UPDATE (from Ian Rear, August 2012):
Coaching stock in use:
Vlore Branch 335, 408
Shkoder 22-71-004/009/002
Elbasan 22-71-007/011/006/003
Elbasan Strengthened by 504, 22-71-993, 22-71-990, 22-71-941 as required
Tirane - Durres Shuttles plus Librazhd
21-43-020-1 (DB 140), 21-43-024-3 (DB 277)
21-43-013, 21-43-012
21-43-015, 21-43-019
21-43-017, 21-43-016
21-43-022, 21-43-021
UPDATE (from Ian Rear, April 2012):
DB stock in use on Durres and Tirane diagrams (including the Librazhd)
FS stock in use on the Shkoder and Elbasan diagrams
335 and 408 in use on the Vlore branch service
May 2006.
Former DB (Germany) passenger carriages were noted in use, along earlier arrivals from with ex ÖBB (Austria) and FS (Italy).
15th October 1999. ATA reports that refurbishment of some passenger carriages has taken place. 900 square metres of glass has been used to replace windows also some interior lighting has been replaced. Just under 60 passenger carriages are serviceable. 6 carriages from Austria are expected to arrive by the end of the year with 39 more to follow. Italy is to donate a further 12 carriages which are expected to arrive soon. A further 10 carriages will be paid for by an Albanian government fund.
September 1999. The UK publication "Todays Railways" has a report from Austria that 45 second-hand OBB passenger vehicles have been sent to Albania by rail to Trieste and then to Durres by ferry. The carriages are said to have been traded in exchange for scrap metal in the form of the derelict locomotives and rolling stock. One set of carriages will be repainted in HSH livery, the rest retaining OBB colours. 8 of these, along with 6 more from FS Italy were said to be in service by the end of 1999
Before the news above most of the current passenger services are formed by ex-FS(Italy) compartment carriages along with baggage vans converted from passenger carriages from Poland and France. At the end of 1996 Chinese-built Soviet-design carriages formed one of the Vlore line trains and the Fier-Ballsh branch line train.
In the 1980's trains were formed of 7 carriages in winter, 8 or 9 in summer, along with two baggage vans. At the end of 1996 daily services were operated by 7 sets of carriages, each formed of one baggage van and up to 7 passenger carriages.
The June 1997 timetable required 10 carriage sets and involes new features. The 0600 train from Tiranë ran with 11 carriages to Vorë where it divided into two separate trains (one for Vlorë, one for Shkodër). Two carriages (counted as a separate set in the total of 10 sets) were attached at Elbasan to the morning train from Pogradec, at Durrës the train divided and the two Elbasan carriages continue to Tiranë. The Pogradec carriages returned from Durrës to Pogradec attached to the afternoon Vlorë train as far as Rrogozhinë. The Elbasan pair of carriages returned from Tiranë attached to the afternoon Tiranë to Elbasan train.
In February 1998 a new timetable came into operation and the carriage workings above were revised. Details of the new arrangements will appear on this page. Only 50 passenger carriages remain servicable, and a new delivery of 58 additional second-hand carriages has yet to occur. 130 second hand carriages from Austria are expected to be delivered soon. A further report of the agreement with Austria quotes the figures as 80 second class used passenger carriages and "10-15 locomotive vans."
HSH operates passenger services with only one class of accomodation. Second-hand carriages still retain the first or second class markings from their previous owners. It is understood that until around 1980 HSH designated complete trains as either second or third class depending on the standard of accomodation and the stopping pattern of the train.
In 1981/2 over 20 Polish-built passenger and baggage cars of OSShd design arrived; by late 1996 two of the passenger carriages were still in operation on the Milot-Rrëshen shuttle, but this service was withdrawn in November 1996. A few of the Polish baggage cars and some conversions from passenger to baggage cars remain in service. In the early 1980's up to 4 passenger carriages were built at the Shkodër Wagon Works, at least two ran in service, but they are no longer in use. A number of ex SNCF B10t and BD carriages arrived in the late 1980's; none remain in service other than a two conversions to baggage vans.
HSH's passenger carriages do not have UIC numbers and are now marked with the initials "HSH" with a stencilled two- or three-digit number. The Chinese-built carriages were orginally green; some early repaints were in brown but later repaints are in two-tone light-blue; originally many of them were marked with the initials "RPSSH" (Repubika Popullore Socialiste e Shqiperisë). The Polish, French and Italian carriages have remained in their original colours, except for repaints of the baggage vans into brown; some of Polish carriages carried the initials "DH" (Drejtoria e Hekurudhave). The "SNCF" logo on some of the French carriages was amended to read as "HSH". Most Italian carriages still carry their FS logos and FS UIC numbers which have been crossed-out with a white line, some of these are receiving repaints with the same FS grey overall livery but with the addition of two bodyside blue stripes under the windows and a blue band at the bottom of the bodyside.
