Albanian Railways has opened a tender for the electrification of the Durres-Tirana railway line and the new railway connection with Tirana International Airport (TIA). The project will be developed in two phases.

At this stage, there is no data on the cost, but during an inspection held in August on the progress of the works, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Infrastructure and Energy, Belinda Balluku, stated that the electrification is expected to cost around Euro 27 million.

According to published details, the first phase involves the submission of a technical proposal (without prices), which includes technical solutions and information on the company's qualifications.

After the evaluation, the qualified companies will be invited to a clarification meeting. The second phase foresees the submission of the updated technical proposal, with the changes requested by the contracting authority, as well as the financial offer.

Electrification is one of the components of this project that is being implemented by the government with financial support from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

Currently, in addition to the railway line route, work is also being done on the construction of the stations of this line, works that began at the end of 2021. The project has encountered delays in the first phases, mainly due to expropriations, but according to government representatives, the Tirana–TIA–Durrës railway is expected to be completed as a track within the first quarter of next year.

This project was initially financed with a loan of around Euro 70 million from the EBRD, while at the beginning of this year, the government requested an additional Euro 40 million to complete the works.

The Tirana-Durres railway and the branch towards TIA have a length of 39 kilometers. The trains will be electric and will cover the distance in 22 minutes. In total, 11 stations will be built along the entire line.