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 up and privatized. Trainkos offers rail service for both passengers and freight.

History
The first railway line in Kosovo was built in 1873 under Turkish guidance for the Compagnie des Chemins de Fer Orientaux (CO), led by Maurice de Hirsch. It started in Thessaloniki, went on north to Skopje and reached Mitrovica.

The railway was used by the Ottomans until 1912, and after the Balkan Wars, it was used by the Serbian Railways until 1918, and then the Yugoslav Railways between 1918 and 1992. Serbian Railways stopped their operations in Kosovo after the Kosovo War in 1999 and then UNMIK established the public company Kosovo Railways.

After Kosovo's declaration of independence, Kosovo Railways came under management by the Government of Kosovo, which split up the company in order to avoid monopoly and privatized it in 2011. Now Trainkos manages passenger and freight travel, while Infrakos manages the rail network.

Rail network


Trainkos operates 430 km of railway in Kosovo, of which 333 km serve both freight and passenger and 97 km only serve freight traffic. The non-electrified network originally consisted of two lines crossing at Fushë Kosovë railway station in Fushë Kosovë: A main line going from Kraljevo in western Serbia via Mitrovicë and Fushë Kosovë to Skopje in North Macedonia, and a branch line in east-west direction from Niš in southern Serbia via Pristina railway station in the capital Pristina and Fushë Kosovë with one branch leading to Peja and the other one to Prizren. Of these lines, the one from Pristina to Peja and the one from Fushë Kosovë to North Macedonia are still served by passenger trains. Some other parts of the network are occasionally served by freight trains, like Fushë Kosovë - Obiliq; the other parts of the network are currently unused. For years, there have been plans to extend the branch to Prizren across the border to Albania, to create a link to the network of the Albanian Railways. However, these projects are no more than letters of intent.

Rail links with adjacent countries

 * 🇦🇱 Albania - no connection
 * 🇲🇪 Montenegro - no connection
 * North Macedonia - open
 * 🇷🇸 Serbia - open in Zvečan/Lešak (though not connected to the main Trainkos network) and closed in Merdare

Recent investments in infrastructure
Since February 2019, the government of Kosovo has taken steps to rehabilitate and upgrade rail infrastructure in the country. Particular attention is being paid to the mainline route between Hani i Elezit and Leshak which constitutes part of Pan-European Corridor X and is the backbone of the TrainKos network.

Work has been split into 3 sections, beginning with the Hani i Elezit-Fushë Kosovë section (67 km), continuing with the Fushë Kosovë-Mitrovicë section (34 km) and finally being completed with the Mitrovicë-Leshak section (46 km).

In 2022 the European Investment Bank (EIB) provided funds of EUR 84.8 million for the first phase of the modernisation (Fushë Kosovë/Kosovo Polje – border with North Macedonia) for which EUR 43 million comes from grants, while EUR 40.8 million from loans. Work on two collapsed tunnels was completed in November 2023 enabling trains to travel again between Hani i Elezit and Fushë Kosovë connecting Prishtina directly to Skopje and Thessaloniki, on the 10th corridor.

For Phase 2, needed EUR 51.1 million for the 35 km Fushë Kosovë/Kosovo Polje – Mitrovicë / Mitrovica section including five stations to allow passenger and freight trains to run at 100 km/h and a freight axle load of 22.5 tonnes. This project section received EUR 18.58 million in grants and EUR 29.3 million in loans.

Phase 3 saw the funds drive for the modernisation of 47 km of tracks and the associated railway stations between Mitrovicë/Mitrovica and the border with Serbia. The project received a total financing of EUR 100.9 million, of which EUR 1.3 million from grants (EBRD and WBIF) and EUR 25.1 million from loans (from EBRD and EIB).

The works include improvements to 32 level crossings, 18 km of road, and refurbishment of the stations in Fushë Kosovë, Mitrovicë, Vushtri, Druar, Prelluzhe and Obiliq-Kastriota. Alongside construction work on the Mitrovicë-Leshak section, the third phase of modernisation also includes improvement of signalling, telecommunication, and electrification. Altogether, the modernisation of the line from the North Macedonian border to the Serbian border is €208 million. The project is expected to be complete in 2023.

Passenger traffic
Trainkos operates three services: Local train, Freedom of Movement and InterCity. Usually, the trains consist of either two former SJ Y1 DMUs or a former NSB Di 3 with former SJ coaches. The InterCity trains usually consist of a Di 3 locomotive, one former SJ coach of Trainkos and one Macedonian coach.

Between Pristina and Peja there are two daily local train pairs, with the train staying in Peja overnight. One trip takes close to two hours.

Between Fushë Kosovë and Hani i Elezit (border of North Macedonia), there are two Freedom of Movement train pairs and one local train pair. As the only international train connection there is also the InterCity train pair (IC 891/892) from Pristina via Fushë Kosovë to Skopje and back. In direction of Fushë Kosovë, all trains stop at all stations; in the other direction the trains skip various stations, only the local train in the evening stops everywhere. The trains need close to one and a half hours for the trip from Fushë Kosovë to Hani i Elezit.

Until March 2008 there were two more Freedom of Movement train pairs from Fushë Kosovë to Leshak, but this traffic had to be discontinued until further notice due to ongoing tensions with Serbia.

Freight traffic
National freight traffic is of importance, as it serves various industries such as calcium carbonate plants throughout the country. International freight traffic is handled via Hani i Elezit, and the container terminal is close to Pristina airport, near the Miradi station.

Incomplete list of regular freight services:
 * Coal from Obilić (Kastriot) to the NewCoFerronikeli plant near Glogovac. The coal cars are pulled to Obilić station by a steam locomotive operated by the coal mine. Usually runs every second day.
 * Ore trains from the Golesh mine (south-west of Pristina airport) to the NewCoFerronikeli plant. Usually daily.
 * Several types of freight (containers, cisterns, bulk goods) between Hani i Elezit (from/to North Macedonia) and Miradi, serving several private sidings en route. Usually daily.

Northern Kosovo
On 3 March 2008 (three weeks after the declaration of independence of Kosovo), the Serbian railways ŽS (successor of Yugoslav Railways) announced that they would seize control over the railway infrastructure lying in the northern part of Kosovo, including all personnel, and would resume traffic after having assured compliance to Serbian safety standards.

, ŽS (Srbija Voz) runs trains between Kraljevo and North Mitrovica. There is both freight and passenger traffic, but without border control, since Serbia considers Kosovo to be part of its own territory. This leads to the situation that, for instance, fuel is transported into Kosovo territory, without toll being paid to the Kosovarian state. The political situation prevents any train services between Zvečan and Mitrovica (the line would be in operating condition). From Mitrovicë, the line is, in principle, controlled by Kosovo Railways, but there is no regular freight or passenger traffic until Obiliq (freight) or Fushë Kosovë (passengers) respectively.

On January 13, 2017 ŽS announced that North Mitrovica – Kraljevo line will be extended to run as an express train directly to Belgrade. This line would connect North Mitrovica with Belgrade via Raška, Kraljevo, Kragujevac, Lapovo and Mladenovac. This was first time since Kosovo war that direct express train service was established between Belgrade and Kosovo. A diplomatic incident ensued, which led to the train returning to Belgrade without reaching Kosovo; the direct connection to Belgrade has not been reestablished since.

Rolling stock
The rolling stock partly stems from the former Yugoslav Railways, and was partly imported from various European countries, such as via the Kosovo Train for Life charter train that arrived in Pristina on 7 September 1999 bringing aid and rolling stock from the United Kingdom and Germany in connection with the Kosovo Force peace-keeping efforts.

Locomotives
Five types of locomotives are in use. There are former Yugoslav diesel-electric class 661 locomotives built by General Motors, former NSB Di 3 locomotives ("NOHABs") imported from Norway (also a construction by General Motors, but built in Sweden by the NoHAB works), a single Vossloh G1700-2 BB a single General Motors JT38CW-DC built mainly from new parts using parts from 661-203 (Bogies) and 661-261 (Compressor and some ancillarys) and a single EMD GT22HW-2, a custom-designed EMD A1A-A1A diesel-electric locomotive built by Đuro Đaković for Yugoslavia. While all types of locomotives are used for freight trains, only the NoHABs and GT22HW-2 are used to pull passenger trains, usually all trains between Fushë Kosovë and Peja, and rarely trains between Fushë Kosovë and Hani i Elezit.

Diesel railcars
Normally, all trains between Fushë Kosovë and Peja are run with former SJ class Y1 diesel railcars built by Fiat. Sometimes, the Y1 are also used on the line to Hani i Elezit. There are also some former FS class ALn 668 railcars available, but these are not needed any more since the delivery of the Y1 and are currently parked at Fushë Kosovë.

Carriages
Both carriages from the former Yugoslav Railways as well as second-hand carriages from all over Europe are available, however many of them not in operating condition. At the moment, all locomotive hauled passenger trains use former SJ coaches and, in the case of the InterCity, one carriage of Makedonski Železnici.