Rail Route 10, Lot 1 - Kosovo

Rail Route 10 – Lot 1 Fushë Kosovë - Hani i Elezit, Kosovo

Considered a “prerequisite for the country’s development”, the renewal of the Fushë Kosovë - Hani i Elezit railway line is part of the European “Rail Route 10” project aimed at developing the Balkan railway network.

In particular, through the modernisation of Corridor X along the North–South Belgrade–Skopje axis (250 kilometres in total, of which 148 in Kosovo and 102 in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and in Serbia), the project aims to improve Kosovo’s international rail connections.

Lot 1 works

The works included in Phase 1 – launched by GCF in 2019 – concern the complete renewal of a 68-kilometre section of track extending from the capital city of Pristina to Hani i Elezit, a town on the border with Macedonia.
This section (representing 45% of Kosovo’s entire main railway line, dating back to the late 19th century) runs along a particularly complex alignment, characterised by the presence of 73 switches, 33 bridges, one underpass and 7 tunnels.

Track works and railway renewal activities (66.83 km of main line track, in addition to 12.76 km of secondary tracks) are combined with civil works for the construction or upgrading of underpasses, tunnels, bridges and stations, with the aim of bringing the line into compliance with European standards and allowing operating speeds of up to 120 km/h.