Paved and unpaved roadways, as well as railways, provide the main forms of transport in Madagascar.

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

has approximately of paved roads and 836 km of rail lines. In 2010, Madagascar had of navigable waterways.

Railways

In 2018, Madagascar reported 836 km of rail lines. There are several rail lines and stations in Madagascar.

Antananarivo Antananarivo (French language, French: ''Tananarive'', ), also known by its colonial shorthand form Tana, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Madagascar. The administrative area of the city, known as Antananarivo-Renivohitra ("An ...

is connected to

Toamasina Toamasina (), meaning "like salt" or "salty", unofficially and in French Tamatave, is the capital of the Atsinanana region on the east coast of Madagascar on the Indian Ocean. The city is the chief seaport of the country, situated northeast of it ...

Ambatondrazaka Ambatondrazaka () is a city (commune urbaine) in Madagascar Ambatondrazaka is also the capital of the Alaotra-Mangoro region and the Ambatondrazaka District. Geography The city is situated south of Alaotra, the greatest lake in Madagascar. ...

and Antsirabe by rail, and another rail line connects Fianarantsoa to

Manakara Manakara is a city in Madagascar. It is the capital Fitovinany Region and of the district of Manakara Atsimo. The city is located at the east coast near the mouth of the Manakara River and has a small port. The bridge over the Manakara River ...

. The northern railway (TCE) is concessioned to

Madarail The government of Madagascar has granted Madarail a 25-year concession to operate the northern of the two national rail lines. The company is investing in Madagascar's rail system. Operations began in 2003 with one locomotive; 7 more locomotiv ...

. The southern line, Fianarantsoa-Côte-Est railway (FCE), is a

parastatal A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is a government entity which is established or nationalised by the ''national government'' or ''provincial government'' by an executive order or an act of legislation in order to earn profit for the government ...

line.

Roads

Waterways

The relatively short rivers of Madagascar are typically of local importance only; isolated streams and small portions of Lakandranon' Ampangalana (

Canal des Pangalanes The Canal des Pangalanes is a canal that consists of a series of natural rivers, waterways and human-made lakes that extends for over and runs down the east coast of Madagascar from Mahavelona to Farafangana. It is used primarily for transpor ...

) are navigated by

pirogue A pirogue ( or ), also called a piragua or piraga, is any of various small boats, particularly dugouts and native canoes. The word is French and is derived from Spanish , which comes from the Carib '. Description The term 'pirogue' does n ...

. Coastal inter-city transport routes are found along the west coast. Madagascar has 600 km of waterways, 432 km of which are navigable.

Ports and harbors

The most important seaport in Madagascar is located on the east coast at Toamasina. Ports at

Toliara Toliara (also known as ''Toliary'', ; formerly ''Tuléar'') is a city in Madagascar. It is the capital of the Atsimo-Andrefana region, located 936 km southwest of national capital Antananarivo. The current spelling of the name was adopted ...

, Mahajanga, and

Antsiranana Antsiranana ( mg, Antsiran̈ana ), named Diego-Suárez prior to 1975, is a city in the far north of Madagascar. Antsiranana is the capital of Diana Region. It had an estimated population of 115,015 in 2013. History The bay and city originally u ...

are significantly less used because of their remoteness. The island's newest port at

Port d'Ehola The Port d'Ehoala is a port in southern Madagascar at approx. 10 km from the city of Tôlanaro (Fort-Dauphin). It was built for the exportations of Ilmenite from the nearby mine of QIT Madagascar Minerals QIT Madagascar Minerals (QMM) is a ...

, constructed in 2008 and privately managed by

Rio Tinto Rio Tinto, meaning "red river", may refer to: Businesses * Rio Tinto (corporation), an Anglo-Australian multinational mining and resources corporation ** Rio Tinto Alcan, based in Canada ** Rio Tinto Borax in America *** Rio Tinto Borax Mine, ...

, will come under state control upon completion of the company's mining project near Tôlanaro around 2038. The country's principal cargo port is

Toamasina Autonomous Port Toamasina Autonomous Port or Société de Gestion du Port Autonome de Toamasina (''SPAT'') is a Malagasy government body that governs and regulates the Indian Ocean port of Toamasina. The operation of the port has been contracted to Madagascar I ...

Airports

Ivato Intl Airport Antananarivo Madagascar

The main international airport in Madagascar is

Ivato International Airport Ivato International Airport is the main international airport serving Antananarivo, the capital of Madagascar, located northwest of the city centre. Ivato Airport is the main hub for Air Madagascar and is located in the commune of Ivato. ...

in Antananarivo. Air Madagascar services the island's many small regional airports, which offer the only practical means of access to many of the more remote regions during rainy season road washouts. There are 26 airports with paved runways and 57 airports with unpaved runways. In 2018, Madagascar carried 544,458 air passengers.

Notes

References

External links

Helicopter Antananarivo
- Helicopter charter service in Antananarivo

- Helicopter transfer service
Report about Madarail and TCE (Tananarive-Côtes Est)
by photojournalist Rijasolo {{Africa in topic, Transport in