Kosovo - General Information

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Country Name

Kosovo (Kosovë/Kosovo)

National railway system

Hekurudhat e Kosovës (HK). HK has taken over operations previously managed by United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK). HK has now been privatised and divided into a national railway operator and an infrastructure authority.

National Railway Operator

Trainkos is the National Railway Operator in the Albanian-speaking area. In spite of having an English option, its website is almost entirely in Albanian or Serbian.

Language

Albanian. Serbian in a number of areas including Mitrovica.

Currency

Euro.

UIC code

Not known.

Timetable

Journey Planner

None.

Downloadable Timetable

Information for trains in the Albanian-speaking areas is available at www.trainkos.com. For trains in the Serb-speaking area north of Mitrovica, use the Serbian Railways website.

Printed Timetable

None known.

Engineering Information

None.

Bus Information

A useful site is BalkanViator

Maps

Printed Maps

  • European Railway Atlas: Scandinavia and Eastern Europe by M.G. Ball (1993) (ISBN 0-7110-2072-4)
  • European Railway Atlas by M.G. Ball (2008 onwards)

Web-based Maps

  • Thorsten Büker's Map of Serbia and Montenegro.
  • There is also a good map on the Kosrail website. Clicking on a route on the map brings up a page all about that line (in German).

Infrastructure

Infrastructure Authority

Infrakos is the Infrastructure Authority. In spite of having an English option, its website is almost entirely in Albanian or Serbian.

Network Statement

Publishing > NETWORK STATEMENT provides an English language Network Statement.

Gauge

Standard.

Electrification

None.

Rule of the road

There are no multiple track routes.

Other Railways

None.

Tourist Lines

None.

Metro

None.

Trams

None.

Recent and future changes

The railways in Kosovo have suffered from the political problems in the area since the war in the late 1990s. The routes are:

  • Fushë-Kosovë/Kosovo Polje - Hani i Elezit/Đeneral Janković (and across the border to Skopje in Macedonia)
  • Fushë-Kosovë/Kosovo Polje - Mitrovicë/Mitrovica - Zvečan - Lešak (and across the border to Rudnica and Kraljevo in Serbia)
  • Fushë-Kosovë/Kosovo Polje - Prishtinë/Priština (and across the border to Merdare in Serbia)
  • Fushë-Kosovë/Kosovo Polje - Gračanica
  • Fushë-Kosovë/Kosovo Polje - Metohija - Peć/Peja and Metohija - Prizren

The so-called "Freedom Train", operated by UNMIK, ran from 2004 between Hani i Elezit and Lešak via Fushë-Kosovë, Mitrovicë and Zvečan, but the section between Fushë-Kosovë and Zvečan ceased operating in early 2008 due to increasing tension in the Mitrovicë area. There was an UNMIK service to Gračanica for a few years in the mid 2000s but this has also ceased operating.

For train services currently advertised, see Kosovo - Other Sparse services.

Special Notes

From June 1999, Kosovo was a province of Serbia and was under the administrative control of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo. Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008 and is now considered independent, supervised by the international community following the conclusion of the political process to determine Kosovo's final status envisaged in UN Security Council Resolution 1244. However, this has not been formally recognised by all countries, especially Serbia, which still considers Kosovo to be part of its sovereign territory.

Travellers entering Serbia from Kosovo may well encounter problems, including possibly being refused entry, if they do not have a Serbian entrance stamp in their passport. It is therefore recommended one should travel only from Serbia to Kosovo and not in the other direction.

See also