail network. Condition and expansion were modest, the lines are consistently single-track, not electrified. The seat of the Albanian railway company Hekurudha Shqiptare and the center of the railway network is Durrës.

Timetable at the meanwhile demolished Tirana train station in 2012

Today the rail traffic in Albania is in a desolate state. In 2014, 338,000 tons of material were still transported, but the bankruptcy of the major customer Kürüm International caused considerable damage to Hekurudha Shqiptare. In September 2018 it was reported that hardly more than 200 passengers were carried per day, i.e. around 75,000 people a year. The Hekurudha Shqiptare had to stop operating again and again due to lack of finances for fuel. Numerous routes are no longer served; and the Tirana train station is no longer approached. On the remaining routes, the trains only run once or twice a day, and they are traveling very slowly.

“Tirana is probably the only capital in Europe that does not currently have a train station. The former station building has given way to a road construction project. "

- Christiane Jaenicke : Albania - a country portrait (2019)

However, there are specific intentions to promote rail transport: The financing of the renewal of the Durrës – Tirana railway line with a connection to the airport has been secured.

The private Albrail , which also renewed the railway line , has been operating between Fier and the Vlora oil terminal since 2019 .

Shipping

Ferries and boats use the artificial Komansee as a transport route through the Albanian Alps

The port of Durrës is the country's most important port , responsible for around 90% of maritime trade and around two thirds of imports and exports to Albania (2006). There are other seaports in Shëngjin , Vlora and Saranda . In Durrës and Vlora, oil and gas terminals were built, spatially separated from the existing port facilities. The Albanian ports - especially Durrës - are also important for the neighboring inland countries . There is practically no inland waterway transport. The Buna is the only navigable river in the country and in the past it was also used for the transport of people and goods to Shkodra (sometimes only up to the monastery of Shirq ).

The closed communist Albania operated its own merchant fleet (including the Vlora ), but was otherwise largely isolated. In the fear of the regime that the people might flee the country, the answer can probably also be found, why the cheap coastal shipping was no longer promoted. Ships of up to 2,700 GRT were built in the Durrës shipyard . In 1983 there was a ferry connection from Durrës to Trieste, mainly for trucks. In 1988 a boat connection between Saranda and the Greek island of Corfu was opened for the first time .

Port of Durrës in the middle of the city

A significant part of the international movement of goods and people is carried out via ferry connections with Italy. In addition to small ferries, speedboats also operate between Corfu and Saranda . Occasionally there was seasonal shipping on Lake Skadar and Lake Ohrid across the border. Himara was also occasionally visited from Corfu.

In the meantime, Saranda, Vlora and Durrës are regularly visited by cruise ships .

At the southern end of the bay of Vlora near Orikum there is a marina for sailing boats.

Ferry services in Albania:

  • On the Komansee operate during the summer season between Koman and Fierza car ferries. Small passenger ferries operate on the reservoir all year round. They used to have an important role in supplying the northeast ( tropoja ). With the construction of the A1 motorway and the asphalting of the roads to Tropoja, the ferry connection lost its national importance. Tropoja is also partly supplied or traveled to from and via Kosovo (border crossing Qafa e Morinës ). The boats on the Komansee are now used to develop the villages along the lake and, above all, for tourist purposes.
  • A cable ferry runs over the Vivar Canal near Butrint .

From Saranda, Himara and Vlora (to the Karaburun peninsula and Sazan island ) there are excursion boats in summer. Excursion boats also operate on the inland lakes Vau-Deja-See , Komansee and Ohridsee.

Albanian ports and marinas
port Qark purpose Passengers (2018) Handling of goods

(Tons, 2018)

Coordinates
Website
Port of Durrës Durrës Ferry port, freight (containers, bulk goods, general cargo), cruise ships 854.637 3,614,605 41 ° 19 '  N , 19 ° 27'  E www.durresport.al
Romano port Durrës Natural gas and oil 41 ° 23 '  N , 19 ° 25'  E www.romanoport.com.al
Saranda port Vlora Ferries, cruise ships 482.216 039,250 39 ° 52 '  N , 20 ° 0'  E porti-sarande.al
Shëngjin port Lezha Petroleum, freight 188,560 41 ° 49 '  N , 19 ° 35'  E portishengjin.al
Vlora harbor Vlora Ferry port, cargo 185.164 117,362 40 ° 27 '  N , 19 ° 29'  E www.portivlore.com
Petrolifera Port (Vlora Gas and Oil Terminal) Vlora Natural gas and oil 40 ° 28 '  N , 19 ° 27'  E gruppopir.com
Marina Orikum Vlora Marina 40 ° 20 '  N , 19 ° 28'  E www.orikum.it

Public transport

The public transport between cities is usually handled by buses. There are no major bus companies. Also minibuses or shared taxis , Albania Furgon called run between cities, but make especially the connection from the local centers in the villages safe.

In some cities there are bus terminals , in other places the buses and furgons stop at a specific place or on the arterial roads. Without clear stops and a public timetable, outsiders often find it very difficult to use public transport. In Tirana, in addition to the international bus station and the bus terminal for Southeastern Bania, there is Terminal i transportit publik Tirana on the western outskirts, where most of the buses stop. Tirana's new train station is also to be built here in the future.

In the larger cities there is a functioning public transport system with buses.

Rail transport is no longer of any importance.

Other means of transport

The Trans Adriatic pipeline is under construction pipeline , the natural gas from the Caspian Sea is transported to Italy. The pipeline crosses Albania over a length of 215 kilometers from the Greek border at Bilisht to the Adriatic coast west of Fier. From there the pipeline leads underwater to Italy.

A cable car called Dajti Ekspress leads from the outskirts of Tirana to Dajti, the local mountain . During communist times, cable cars were used in and around some mines and for forestry work. During the First World War, kilometers of cable cars were laid by the Austrians to supply the troops.

literature

  • Rudolf Machnitsch, F. v. Colobichio, Josef Popp, Wurdack: The road and port system of Albania . Court and State Printing House, Vienna 1914.
  • Raymond Hutchings: International Trade, Transportation, Supply and Communications . In: Klaus-Detlev Grothusen (Hrsg.): Albanien (=  Südosteuropa-Handbuch . Volume VII ). Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1993, ISBN 3-525-36207-2 , pp. 391-416 .
  • Michael Schmidt-Neke : Traffic and Infrastructure in the Zogu Regime . In: German-Albanian Friendship Society (Hrsg.): Albanische Hefte . No. 2 , 2014, ISSN  0930-1437 , p. 15-17 ( albanien-dafg.de [PDF; accessed April 5, 2020]).
  • Andreas Hemming: The Rruga Kombëtare Durrës – Kukës – Morina. The economic and social impact of major national projects at the local level . In: German-Albanian Friendship Society (Hrsg.): Albanische Hefte . No. 2 , 2014, ISSN  0930-1437 , p. 21–24 ( albanien-dafg.de [PDF; accessed April 5, 2020]).

See also

Web links

Commons : Transport in Albania  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Herbert Louis: Albania. A knowledge of the country mainly because of my own travels . Published by J. Engelhorn's successors in Stuttgart, Berlin 1927, p. 1 f .
  2. ↑ a b c Peter Bartl : Albania. From the Middle Ages to the present (=  Eastern and Southeastern Europe. History of countries and peoples ). Friedrich Pustet, Regensburg 1995, ISBN 3-7917-1451-1 , p. 82-84 .
  3. ↑ Karl speech man: Neutralization of Albania at the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries: the beginning of underdevelopment? In: Hans Becker (Hrsg.): Younger advances in regional geographic knowledge about Albania. Contributions to the Herbert Louis Memorial Symposium (=  Bamberg Geographical Writings . Issue 10). Geography at the University of Bamberg, 1991, ISSN  0344-6557 , p. 159 ff .
  4. ↑ a b c d e Arqile Bërxholi, Perikli Qiriazi: Albania. Geographical overview . 8 Nëntori, Tirana 1987, Verkehrsgeographie, p. 154 ff .
  5. ↑ a b Rudolf Mach Nitsch: Highway . In: Rudolf Machnitsch, F. v. Colbichio, Josef Popp, Wurdack (ed.): Albania. The roads and ports of Albania . kuk Hof- und Staatsdruckerei, Vienna 1914. Quoted from: Albanian road conditions 100 years ago . In: German-Albanian Friendship Society (Hrsg.): Albanische Hefte . No. 2 , 2014, ISSN  0930-1437 , p. 31 ( albanien-dafg.de [PDF; accessed on April 5, 2020]).
  6. ↑ a b c d e f Herbert Louis: Albania. A knowledge of the country mainly because of my own travels . Publishers of J. Engelhorn's successors in Stuttgart, Berlin 1927, The traffic conditions, p. 58 f .
  7. ^ Karl Otten : The journey through Albania and other prose (=  Paul Raabe [Hrsg.]: Arche-Editions des Expressionismus ). New edition edition. Arche, Zurich 1989, ISBN 3-7160-2085-0 , p. 9 ff .
  8. ^ Edith Durham : High Albania . Edward Arnold, London 1909, p. 39 ( digitized version ).
  9. ↑ a b Erich von Luckwald : Albania: Land between yesterday and tomorrow . F. Bruckmann, Munich 1942, p. 11 .
  10. ^ Schmidt-Neke, p. 15, with reference to Albert Calmès (1922).
  11. ↑ a b c d e f Bodo Gudjons: From caravan routes to motorways . In: Rüdiger Pier, Dierk Stich (ed.): Albania . VSA, Hamburg 1989, ISBN 3-87975-467-5 , p. 196 f .
  12. ↑ a b Roberto Almagia: L'Albania (=  Collezione Omnia . Band 22-23 ). Paolo Cremonese, Rome 1930, p. 223-225 .
  13. ↑ a b Through the war by cable car. In: S'ka problem! albanien.ch, December 16, 2015, accessed on March 30, 2020 .
  14. ↑ a b Schmidt-Neke, p. 15
  15. ↑ a b Schmidt-Neke, p. 16
  16. ^ Curriculum vitae of the engineer Gerold Schnitter (builder of the Zogu bridge) ( Memento from September 28, 2007 in the web archive archive.today )
  17. ^ A b Robert Elsie : Historical Dictionary of Albania (=  Historical Dictionaries of Europe . No. 75 ). 2nd Edition. The Scarecrow Press, Lnnham / Toronto / Plymouth 2010, ISBN 978-0-8108-6188-6 , Air Transportation, pp. 5 f .
  18. ↑ Erich von Luckwald : Albania: Land between yesterday and tomorrow . F. Bruckmann, Munich 1942, p. 39-46 .
  19. ↑ Emilio Baglioni: La viabolotà in Albania . In: Le vie d'Italia . No. 9 . Fondo Enrico Viceconte, Milan September 1939, p. 1191-1195 .
  20. ↑ Bartl (1995), p. 262
  21. ↑ a b c d e New Albania (Ed.): Albania. General Notes . 8 Nëntori, Tirana 1985, Transport, p. 170 f .
  22. ↑ Hutchings, p. 403 f.
  23. ↑ Hutchings, p. 406
  24. ↑ Gerhard Gürsch: By bus and train through the land of Skipetars . Bufe-Fachbuch-Verlag, Egglham 1986, ISBN 3-922138-28-4 , p. 88 .
  25. ^ Adelina Mamaqi: Fjalor enciklopedik shqiptar . Ed .: Akademia e Shkencave e RPSSH . Tirana 1985, keyword Rruga Kukës-Peshkopi , p. 940 f .
  26. ↑ Agim Zeka: Fjalor enciklopedik shqiptar . Ed .: Akademia e Shkencave e RPSSH . Tirana 1985, keyword Rruga e Malësisë s Madhe (1967) , p. 940 f .
  27. ↑ Albert Subashi, Pellumb Qallimi, Shaban Torozi: Fjalor enciklopedik shqiptar . Ed .: Akademia e Shkencave e RPSSH . Tirana 1985, keyword Rrjeti rrugor (rrugët) , p. 939 f .
  28. ↑ Hutchings, p. 402 f.
  29. ↑ Gerhard Gürsch: By bus and train through the land of Skipetars . Bufe-Fachbuch-Verlag, Egglham 1986.
  30. ↑ a b Jens Rehländer: Finally free - and now? In: GEO . No. 11 , 1992.
  31. ↑ a b c Paul Lendvai : The lonely Albania. Report from the land of the Skipetars . 2nd edition 1986. Interform, Zurich 1985, ISBN 3-7201-5177-8 , pp. 52-54 .
  32. ^ Rüdiger Pier: Tourism . In: Klaus-Detlev Grothusen (Hrsg.): Albanien (=  Südosteuropa-Handbuch . Volume VII ). Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1993, ISBN 3-525-36207-2 , pp. 417-426 .
  33. ^ A b Daniel Simpson: In Poor Albania, Mercedes Rules Road. In: The New York Times. November 10, 2002, accessed March 31, 2020 .
  34. ↑ The wedding of King Zog of the Albanians . In: Wiener Salonblatt . May 15, 1938, p. 5 ( ANNO - AustriaN Newspapers Online [accessed on May 18, 2020]).
  35. ↑ a b Jörg Martin Dauscher: 111 reasons to love Albania . Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2019, ISBN 978-3-86265-786-5 , pp. 134 f .
  36. ↑ a b Martina Kaspar, Günther Holzmann: please? where? Albania - 99 facts about a fascinating country on the move . 1st edition. Hobo-Team, Übersee 2019, ISBN 978-3-9819273-8-2 , The similarities between donkeys and Mercedes in Albania, p. 222 f .
  37. ↑ Omar Ajruli: Mercedes mania in Albania, why Benz rules for now? In: Times of Albania. October 22, 2018, accessed March 31, 2020 .
  38. ^ Paul Brown: Welcome to Tirana, Europe's pollution capital. In: The Guardian. March 27, 2004, accessed March 31, 2020 .
  39. ↑ a b c d e f g h Christiane Jaenicke: Albania. A country portrait . Ch. Links, Berlin 2019, ISBN 978-3-96289-043-8 , Traffic - Chaos and Order, p. 118-123 .
  40. ↑ Hemming, p. 21
  41. ↑ a b E.L .: Historia e Aviacionit Civil Shqiptar. In: Opinion.al. February 24, 2019, accessed August 10, 2019 (Albanian).
  42. ↑ a b c d e Rezarta Delisula: Tirana-Mahnia . Maluka, Tirana 2018, ISBN 978-9928-26018-5 , Albania in the 30s, where aircrafts replaced cars, p. 71-73 .
  43. ^ A b Commission internationale de navigation aérienne (ed.): Statistiques du trafic aérien . Année 1933, June 1935, ISSN  2416-7541 , p. 49 ff . ( Digitized by Gallica [accessed May 18, 2020]).
  44. ^ Commission internationale de navigation aérienne (ed.): Statistiques du trafic aérien . Année 1934, December 1935, ISSN  2416-7541 , p. 51 ( digitized from Gallica [accessed May 18, 2020]).
  45. ^ Commission internationale de navigation aérienne (ed.): Statistiques du trafic aérien . Année 1935, May 1937, ISSN  2416-7541 , p. 54 ( digitized from Gallica [accessed May 18, 2020]).
  46. ^ Commission internationale de navigation aérienne (ed.): Statistiques du trafic aérien . Année 1936, 1938, ISSN  2416-7541 , p. 74 ( digitized from Gallica [accessed May 18, 2020]).
  47. ^ Commission internationale de navigation aérienne (ed.): Statistiques du trafic aérien . Année 1937, May 1939, ISSN  2416-7541 , p. 75 ( digitized from Gallica [accessed May 18, 2020]).
  48. ↑ Spiro Vasil Mëhilli: Tirana (1920-1944) . Mediaprint, Tirana 2014, ISBN 978-9928-08155-1 , Transporti ajror në Shqipëri, p. 154 ff .
  49. ↑ Gazmend Bakiu: Tirana e vjetër . Mediaprint, Tirana 2013, ISBN 978-9928-08101-8 , Transporti ajror, p. 216-218 .
  50. ^ Fleet list of Deutscher Aero Lloyd AG (1923–1926). In: European Airlines. June 17, 2010, accessed August 10, 2019 .
  51. ^ Albanian Military Air Bases and Airfields. In: aeroflight.co.uk. Retrieved August 10, 2019 .
  52. ↑ Edison Kurani: Albania among the countries with the cheapest transport. Maybe because it doesn't exist? In: Independent Balkan News Agency. September 8, 2014, accessed April 1, 2020 .
  53. ↑ a b c D. B .:  Aeroporti i Rinasit kalon 100% tek kompania kineze. In: Shqiptarja.com. October 7, 2016, accessed April 1, 2020 (Albanian).
  54. ↑ Albcontrol. Accessed April 3, 2020 (English).
  55. ↑ Mission & Vision. In: Autoriteti i Aviacionit Civil Shqiptar. Retrieved April 3, 2020 (Albanian).
  56. ^ Marianne van Twillert-Wennekes: 5 Thing You Need to Know about the Roads in Albania. In: montenegro-for.me. April 14, 2017, accessed April 2, 2020 .
  57. ↑ Albania must further strengthen coordination of road safety efforts and address remaining challenges. In: United Nations Economic Commission for Europe. July 30, 2018, accessed May 14, 2020 .
  58. ↑ Strategjia sektorale e transportit 2008–2013 (PDF) ( Memento from May 20, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
  59. ^ The Road Safety Performance Review - Case of Albania. (PDF) In: United Nations Economic Commission for Europe. 2018, p. 13 , accessed on May 14, 2020 (English).
  60. ^ Profili. In: Fondi Shqiptar i Zhvillimit. Retrieved April 5, 2020 (Albanian).
  61. ↑ a b Pipeline construction in Albania. In: Trans Adriatic Pipeline. Accessed March 31, 2020 (English).
  62. ↑ Ora News: Gjoka Konstruksion - 250 mln euro për rrugën e Arbrit, shteti paguan 60 mln euro on YouTube , April 12, 2017, accessed on April 3, 2020.
  63. ^ Albania, Montenegro Flag Up Adriatic Highway. In: Balkan Insight. January 28, 2016, accessed on April 5, 2020 (English): "Albanian officials say the highway that will connect the Adriatic with the Ionian sea is one of the most important regional infrastructural projects that it is putting into effect."
  64. ↑ Hutchings, p. 404
  65. ↑ Hutchings, p. 406 f.
  66. ↑ Elona Bedalli: SOS i Hekurudhës Shqiptare. In: Revista Monitor. April 17, 2016, accessed April 3, 2020 (Albanian).
  67. ↑ TV AdriaNet: Durrës Hekurudha Shqiptare në gjendje të mjeruar, vetëm 205 udhëtarë në ditë on YouTube , September 3, 2018, accessed on April 3, 2020.
  68. ^ Tender begins for Albania's most important rail project. In: Railway Pro. November 1, 2019, accessed April 3, 2020 .
  69. ^ A b Robert Elsie : Historical Dictionary of Albania (=  Historical Dictionaries of Europe . No. 75 ). 2nd Edition. The Scarecrow Press, Lnnham / Toronto / Plymouth 2010, ISBN 978-0-8108-6188-6 , Ports, pp. 364 f .
  70. ↑ a b c Hutchings, p. 409
  71. ↑ German Industry and Trade Association in Albania: Visit to the port of Durrës ( Memento from April 19, 2017 in the Internet Archive )
  72. ^ Hutchings, p. 410
  73. ↑ Transporti Detar - Instituti i Transportit. In: ital.gov.al. Retrieved April 3, 2020 .
  74. ^ Matthias Bickert: A universal train station for the capital . In: German-Albanian Friendship Society (Hrsg.): Albanische Hefte . No. 2 , 2014, ISSN  0930-1437 , p. 18 ( albanien-dafg.de [PDF; accessed on April 5, 2020]).
  75. ^ Hutchings, p. 411