Tirana-Durazzo-Rinas: the sustainable train that tastes like Italy

There is a lot of Italy in Albania's most strategic railway line, which will connect Tirana with Durres and Rinas airport. It is scheduled to be inaugurated in March 2025.Meanwhile, the deadline to participate in the public bidding process for the construction of railway stations along the section between the two cities and the branch line to the airport expired on July 9. The notice was published on the EBRD (European Bank for Reconstruction and Development) website. The construction of the station buildings is one of the components that are not part of the work currently underway to build this line. For now, 90% of the works have been carried out. In addition to the stations, future work will include electrification of the line and its extension to Kashari Station where the station was located before its demolition. The government will soon make decisions on the expropriation of land that is mainly located along the new branch line going to Rinas Airport.
The Italian company that is building the section is INC s.p.a. established in the late 1960s by the Dogliani family. It is one of the leading Italian companies in the large infrastructure sector, with a constantly growing order book and a turnover of more than 200 million euros, in tune with the growth of the other FININC HOLDING Companies. At the beginning of the new millennium, the company accelerated its growth thanks to forward-looking strategic choices, such as the creation of the stable Consortium SIS S.c.p.A., of which INC is now the leader (with a 50.90% share), boasting an order backlog in the large infrastructure sector that exceeds 3 billion euros in value. The project INC is working on includes:
-the 34,170-meter-long "A" section connecting Durres to Tirana (PTT Terminal)
-a new triangular intersection to Tirana International Airport
-the "Section C", 5,697 meters long, new rail link between Rinas Airport (TIA) and the new Tirana - Durres line.
The entire route is Km41.5,with 7 stations, an artificial tunnel of 229 meters, 9 bridges ( two new and 7 demolished and rebuilt) From Tirana station to "Mother Teresa" airport, the estimated travel time is 12 minutes, with 3 stations, while Tirana-Durrës is estimated at 22 minutes, with 8 stations.
This is a highly sustainable project. It has been calculated that the benefits that will result in 30 years, minus the cost of construction is about 270 million euros: savings on health, time, environmental pollution, CO2 emissions on car costs