UNMIK/PR/448
PRESS RELEASE - 15 December 2000

Kosovo Railway Network Nearly Back on Track

PRISTINA---On 14 December, SRSG Bernard Kouchner and COMKFOR, General Cabigioso boarded a train from Kosovo Polje to the Pristina train station. This symbolic trip was mainly to pay a tribute to the major work completed by the Italian Railway Engineer Regiment - who were to leave Kosovo the following day, having completed their mission.
 
After 18 months of intensive efforts, KFOR together with the administrative Department of Transport-- through its "Railways of Kosovo" section - the major routes of the Kosovo rail network are now functionable again.  One of the missing links was from Kosovo Polje to one kilometre before the village of Devet Jugovica, where Kosovo's biggest fuel depot is located. Until now, this depot has been used only for military purposes, but some civilian uses are now under study. At any rate, this depot generates a considerable amount of heavy truck traffic that could be alleviated once the ongoing work is completed,  which should be  by next spring.
 
KFOR's Italian regiment has  provided  engineering expertise, tracks,  ballasts and ties. UNMIK, through its railway division, refurbished the "Plasser," a machine that fixes tracks and deposits the ballast. The spare parts for the Plasser alone costd 570,000 DM, donated by the European Agency for Reconstruction. In the year 2000, the European Agency for Reconstruction will have put 4,9 million DM into the network. These combined efforts by KFOR and UNMIK have made it possible for  goods to circulate throughout Kosovo, from north to south and from east to west. After the departure of KFOR, the UNMIK Department of Transport will continue the maintenance work.

During this symbolic trip, the SRSG stressed that the passenger train is a crucial lifeline for minorities, mainly the Serbs and the Romas, for which the train from Kosovo Polje to Mitrovica and onwards to Serbia proper  is their only safe way to travel.

"Thanks to the train, they can enjoy - not a normal life - but a better life," Dr. Kouchner said, adding that the restoration of the network was a major achievement. " I want to praise everyone involved in this success,  mainly the Italians who were very effective and supportive."
 The next important project, the SRSG announced. will be to provide a passenger train direct from the former Yugoslave Republic of Macedonia to Kosovo Polje.