Upcoming Transportation Projects in Albania

Albania is entering a decisive decade for transportation: new highways, a modern railway to Tirana International Airport, smarter traffic management and greener urban buses are all in the pipeline. If you are planning to travel, invest or relocate, understanding these upcoming transportation projects will help you read the country’s map with fresh eyes.

Why Transport Upgrades Matter For Albania

Albania’s position between the Adriatic Sea and the Western Balkans makes it a natural bridge between Central Europe, Italy, Greece and the wider region. Modern transport corridors are crucial for:

• Tourism: faster links between Tirana, Durrës, Vlora, Shkodër and the southern beaches mean smoother itineraries and more day-trip options.
• Trade: upgraded ports and railways reduce logistics costs for goods moving between the EU and the Western Balkans.
• Local communities: safer roads, better buses and new rail lines improve daily life for residents, not just visitors.
• EU integration: many projects are aligned with Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) standards and supported by European partners, helping Albania move closer to EU norms.

In other words, upcoming transportation projects are not just about new concrete and steel; they are about making Albania easier to reach, safer to travel and more attractive for long-term investment.

Key Upcoming Projects At A Glance

Below is a compact overview of the most important upcoming transportation projects in Albania. Later sections go into more detail about what each project means in practice.

Major Road And Highway Projects

Adriatic–Ionian “Blue Highway” And Tirana Bypass

One of the most strategic road projects for Albania is its share of the Adriatic–Ionian Highway, often called the “Blue Highway”. This corridor is designed to run along the Adriatic and Ionian coasts, connecting Italy (via ferry), Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Albania and Greece in a single continuous route.

Within Albania, key elements include:

• Tirana Bypass: a major ring-road section that diverts transit traffic away from the city center, improving travel times for people driving between the north and south of the country.
• Upgraded coastal and north–south links: segments connecting Durrës, Tirana and the northern and southern regions are being built or improved to full highway standards.

For visitors, this means that long drives from the Montenegrin border down towards Durrës and Vlora are expected to become faster, safer and more predictable, with fewer bottlenecks at the edges of Tirana.

Thumanë–Kashar And Other Expressway Segments

The Thumanë–Kashar highway section is often cited in Albania as the country’s first modern “type A” highway. It acts as part of the broader corridor connecting the north of the country to Tirana and Durrës. Together with other expressway upgrades, it helps:

• Reduce journey times for drivers coming from Shkodër, Kosovo and northern Albania.
• Provide a higher safety standard than older single-carriageway roads.
• Bypass heavily populated areas where local traffic used to mix with through-traffic.

If you are arriving by car from Montenegro or Kosovo in the next few years, expect to see new interchanges, clearer signage and more consistent speed limits on these routes as additional segments are completed.

National Traffic Monitoring Center And Smart Highways

Albania is not only building new roads; it is also investing in Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS). A new National Traffic Monitoring Center near Kamëz has begun operating with hundreds of smart cameras along key corridors such as:

• Tirana–Durrës
• Durrës–Rrogozhinë
• Rrogozhinë–Fier
• Fier–Vlorë

These systems automatically detect speeding, monitor incidents and coordinate responses with traffic police and emergency services. Over time, the monitored network is planned to expand from the first few hundred kilometres up to several thousand kilometres of roads nationwide.

For drivers this means:

• More consistent enforcement of speed limits (fewer random roadside checks, more camera-based control).
• Faster handling of accidents and breakdowns, especially on heavily used tourist corridors.
• Better travel information as data from cameras and sensors feeds into traffic management and, eventually, digital navigation tools.

Rail Modernisation And Airport Connections

Tirana–Durrës–Rinas Railway Project

Albania’s railway network has long been under-used and in poor condition. That is starting to change with a flagship project to rebuild the line between Tirana and Durrës and extend it to Tirana International Airport (Rinas).

The project has three main components:

1. Rehabilitation of the existing Tirana–Durrës line (around 34–35 km), including new track, modern signalling and higher speeds.
2. Construction of a new spur from Tirana to the airport (around 5–7 km), creating the country’s first direct rail link to an international airport.
3. Purchase of modern rolling stock, with electric trains planned so that the line operates as a cleaner, high-quality service.

Current plans foresee the infrastructure works largely finishing around the mid-2020s, with full electric services expected shortly after. Once operational, typical benefits are expected to include:

• Shorter and more reliable travel times between Tirana and Durrës compared with current road-only options.
• A direct, traffic-free connection between the city centre and the airport, very attractive for tourists and business travellers.
• Lower emissions than car or bus trips, supporting Albania’s climate and air-quality goals.

Future Rail Links And Regional Integration

The airport rail link is only the first step. Albania’s transport strategy foresees further rehabilitation and extension of the rail network, with the long-term goal of:

• Integrating Albanian lines into European corridors (TEN-T), including routes towards Kosovo and North Macedonia.
• Improving freight links from ports such as Durrës and the future Porto Romano to inland logistics hubs.
• Upgrading safety, signalling and stations so that rail can become a genuinely attractive alternative to long-distance bus travel.

Timelines for these wider rail projects are more flexible, but the airport and core Tirana–Durrës link serve as a cornerstone for a new era of rail in Albania.

Ports And Coastal Connections

Porto Romano Deep-Water Port And Durrës Waterfront

Durrës is currently Albania’s main seaport, handling both cargo and passenger traffic. In the coming years, however, heavy cargo operations are planned to move to a new deep-water port at Porto Romano, a site a little north of the current city port.

The Porto Romano project aims to:

• Create a modern, “green” logistics hub able to handle larger vessels and more containers.
• Provide dedicated industrial and logistics zones with better rail and road links to the interior.
• Free up the existing Durrës waterfront for tourism, residential and leisure developments rather than heavy industry.

For visitors, this shift is likely to make the city of Durrës feel more like a Mediterranean seaside destination, with more space for promenades, marinas and urban regeneration projects, while freight moves out to a purpose-built facility.

Other Port And Coastal Upgrades

Alongside Porto Romano, Albania is working with international partners on:

• Improving port safety and environmental standards, especially as ferry and cruise traffic grows.
• Better road and, in future, rail access from ports to inland economic centres.
• Modernisation of smaller ports and marinas to support tourism along the Adriatic and Ionian coasts.

These efforts support Albania’s ambition to position itself as a gateway between the Western Balkans and the wider Mediterranean.

Urban Mobility Projects In Tirana And Beyond

Tirana Electric Bus Rapid Transit (e-BRT)

Tirana’s rapid growth over the last decade has brought both opportunity and congestion. To address this, the city and its international partners are developing an electric Bus Rapid Transit (e-BRT) system on three main corridors:

• Unaza (the ring corridor)
• Tirana e Re
• Kombinat–Kinostudio

The project includes:

• Dedicated or priority lanes for high-frequency buses.
• New or upgraded stations with better passenger information.
• A fleet of electric buses, reducing noise and local air pollution.
• Restructuring of conventional bus routes so they feed into the BRT lines instead of competing with them.

Funding comes from a mix of EU and bilateral support, combined with local contributions, with total investments estimated in the tens of millions of euros. The first full lines are expected to be in place towards the end of the decade.

Sustainable Urban Mobility, Cycling And Walking

Tirana has adopted a Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan (SUMP) that sets out a vision for a more walkable, bike-friendly and transit-oriented city. Key measures include:

• Expanding the network of bike lanes and connecting them into a continuous grid.
• Improving sidewalks, crossings and traffic calming in residential areas.
• Data-driven planning tools to optimise bus routes and timetables.
• Public campaigns and pilot projects to encourage residents to shift from private cars to greener modes.

If you visit Tirana over the next few years, you can expect:

• More visible bike lanes and shared-mobility options.
• Incremental improvements in bus reliability and passenger information.
• Street designs that increasingly balance cars with pedestrians, cyclists and public transport.

Extending Good Practice Beyond The Capital

While Tirana is the main focus of urban mobility projects, experiences from the capital are gradually being used to inform transport policies in other Albanian cities. National programmes supported by international partners aim to:

• Introduce smarter traffic management and better public transport operations in mid-sized towns.
• Support cycling and walking projects where tourism and local geography make them attractive.
• Encourage municipalities to develop their own mobility plans in line with EU-style good practice.

Over time, this should make it easier to move not only in Tirana but also in secondary cities such as Shkodër, Vlora, Korçë or Gjirokastër without relying entirely on private cars.

What These Changes Mean For Travellers And Investors

Taken together, these upcoming transportation projects suggest an Albania that is more connected internally, better linked to its neighbours and easier to navigate for both residents and newcomers. For anyone following the country closely—whether as a traveller, business owner or infrastructure specialist—this is a period where maps, timetables and investment prospects are all evolving quickly.

Sources

The summary above is based on official strategies, government communications and technical project descriptions from international institutions. For deeper, always-up-to-date details, you can consult:

• Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy of Albania – monitoring reports and presentations on the Sectoral Transport Strategy and Action Plan (PDFs available on the ministry’s official website).
• Adriatic–Ionian “Blue Highway” / Tirana Bypass – project information on the European Commission’s Global Gateway and transport policy pages.
• Tirana–Durrës–Rinas Railway – project fiches and news on the Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF) and European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) websites.
• Porto Romano New Port And Durrës Redevelopment – technical summaries from the Durrës Port Authority and international engineering partners involved in the new port design.
• Tirana Electric BRT And Urban Mobility – the Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan for the City of Tirana and EU/partner announcements on green urban transport investments.
• Sustainable Transport Action Plan For Albania – background analysis and regulatory context published by international organisations specialising in European and Western Balkan transport policy.