Transportation in Cuba is the system of railways, roads, airports, waterways, ports and harbours in

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

Railways

* ''Total:'' 8,285 km * ''

Standard gauge A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), international gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge in Europe, and SGR in East Africa. It is the ...

:'' 8,125 km gauge (105 km electrified) * ''

Narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with Minimum railw ...

:'' 160 km of gauge. Hershey_Electric_Railway

Cuba built the first railway system in the Spanish empire, before the 1848 start in the Iberian peninsula. While the rail infrastructure dates from colonial and early republican times, passenger service along the principal Havana to Santiago corridor is increasingly reliable and popular with tourists who can purchase tickets in Cuban convertible pesos. As with most public transport in Cuba, many of the vehicles used are second hand. With the order of 12 new Chinese locomotives in 2006, built specifically for Cuban Railways at China Northern Locomotives and Rolling Stock Works, services have been improving in reliability. Those benefiting the most are long-distance freight services with the French train Havana-Santiago being the only passenger train using one of the new Chinese locomotives regularly. In 2019, the Cuban railways received the first delivery of new Chinese-built coaches, and new services with these began in July 2019. Havana tram surf

Metro systems are not present in the island, although a suburban rail network exists in

Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.Guanabacoa Guanabacoa is a colonial township in eastern Havana, Cuba, and one of the 15 municipalities (or boroughs) of the city. It is famous for its historical Santería and is home to the first Afro-Cubans, African Cabildo (Cuba), Cabildo in Havana. Guanab ...

Matanzas Matanzas (Cuban ; ) is the capital of the Cuban province of Matanzas Province, Matanzas. Known for its poets, culture, and Afro-American religions, Afro-Cuban folklore, it is located on the northern shore of the island of Cuba, on the Bay of Mat ...

, Cienfuegos,

Camagüey Camagüey () is a city and municipality in central Cuba and is the nation's third-largest city with more than 333,000 inhabitants. It is the capital of the Camagüey Province. It was founded as Santa María del Puerto del Príncipe in 1514, by Sp ...

and

Santiago de Cuba Santiago de Cuba is the second-largest city in Cuba and the capital city of Santiago de Cuba Province. It lies in the southeastern area of the island, some southeast of the Cuban capital of Havana. The municipality extends over , and contains t ...

Roads

The total length of Cuba's highways is 60,858 km, including *''paved:'' 29,820 km (including 915 km of expressways)Source: ''Mapa de Carreteras de Cuba'' (Road map of Cuba, including the roads officially classified as ''Autopistas''). Ediciones GEO,

Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.autopistas) include: *the Autopista Nacional (A1) from Havana to Santa Clara and Sancti Spiritus, with additional short sections near

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...

and Guantanamo *the Autopista Este-Oeste (A4) from Havana to

Pinar del Río Pinar del Río is the capital city of Pinar del Río Province, Cuba. With a population of 191,081 (2022), it is the List of cities in Cuba, 10th-largest city in Cuba. Inhabitants of the area are called ''Pinareños''. History Pinar del Río was ...

*the Autopista del Mediodia from Havana to

San Antonio de los Baños San Antonio de los Baños is a municipality and town in the Artemisa Province of Cuba. It is located 26 km from the city of Havana, and the Ariguanabo River runs through it. It was founded in 1802. History There are 39 schools in the town, e ...

*an autopista from Havana to Melena del Sur *an autopista from Havana to Mariel *the Havana ring road (), which starts at a

tunnel A tunnel is an underground or undersea passageway. It is dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, or laid under water, and is usually completely enclosed except for the two portals common at each end, though there may be access and ve ...

under the entrance to

Havana Harbor Havana Harbor is the port of Havana, the capital of Cuba, and it is the main port in Cuba. Other port cities in Cuba include Cienfuegos, Matanzas, Manzanillo, Cuba, Manzanillo, and Santiago de Cuba. The harbor was created from the natural Havan ...

*the section of the Via Blanca from

Varadero Varadero (), also referred to as ''Playa Azul'' (Blue Beach), is a resort town in the province of Matanzas, Cuba, and one of the largest resort areas in the Caribbean. Varadero Beach is rated one of the world's best beaches in TripAdvisor's Travel ...

(toll road) *an autopista from Nueva Gerona to Santa Fe, in the

Isla de la Juventud Isla de la Juventud (; ) is the second-largest Cuban island (after Cuba's mainland) and the seventh-largest island in the West Indies (after mainland Cuba itself, Hispaniola, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Trinidad, and Andros Island). The island was ...

Older roads include the Carretera Central, and the Via Blanca from Havana to Matanzas.

Long-distance and inter-municipality buses in Cuba

There are several national bus companies in Cuba. Viazul operates a fleet of modern and comfortable coaches on longer distance routes designed principally for tourists. Schedules, prices, and ticket booking can be done online, at any of the major international airports or National Terminals across Cuba. There are also other bus lines operated by tourism companies. AstroBus, a bus service in Cuban National Pesos, designed to bring comfortable air-conditioned coaches to Cuban locals at an affordable price. The AstroBus lines operate with modern Chinese Yutong buses, and are accessible to Cuban Residents of Cuba with their ID Card, and is payable in Cuba Pesos. Routes that have benefited most so far are those from Havana to each of the 13 provincial capitals of the country.

Urban buses

In Havana, urban transportation used to be provided by a colorful selection of buses imported from the Soviet Union or Canada. Many of these vehicles were second hand, such as the 1,500 decommissioned Dutch buses that the Netherlands donated to Cuba in the mid-1990s as well as GM fishbowl buses from Montreal. Despite the United States trade embargo, American-style yellow school buses (imported second-hand from Canada) are also increasingly common sights. Since 2008, service on seven key lines in and out of the city is provided by Chinese Zhengzhou Yutong Buses. These replaced the famous ''camellos'' ("camels" or "dromedaries", after their "humps") trailer buses that hauled as many as two hundred passengers in a passenger-carrying trailer. After the upgrading of Seville's public bus fleet to CNG-powered vehicles, many of the decommissioned ones were donated to the city of Havana. These bright orange buses still display the name of ''Transportes Urbanos de Sevilla, S.A.M.'', their former owner, and Seville's coat of arms as a sign of gratitude. As of 2016, urban transport in Havana consists entirely of modern Yutong diesel buses. Seville and Ikarus buses are gone.

Automobiles

Since 2009, Cuba has imported sedans from Chinese automaker

Geely Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co., Ltd. (ZGH), commonly known as Geely Holding ( ; ), is a Chinese multinational automotive conglomerate headquartered in Hangzhou, China. The company was founded by, and is privately owned by Chinese entrepre ...

to serve as police cars, taxis and rental vehicles. Previously, the Soviet Union supplied Volgas, Moskvichs, and Ladas, as well as heavy trucks like the

ZIL OJSC AMO ZiL, known fully as the Public Joint-Stock Company – Likhachov Plant () and more commonly called ZiL (, was a major Russian automobile, truck, military vehicle, and heavy equipment manufacturer that was based in Moscow. The last ZiL ...

and the

KrAZ KrAZ (, ''Kremenchutskyi Avtomobilnyi Zavod'', Kremenchuk Automobile Plant, АвтоКрА́З or AvtoKrAZ) is a factory in Kremenchuk, Ukraine, that produces trucks and other special-purpose vehicles, particularly heavy-duty off-road models. Th ...

; and Cuba also bought cars from European and Asian companies. In 2004, it was estimated that there were some 173,000 cars in Cuba.

Old American cars in Cuba

Most new vehicles came to Cuba from the United States until the 1960

United States embargo against Cuba The United States embargo against Cuba is the only active embargo within the United States which has prevented U.S. businesses from conducting trade or commerce with Cuban interests since 1958. Modern Cuba–United States relations, diplomatic ...

ended importation of both cars and their parts. As many as 60,000 American vehicles are in use, nearly all in private hands. Of Cuba's vintage American cars, many have been modified with newer engines, disc brakes and other parts, often scavenged from Soviet cars, and most bear the marks of decades of use. Pre-1960 vehicles remain the property of their original owners and descendants, and can be sold to other Cubans providing the proper ''traspaso'' certificate is in place. However, the old American cars on the road today have "relatively high inefficiencies" due in large part to the lack of modern technology. This resulted in increased fuel consumption as well as adding to the economic plight of their owners. With these inefficiencies, noticeable drop in travel occurred from an "average of nearly 3000 km/year in the mid-1980s to less than 800 km/year in 2000–2001". As the Cuban people try to save as much money as possible, when traveling is done, the cars are usually loaded past the maximum allowable weight and travel on the decaying roads, resulting in even more abuse to the already under-maintained vehicles.

Hitchhiking and carpooling

As a result of the "

Special Period The Special Period (), officially the Special Period in the Time of Peace (), was an extended period of economic crisis in Cuba that began in 1991 primarily due to the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the Comecon. The economic depression o ...

" in 1991 (a period of food and energy shortages caused by the loss of the Soviet Union as a trading partner), hitchhiking and carpooling became important parts of Cuba's transportation system and society in general. In 1999, an article in ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' magazine claimed "In Cuba ..hitchhiking is custom. Hitchhiking is essential. Hitchhiking is what makes Cuba move."

Changes in the 2000s

For many years, Cubans could only acquire new cars with special permission. In 2011, the Cuban government legalized the purchase and sale of used post-1959 autos. In December 2013, Cubans were allowed to buy new cars from state-run dealerships - previously this had not been permitted. In 2020, this was further extended with cars being sold in convertible currencies.

Waterways

* Cauto River * Sagua la Grande River

Ports and harbors

* Cienfuegos *

Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.Manzanillo * Mariel *

Nuevitas Nuevitas is a municipality and port town in the Camagüey Province of Cuba. The large bay was sighted by Christopher Columbus and crew during their first voyage of exploration in 1492. History Founded in 1775 during the time of the Spanish Empire ...

Merchant marine

:''Total:'' 3 ships

Ships by type

Cargo ship A cargo ship or freighter is a merchant ship that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's List of seas, seas and Ocean, oceans each year, handling the bulk of international trade. ...

s (1) *

Passenger ship A passenger ship is a merchant ship whose primary function is to carry passengers on the sea. The category does not include cargo vessels which have accommodations for limited numbers of passengers, such as the ubiquitous twelve-passenger freig ...

(1) * Refrigerated cargo ships (1) :''Registered in other countries:'' 5

Airlines

Besides the state owned airline Cubana (

Cubana de Aviación Cubana de Aviación S.A., or simply Cubana, is the flag carrier and largest airline of Cuba. It was founded in October 1929, becoming one of the earliest airlines to emerge in Latin America. It has its corporate headquarters in Havana, and its ...

), only Aerogavitoa operates flights to and within Cuba.

Airports

* Total: 133

Airports with paved runways

*''total:'' 64 *''over 3,047 m:'' 7 *''2,438 to 3,047 m:'' 10 *''1,524 to 2,437 m:'' 16 *''914 to 1,523 m:'' 4 *''under 914 m:'' 27

Airports with unpaved runways

*''total:'' 69 *''914 to 1,523 m:'' 11 *''under 914 m:'' 58

Gallery

Image:DirkvdM yank tank yellow.jpg, 1952

Chevrolet Chevrolet ( ) is an American automobile division of the manufacturer General Motors (GM). In North America, Chevrolet produces and sells a wide range of vehicles, from subcompact automobiles to medium-duty commercial trucks. Due to the promi ...

in Havana Image:DirkvdM yank tank blue-red.jpg, 1958

Plymouth Belvedere The Plymouth Belvedere is a series of United States, American automobile models made by Plymouth (automobile), Plymouth from 1954 until 1970. The Belvedere name was first used for a new hardtop body style in the Plymouth Cranbrook line for the ...

in Havana File:Antique Ford Truck, Havana Jan 2014, image by Marjorie Kaufman.jpg, Antique Ford Truck, Jan 2014 File:Antique car, Havana, Jan 2014, image by Marjorie Kaufman.jpg, Edsel Pacer in Havana, Jan 2014 File:Pink Chevvy, Havana Jan 2014, image by Marjorie Kaufman.jpg, Pink Chevy, Jan 2014 File:Cuba yank tank.jpg, 1956 Ford in Trinidad, Cuba. File:Varadero_-_Cuba_(40276279854).jpg, 1959

Cadillac Cadillac Motor Car Division, or simply Cadillac (), is the luxury vehicle division (business), division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM). Its major markets are the United States, Canada and China; Cadillac models are ...

File:Wołga,_Kuba.jpg, Purple Volga station wagon, May 2018 File:Skoda Fabia Cuba 4575.JPG, Škoda Fabia I (left) and Moskvitch-2141 "Aleko" (right), Feb 2009 File:Classic_cars_in_Cuba,_Varadero_-_Laslovarga003.JPG, A

Buick Buick () is a division (business), division of the Automotive industry in the United States, American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM). Started by automotive pioneer David Dunbar Buick in 1899, it was among the first American automobil ...

car in Varadero File:Hotel_Parque_Central,_Havana.jpg,

Audi Audi AG () is a German automotive manufacturer of luxury vehicles headquartered in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany. A subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group, Audi produces vehicles in nine production facilities worldwide. The origins of the compa ...

car in Havana, May 2018 File:Automobile à La Havane (14).jpg,

Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to simply as Mercedes and occasionally as Benz, is a German automotive brand that was founded in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a subsidiary of the Mercedes-Benz Group, established in 2019) is based in Stuttgart, ...

W120 in Havana, Jan 2015 File:Alter Opel Rekord P1 auf Cuba - Flickr - 02ide.jpg, Opel Rekord in Pinar de Río, Nov 2008 File:AutoLaHabanaCuba-04678.jpg, Suzuki Grand Vitara in Havana, Jan 2017 File:Fiat 125 - Havana.jpg,

Fiat Fiat Automobiles S.p.A., commonly known as simply Fiat ( , ; ), is an Italian automobile manufacturer. It became a part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles in 2014 and, in 2021, became a subsidiary of Stellantis through its Italian division, Stellant ...

125 in Havana, May 2018 File:Lada,_Trinidad.jpg, Lada-2103 in Trinidad File:KrAZ_255,_Cuba.jpg, KrAZ-255 truck, Dec 2016 File:ZiŁ,_Cienfuegos.jpg, ZiL-130 water tank truck in Cienfuegos File:B176286.jpg, Ex-NHZ Holland Den Oudsten bodied DAF MB230 bus in Havana File:Transport_(3055159679).jpg, GMC school bus, Oct 2008 File:B107835.jpg, Viazul Yutong ZK6120A coach, Feb 2020 File:MAZ105.jpg, MAZ-105 bus in Havana File:Havana,_Cuba_city_bus.jpg, Yutong ZK6180HGC articulated bus in Havana File:Cienfuegos train station2.jpg, Cienfuegos railroad station, Feb 2019 File:Siguaney Ferkeltaxi.jpg, Ex- DB VT 2.09 railcar at Sigüaney

References

External links

Cubana AirlinesAero-CaribbeanAero-Gaviota

Viazul long distance coachesBus and train timetableHershey Electric Railroad
{{DEFAULTSORT:Transport In Cuba