Right then.
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Yo! I lived there for a year. It was nuts. Are they really building a railway?
@thedanieldaugherty supposedly. I’ll write up what I discover
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Tirana bike lanes
@jon Bike lanes? Omg, this is already much better than Brno.
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@jon Bike lanes? Omg, this is already much better than Brno.
@oleksandr @jon i was going to say this!
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Tirana bike lanes
@jon To be fair in Albania you can cycle anywhere even on the highways (at least 10 years ago) along with the everything else (donkeys/horse carriages)
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@jon To be fair in Albania you can cycle anywhere even on the highways (at least 10 years ago) along with the everything else (donkeys/horse carriages)
@pvdrijst Yes. But it’s a nerve wracking experience!
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Tirana bike lanes
@jon well, looks like a spot where you have to jump over the cars with that “ramp”. Innovation!
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Tirana bike lanes
And to those going "use the concrete ramp to jump the car", well, there are limits to what I can do on a folding bike
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And to those going "use the concrete ramp to jump the car", well, there are limits to what I can do on a folding bike
@jon Nobody expects you to do a backflip on a folding bike, but a quick mid-air fold should be possible, even with panniers and a water bottle
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@pvdrijst Yes. But it’s a nerve wracking experience!
@jon I found the amount of traffic low, but have not been in Tirana, and it was 10 years ago. It's never like home where you're used to the amount of traffic.
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@jon I found the amount of traffic low, but have not been in Tirana, and it was 10 years ago. It's never like home where you're used to the amount of traffic.
@pvdrijst I have been here in 2019, 2024 and now, and the level of traffic has always been hellish. Cycling in the north in 2024 - to the border with Montenegro - was fine in comparison!
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And to those going "use the concrete ramp to jump the car", well, there are limits to what I can do on a folding bike
Cows grazing in front of half completed tower blocks
Tirana
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Tirana bike lanes
@jon may I present you Prague bike lane
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Cows grazing in front of half completed tower blocks
Tirana
Between Laprakë (where a railway station is being built) and the centre of Tirana, the alignment of the old railway crosses a highway
Good: they have at least made provision for a bridge (see the metal parts that will become supports)
Bad: they're going to make maximum a single track line. Contrast that with a six lane highway!
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@jon may I present you Prague bike lane
@bashoneliner Ha!
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Between Laprakë (where a railway station is being built) and the centre of Tirana, the alignment of the old railway crosses a highway
Good: they have at least made provision for a bridge (see the metal parts that will become supports)
Bad: they're going to make maximum a single track line. Contrast that with a six lane highway!
Also there are lots of things you can do with a former railway. Park cars on it. Vans on it. Make a footpath along it. Hang your washing along it...
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Also there are lots of things you can do with a former railway. Park cars on it. Vans on it. Make a footpath along it. Hang your washing along it...
As for the line from Durrës and the airport to Laprakë... they have sort of laid some track, partially, at Laprakë, since I was last there in 2024
But it is still a hell of a long way from being finished
Some minor works were happening there today
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As for the line from Durrës and the airport to Laprakë... they have sort of laid some track, partially, at Laprakë, since I was last there in 2024
But it is still a hell of a long way from being finished
Some minor works were happening there today
Overall I have the impression that Albania is building this railway so as they can show to the EU and other international partners that they are "modern" and a token effort is being made against road congestion
It's rather similar to their bike lanes. "Look we have bike lanes!"
No one can reasonably use the bike lanes, and not many will be able to use the train, but that's not the point
The point is to have these things, for credibility
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@jon Nobody expects you to do a backflip on a folding bike, but a quick mid-air fold should be possible, even with panniers and a water bottle
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As for the line from Durrës and the airport to Laprakë... they have sort of laid some track, partially, at Laprakë, since I was last there in 2024
But it is still a hell of a long way from being finished
Some minor works were happening there today
@jon clearly abandoned.
