- Transport in Sierra Leone
There are a number of systems of transport in Sierra Leone, a country in
West Africa , which possess road, rail, air and water infrastructure, including a network of highways and several airports.Railways
There are 84 kilometres of
railway inSierra Leone , of which all is of a narrow gauge, at 1.067 metres. Sierra Leone no longer has any common carrier railroads, as the 762mm gaugeSierra Leone Government Railway fromFreetown through Bo toKenema and Daru with a branch toMakeni closed in 1974. The country does not share rail links with adjacent countries, flagicon|Guinea Guinea and flagicon|Liberia Liberia.The existing railroad is private and operated from 1933 until 1975 by the Sierra Leone Development Company's iron ore mines at
Marampa , 66km east-northeast of the port atPepel . It is now used on a limited basis. Tecsbacos, the mining company, is reported in 2006 to have problems of theft and obstruction in operating the railway. [ [http://news.sl/drwebsite/publish/article_20051158.shtml VP Berewa must save Tecsbaco in Sierra Leone: Sierra Leone News ] ] In May 2008, an extension of this line toTonkolili with conversion tostandard gauge upgrade to carry 25MT per year was under consideration. [ [http://railwaysafrica.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2679&Itemid=35 Railways Africa - SIERRA LEONE RAIL PROJECT ] ] [ [http://allafrica.com/stories/200805191261.html allAfrica.com: Sierra Leone: African Minerals to Boost Bunbuna Hydro (Page 1 of 1) ] ]Talks started with Russia in 2006 to seek help to rebuild railways in the country, although choice of gauge is problematic, since the original 760mm gauge is obsolete.
Walking
Because of widespread poverty, high petroleum prices and a large portion of the population residing in small communities, walking is often the preferred method of transportation in Sierra Leone.
Highways
There are 11,700 kilometres of
highway in Sierra Leone, of which 936km are paved. When construction and reconstruction of roads and bridges in the country is complete, theTrans-West African Coastal Highway will cross Sierra Leone, connecting it toConakry (Guinea ),Monrovia (Liberia ), and 11 other nations ofECOWAS .Water
There are 800km of
waterway s in Sierra Leone, of which 600km are navigable year-round.Major ports of Sierra Leone include:
Bonthe ,Freetown andPepel . The country possesses a merchant marine of two cargo ships with masses exceeding 1,000GRT .Airports
There are ten
airport s in Sierra Leone, of which one has pavedrunway s (the length of which exceeds 3,047m). Of the remaining airports, all of which having unpaved runways, seven have runways of lengths between 914 and 1,523 metres; the remaining two having runways of shorter length. There are twoheliport s in the country.References
External links
* [http://www.un.org/Depts/Cartographic/map/profile/sierrale.pdf UN Map of Sierra Leone]
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