The railway network in Kosovo is operated by

Trainkos Trainkos is a private railway company based in Kosovo that also serves as the national rail carrier of the country. Established in 2011 alongside Infrakos, the two companies are the successors of Kosovo Railways, a public company that was split u ...

, the national rail company and it consists of of railway line, of which are freight-only.

History

The construction of the Kosovar rail network began in 1874 with the construction of the line between

Hani i Elezit Hani i Elezit or Elez Han ( sq-definite, Hani i Elezit; , ''Đeneral Janković''; officially Елез Хан, ''Elez Han'') is a town and municipality located in the Ferizaj District of Kosovo. History The town has been inhabited since the 150 ...

Fushë Kosovë Kosovo Polje ( sr-Cyrl, Косово Поље, "Kosovo Field") or Fushë Kosova (Albanian indefinite form: ''Fushë Kosovë''), is a town and municipality located in the District of Pristina in Kosovo. According to the 2011 census, the town of K ...

and

Mitrovicë Mitrovica (Albanian language, Albanian Definiteness, indefinite Albanian morphology#Nouns (declension), form: ''Mitrovicë''; sr-Cyrl, Митровица, Mitrovica), also referred to as Kosovska Mitrovica ( sr-Cyrl, Косовска Митр� ...

. The railway became very significant for the transportation of travellers and goods, as well as for the economic development of the country and connectivity with other regions. During the 20th century, the following lines were built: Mitrovicë – Leshak and Fushë Kosovë –

Pristina Pristina or Prishtina ( , ), . is the capital and largest city of Kosovo. It is the administrative center of the eponymous municipality and District of Pristina, district. In antiquity, the area of Pristina was part of the Dardanian Kingdo ...

in 1934, Fushë Kosovë –

Pejë Peja or Peć, ), is the fifth most populous city in Kosovo and serves as the seat of the Peja Municipality and the District of Peja. It is located in the Rugova region on the eastern section of the Accursed Mountains along the Peja's Lumbardh ...

in 1936, Pristina– Besjanë – Livadica in 1949, and Klinë –

Prizren Prizren ( sq-definite, Prizreni, ; sr-cyr, Призрен) is the second List of cities and towns in Kosovo, most populous city and Municipalities of Kosovo, municipality of Kosovo and seat of the eponymous municipality and District of Prizren, ...

in 1963. On 27 September 1999, the Kosovo Train for Life charter train arrived in Pristina, bringing

aid In international relations, aid (also known as international aid, overseas aid, foreign aid, economic aid or foreign assistance) is – from the perspective of governments – a voluntary transfer of resources from one country to another. Th ...

and rolling stock in connection with the

Kosovo Force The Kosovo Force (KFOR) is a North Atlantic Treaty Organization, NATO-led international NATO peacekeeping, peacekeeping force and military of Kosovo. KFOR is the third security responder, after the Kosovo Police and the EU Rule of Law (European ...

peace-keeping efforts. As of 2014, the rail infrastructure covers most of the country and connects all major cities with the exception of

Gjilan Gjilan ( sq-definite, Gjilani) or Gnjilane ( sr-Cyrl, Гњилане) is the third most populous city in Kosovo and it serves as both a municipality and the administrative center of the District of Gjilan, Gjilan District. According to the 2024 ...

and

Gjakovë Gjakova or Đakovica, ) and Đakovica ( sr-Cyrl, Ђаковица, ) is the sixth largest city of Kosovo and seat of the Gjakova Municipality and the Gjakova District. According to the 2024 census, the municipality of Gjakova has 78,699 inhabit ...

Trains

Trainkos has a fleet of eight diesel locomotives and four diesel multiple units, either inherited from

Yugoslav Railways Yugoslav Railways (; sr-Cyrl-Latn, Југословенске железнице, Jugoslovenske železnice, separator=" / "; ; ), with standard acronym ( in Cyrillic), was the state railway company of Yugoslavia, operational from the 1920s to t ...

or donated by

KFOR KFOR may refer to: * KFOR (AM), a radio station (1240 AM) licensed to Lincoln, Nebraska, United States, * KFOR-TV, a television station (channel 4 analog/27 digital) licensed to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States, * KFOR-TV (Nebraska), a defun ...

countries. The railways of Kosovo have a significant role for the transportation of travelers and goods. In 2005, there were an estimated 870 passengers per day by train. This increased by 26.56% to 1,100 passengers per day in 2006, and by 3.91% to 1,143 in 2007. In 2008, there was an 18,77% decrease in the number of passengers, though this somewhat recovered by 2009 with an increase of 10.51% to 1,026. Also, there has been an increase of passengers per day in 2010 by 1,032 or 0.61% compared to 2009. More recent data from Trainkos shows a significant drop in passenger numbers compared to the 2000s, with a total yearly ridership of 70,517 passengers, or only 193 passengers per day, though this was in part due to maintenance work resulting in heavily reduced service, limited to two trips per day between Pristina and Pejë.

Domestic transport

Kosovo's railway transportations have the following daily schedules: *local train – runs every day from Pejë to Pristina and back *free movement train – runs from Hani i Elezit to Fushë Kosovë, and from Fushë Kosovë to Gračanica and back. Currently, this line is out of order.

International transport

There is only one active international rail connection, running once a day from Pristina to

Skopje Skopje ( , ; ; , sq-definite, Shkupi) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It lies in the northern part of the country, in the Skopje Basin, Skopje Valley along the Vardar River, and is the political, economic, and cultura ...

and back. Service on this route was suspended as of 2024.

International connections and services

Trainkos connects Pristina with Skopje (

North Macedonia North Macedonia, officially the Republic of North Macedonia, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe. It shares land borders with Greece to the south, Albania to the west, Bulgaria to the east, Kosovo to the northwest and Serbia to the n ...

) in the south. The track between Mitrovica and Kosovo Polje is currently not served by any trains. *

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

– No connection *

Montenegro , image_flag = Flag of Montenegro.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Montenegro.svg , coa_size = 80 , national_motto = , national_anthem = () , image_map = Europe-Mont ...

– No connection *

– Open *

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

– closed in

Zvečan Zvečan ( sr-Cyrl, Звечан) or Zveçan ( sq-definite, Zveçani) is a town and municipality located in the Mitrovica District in Kosovo. As of 2015, it has a population of 16,650 inhabitants. It covers an area of , and consists of a town and ...

Lešak Leshak or Lešak ( sr-Cyrl, Лешак) is a town settlement of Leposavić in northern Kosovo. It has population of 2,180, with an ethnic Serb majority. Lešak was, along with the Leposavić municipality, ceded to SAP Kosovo The Socialist Au ...

and closed in

Merdare Merdare ( sr-cyr, Мердаре) is a village located in the municipality of Kuršumlija, Serbia. According to the 2011 census, the village has a population of 151 people. The border crossing between Serbia and Kosovo is located in Merdare. Not ...

Statistics

References

External links

* {{Rail transport in Europe

Rail Rail or rails may refer to: Rail transport *Rail transport and related matters *Railway track or railway lines, the running surface of a railway Arts and media Film * ''Rails'' (film), a 1929 Italian film by Mario Camerini * ''Rail'' (1967 fil ...

Rail transport in Europe