Transport in Egypt

Transport in Egypt is centered in Cairo and largely follows the pattern of settlement along the Nile. The main line of the nation's rail system follows along the great river and is operated by Egyptian National Railways. The badly maintained road network has expanded rapidly to over 21,000 miles, covering the Nile Valley and Nile Delta, Mediterranean and Red Sea coasts, the Sinai and the Western oasis.

In addition to overseas routes, Egypt Air provides reliable domestic air service to major tourist destinations from its Cairo hub. The Nile River system (about 1,600 km or 1,000 mi) and the principal canals (1,600 km.) are important locally for transportation.

The Suez Canal is a major waterway of international commerce and navigation, linking the Mediterranean and Red Sea. The ministry of transportation, along with other governmental bodies are responsible for transportation in Egypt. Major ports are Alexandria, Port Said, Damietta on the Mediterranean and Suez and Safaga on the Red Sea.

Egypt has one of the highest incidence of road fatalities per miles driven in the world.[1] There are few, if any road markings.[1] Most traffic lights in Cairo appear not to function, but rather intersections are staffed by policemen who use subtle finger movements to indicate which cars may move.[1] Traffic rules are routinely ignored by impatient drivers: vehicles travel at high speed or the wrong way on one-way streets.[1] Pedestrians constantly dodge in and out of traffic, and animals are commonly on the roads.[1] Rare winter rains can cause extremely slippery road surfaces or localized flooding.[1]

Intercity roads are generally in good condition, but unmarked surfaces, stray animals, and disabled vehicles without lights or reflectors are among the many hazards that can be encountered on highways, especially after dark.[1]

Some roads, especially in the Sinai and southeastern part of the country, are off-limits to foreigners.[1]

A popular form of transportation is by boat. Even though Egypt has expanded and developed its road system, people still travel on the Nile to get from place to place.

Road system

Two routes in the Trans-African Highway network originate in Cairo. Egypt also has multiple highway links with Asia through the Arab Mashreq International Road Network. Egypt has a developing motorway network, connecting Cairo with Alexandria and other cities. Though most of the transport in the country is still done on the national highways, motorways are becoming increasingly an option in road transport within the country. The existing motorways in the country are:

Plus, Egypt has developed an extensive system of 4-lane highways that can be classified as freeways, because they serve as normal roads and do not discriminate the traffic on it, thus rendering them slower than motorways.

Railways

Egypt railway network
(interactive version)
1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge

The Egyptian railway system is the oldest railway network in Africa and the Middle East. The first line between Alexandria and Kafer Eassa was opened in 1854. Today, the system is about 7,063 km long and is operated by the Egyptian National Railways. ENR carries about 800 million passengers and 12 million tonnes of freight annually. A major investment programme is planned to begin in 2007 with the aim of modernising the rail network and improving safety standards.[2] Trains are usually a safe means of transportation in Egypt.[1]

The city of Cairo is served by the Cairo Metro, which is run by the National Authority for Tunnels. In addition to the city of Alexandria that is served by the Alexandria Tram

Waterways

3,500 km (including the Nile, Lake Nasser, Alexandria-Cairo Waterway, and numerous smaller canals in the delta).

Suez Canal, 193.5 km (including approaches), used by oceangoing vessels, drawing up to about 19 m of water (soon to be increased to 22m).

Pipelines

Crude oil 666 km; petroleum products 596 km; natural gas 460 km

Ports and harbors

Mediterranean Sea

Red Sea

Nile River

Merchant marine

180 ships (with a volume of 1,000 gross register tons (GRT) or over) totaling 1,348,148 GRT/2,014,483 tonnes deadweight (DWT)

Ships by type

Airports

Cairo International Airport is used by numerous international airlines, including the country’s own Egypt Air. In 2003, about 4.2 million passengers were carried on scheduled domestic and international flights. As of 2004, Egypt had an estimated 87 airports. In 2005 a total of 72 had paved runways, and there were 2 heliports.

Airports with paved runways

total: 71

over 3,047 m: 12

2,438 to 3,047 m: 36

1,524 to 2,437 m: 16

914 to 1,523 m: 3

under 914 m: 4 (1999 est.)

Airports with unpaved runways

total: 19

2,438 to 3,047 m: 2

1,524 to 2,437 m: 2

914 to 1,523 m: 6

under 914 m: 9

Heliports

Information from Cia.gov

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Egypt". Travel.state.gov (March 19, 2008). This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  2. ↑ Egyptian investment will raise safety standards. Railway Gazette International August 2007.

 This article incorporates public domain material from the CIA World Factbook website https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/index.html.

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