Prime Minister Edi Rama welcomed Thursday the President of the European Commission Ursula Von Der Leyen, whose agenda of Albania visit began with inspection of the ongoing work on one of the major and strategic projects on recovery and modernization of Albania’s national railway system, namely construction of the Tirana-Durres railway and its branch to Rinas International Airport. The project’s total value is estimated at EUR 70 million, 50% of which in EU grants and 50% provided under a soft loan agreement with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).

The railway segment is now part of the TEN – Indicative Network Extension for the Western Balkans. The project was one of the three winning projects at the Paris Summit in July 2016, where six Western Balkan countries competed for grants under the European Union-funded Western Balkans Investment Framework.

Deputy Prime Minister Belinda Balluku briefly informed the Premier and the visiting EC President Ursula Von Der Leyen on the project and progress of the construction work to date.

“The project is integrated as it includes an existing railway that used to connect Tirana with Durres, but it also includes a five-km segment, due to be built from scratch, and which will link Tirana with Mother Teresa International Airport and further to Durres. As such it is a project of great interest. The total length of the railway is estimated at around 39 km. The project includes 10 new train stations and around 30 % of the volume of railway construction work has been completed so far. This is a satisfactory progress,” the Deputy Prime Minister Balluku explained, adding that other important development projects are planned to be implemented in Durres.

On his part, the Prime Minister Rama, answering to the EC President Von Der Leyen’s interest in the level of development of Durres as a major tourist destination, said that the coastal city has been developed in an intensive manner.

“If we are to consider the large influx of visitors, we can say it is about mass tourism with a high number of holidaymakers,” Rama said.

The EC President Ursula Von Der Leyen praised the commendable work on construction of the new railway so far.

Once the project completes, the travel time by train between Tirana and Mother Teresa International Airport will be around 12 minutes, whereas the travel time between Tirana and Durres will be reduced to 22 minutes only.

The project is also expected to create many new jobs, both during the construction and during the operational phase of the new railway.