Two private companies have been awarded a 168.9 million lek contract for conducting the feasibility study and the project concept on construction of a railway line connecting the coastal city of Durres to Kosovo’s capital Pristina.

The government of Albania, through the Albanian Railways Directorate, has selected an Austrian-Albanian consortium “ILF Consulting Engineers Austria GmbH” – ABKONS SH.P.K. for making the feasibility study and the design concept of the railway connecting Albania and Kosovo.

The consortium was selected among five bidders after bidding a 168.9 million lek as price offer, lower than the estimated budget of 200.2 million lek allocated by the government for the project.

The awarded winner should be able to conclude the feasibility study and the project concept within a 14-month period.

The winner is required to conduct a comprehensive study and analysis for the construction of the Albania-Kosovo railway, including technical specifications, demand forecasts, environmental and social impact assessments, route options, risk analysis, and economic optimization, leading to the preparing of a project concept, tender documents showed earlier.

Albanian Railway Directorate has offered two alternatives for the feasibility study, with the first projecting a 137-km railway line.

The second option envisages a 125-km long line from Milot to the border area of Vermice- Landovice, with the railway’s stretch along Albanian territory estimated around 108 km, and 17 km along the Kosovo territory.

The winner has been granted a third option to provide an alternative of its own about this railway project.