Transport in Montenegro

Airports

Montenegro has two international airports, with their IATA Airport Codes:

• Podgorica Airport - TGD
• Tivat Airport - TIV

Podgorica Airport has a new and modern terminal building, and Tivat Airport underwent terminal expansion and can now handle night landings.

There are also airports at Berane, Žabljak and Nikšić, but those are used mostly for general aviation, and are not equipped to handle larger aircraft.Ulcinj have a grass-type airport.

Railways

total: 250 km
standard gauge: (1435 mm) 250 km
narrow gauge: none

Rail links with adjacent countries

• Serbia - yes - same gauge, couplings, brakes, electrification system
• Albania - yes - used for freight only
• Croatia - no direct links
• Bosnia and Herzegovina - no direct links

Overview

The Montenegrin part of the Belgrade - Bar railway is the backbone of the Montenegrin railway system. It opened in 1979, and then was a state-of-the art railway, with features such as Mala Rijeka viaduct (highest railway viaduct in the world) and the 6.2 km long Sozina tunnel. About one-third of the Montenegrin part of the railway is in tunnels or on viaducts. It is the only railway corridor in Montenegro that is fully electrified: electrification of the Podgorica - Nikšić corridor is not complete.

The railway suffered from chronic underfunding in the 1990s, resulting in it deteriorating and becoming unsafe. This culminated in the 2006 Bioče train disaster, when a passenger train derailed, killing 47 passengers. Efforts are being made to thoroughly reconstruct this railway.

The Podgorica-Nikšić railway (56,6 km long) was built in 1948 as a narrow gauge railway, and upgraded to standard gauge in 1965. Since 1992, it has been used solely for freight traffic, particularly bauxite from the Nikšić mine to the Podgorica Aluminium Plant, with the maximum speed on the railway reduced to 30 km/h. That is about to change, as this part of the railway is currently undergoing complete reconstruction and electrification. Passenger traffic is set to start in 2009, and maximum speeds will be between 75 and 100 km/h.

The Podgorica-Shkodër railway, which extends to Tirana, has been used exclusively for freight traffic for some time. Parts in Albania were damaged in 1997, but the connection was restored in 2002. There are plans to reconstruct the railway and re-introduce passenger traffic, as it is important for the interests of both Montenegro and Albania.

Currently, the railways are undergoing planned repairs and modernization with a budget, given by Government for 2009, of 9.7 million euros.

Highways

Overall length of roads in Montenegro is 5,277km, of which 1,729km is paved. The roads in Montenegro are categorized in the following way:

• Motorways (Autoputevi) - There are currently no roads built to motorway standards, but two motorways are currently in planning stages: Bar - Boljare motorway and Montenegrin section of Adriatic–Ionian motorway.

• Main roads (Magistralni putevi) - roads connecting bigger cities and regions of Montenegro. Most of the main roads of Montenegro are listed with International E-road network, and are locally labeled with M letter followed by a number. Typically, these are paved roads of single carriageway type, featuring one lane per direction, with frequent addition of a third overtaking lane on sections with steep gradients. Curve radii usually allow speeds of up to 80 km/h, and width of a single traffic lane is usually at least 3m. Main roads listed with International E-road network in Montenegro are:
  • / - Route E65/E80, locally M2 (Debeli Brijeg/Croatia - Petrovac - Podgorica - Kolašin - Berane - Rožaje - border with Serbia)
  • - Route E762, locally M18 (Border with Albania - Božaj - Tuzi - Podgorica - Danilovgrad - Nikšić - Plužine - Šćepan Polje - border with Bosnia & Herzegovina)
  • - Route E763, locally M21 (Bijelo Polje - border with Serbia)
  • - Route E851, locally M2.4 (Petrovac - Sutomore - Bar - Krute - Ulcinj - Sukobin - border with Albania)

Sections of E65/E80 (Debeli Brijeg - Petrovac) and E851 (Petrovac - Ulcinj) together make up for the Montenegrin section of Adriatic Highway.

• Regional roads (Regionalni putevi) - these are road connections between regional centers, and connections of the regional centers with the network of main roads. Typically, these are paved roads, but with smaller curve radii and narrower lanes than those of the main roads. Thus, lower speed limits are more common on regional roads. These roads are locally labeled with R letter followed by a number.

• Local roads (Lokalni putevi) - local roads connections of villages and other settlements of local communities. Quality of road infrastructure varies wildly between local roads, so these can be both unpaved dirt roads, as well as roads resembling regional roads in quality and appearance.

Current categorization of the roads has become obsolete in some cases, with upgrades of some road sections, and decay of the others. For example, road Kolašin - Mateševo - Andrijevica road, labelled as Main road, is greatly inferior in quality to the Mojkovac - Žabljak road, which is designated as a Regional road.

In recent years roads connecting Podgorica and the coastal towns have improved significantly with the completion of Sozina tunnel and numerous upgrades of roads towards Cetinje and Bar. Sozina tunnel shortened the journey from Podgorica to Bar to under half an hour and made the trip significantly safer.

In the north, the road from Podgorica to Kolašin through Morača canyon to Serbia is considered the bottleneck of Montenegrin road network, as it is a curvy mountainous road, often unsafe during the winter. Bar - Boljare motorway is envisioned as a replacement for this corridor. Long term plans also include the Montenegrin section of Adriatic–Ionian motorway as a significant transit link.

There is a proposed route from the city of Podgorica to Gusinje. The highway, expected to go through northern Albania, will mean a journey time to Gusinje and Plav of about half an hour.

Also, the Verige bridge spanning the Bay of Kotor and part of the Adriatic Highway is planned to be built in the future.

Ports and harbors

Port of Bar is the major seaport in Montenegro. It is capable of handling about 5 million tons of cargo, and is a port for ferries to Bari and Ancona in Italy. Kotor, Risan, Tivat and Zelenika (in Bay of Kotor) are smaller ports.

Montenegro's rivers are generally not navigable, except for tourist attractions such as rafting on Tara River.

See also

• Montenegrin car license plates
• Montenegro Airlines