Transport in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Med ...

is centered in

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo met ...

and largely follows the pattern of settlement along the

Nile The Nile, , Bohairic , lg, Kiira , Nobiin language, Nobiin: Áman Dawū is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa and has historically been considered ...

. The

Ministry of Transportation A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government a ...

and other government bodies are responsible for transportation in Egypt, whether by sea, river, land or air. With regards to rail, air and waterway travel, the main line of the nation's rail system follows along the Nile river and is operated by Egyptian National Railways. In addition to overseas routes,

Egypt Air Egyptair (Egyptian Arabic: , ') is the state-owned flag carrier of Egypt. The airline is headquartered at Cairo International Airport, its main hub, operating scheduled passenger and freight services to 81 destinations in the Middle East, Europ ...

provides domestic air service to major tourist destinations from its Cairo hub. The Nile River system (about ) and the principal canals () are important locally for transportation. People still travel via the Nile, mainly between Cairo and Aswan. The

Suez Canal The Suez Canal ( arz, قَنَاةُ ٱلسُّوَيْسِ, ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia. The long canal is a popular ...

is a major waterway for international commerce and navigation, linking the Mediterranean and Red Sea. Major ports are

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandr ...

Port Said Port Said ( ar, بورسعيد, Būrsaʿīd, ; grc, Πηλούσιον, Pēlousion) is a city that lies in northeast Egypt extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, north of the Suez Canal. With an approximate population of 6 ...

, Damietta on the Mediterranean and Suez and Safaga on the Red Sea. With regards to driving, Egypt has one of the highest incidents of road fatalities, per miles driven, in the world."Egypt"
.

Travel.state.gov The Bureau of Consular Affairs (CA) is a bureau of the United States Department of State reporting to the under secretary of state for management. The mission of the Bureau is to administer laws, formulate regulations and implement policies r ...

(March 19, 2008). ''This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.'' The badly maintained road network has expanded rapidly to over , covering the

Nile Valley The Nile, , Bohairic , lg, Kiira , Nobiin: Áman Dawū is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa and has historically been considered the longest rive ...

and

Nile Delta The Nile Delta ( ar, دلتا النيل, or simply , is the delta formed in Lower Egypt where the Nile River spreads out and drains into the Mediterranean Sea. It is one of the world's largest river deltas—from Alexandria in the west to Po ...

, Mediterranean and Red Sea coasts, the Sinai and the Western oasis. Traffic rules are routinely ignored by impatient drivers.

Road system

Two routes in the Trans-African Highway network originate in

. Egypt also has multiple highway links with

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an ...

through the

Arab Mashreq International Road Network The Arab Mashreq international Road Network is an international road network between the primarily Arab countries of the Mashriq (Syria, Iraq, Jordan, Palestine, Lebanon, Kuwait, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, UAE, Oman and Yemen). In additi ...

. 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: * Cairo - Alexandria Desert Road: It runs between

and

, with an extension of , it is the main motorway in Egypt. *

International Coastal Road The International Coastal Road in Egypt connects the country with the Maghreb region through the border crossing in Sallum and ends in Port Said in the opposite direction. It runs along the coast of Mediterranean Sea and through the beach city Ne ...

: It runs from

, along the Northern Nile Delta. It has a length of . Also, amongst other cities, it connects Damietta and Baltim. *Geish Road: It runs between

Helwan Helwan ( ar, حلوان ', , cop, ϩⲁⲗⲟⲩⲁⲛ, Halouan) is a city in Egypt and part of Greater Cairo, on the bank of the Nile, opposite the ruins of Memphis. Originally a southern suburb of Cairo, it served as the capital of the now de ...

and Asyut, along the Nile River, also connecting Beni Suef and Minya. Its length is . *

Ring Road A ring road (also known as circular road, beltline, beltway, circumferential (high)way, loop, bypass or orbital) is a road or a series of connected roads encircling a town, city, or country. The most common purpose of a ring road is to assist i ...

: It serves as an inner ring-road for

. It has a length of . *Regional Ring Road: It serves as an outer ring road for

, also connecting its suburbs like

and 10th of Ramadan City. Its length is . 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

The Egyptian railway system is the oldest railway network in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

and the Middle East and the second oldest in the world. The first line between Alexandria and Kafer Eassa was opened in 1854. In 2018, the system is about 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 was planned to begin in 2007 with the aim of modernizing the rail network and improving safety standards. Trains are usually a safe means of transportation in Egypt. The city of Cairo is served by the

Cairo Metro The Cairo Metro ( ar, مترو أنفاق القاهرة, Metro Anfāq al-Qāhirah, lit. "Cairo Tunnel Metro" or ) is the rapid transit system in Greater Cairo, Egypt. It was the first of the three full-fledged metro systems in Africa a ...

, which is run by the National Authority for Tunnels. In addition to the city of

that is served by the Alexandria Tram The Railway System of Egypt

Waterways

There are of waterways in Egypt, including the

Lake Nasser Lake Nasser ( ar, بحيرة ناصر ', ) is a vast reservoir in Southern Egypt and northern Sudan. It is one of the largest man-made lakes in the world. Before construction, Sudan was against the building of Lake Nasser because it would encro ...

, Alexandria-Cairo Waterway, and many smaller canals in the

. The

, (including approaches), is used by oceangoing vessels, drawing up to 17.68 m of water (2011).

Pipelines

As of 2018 the information in the CIA World Factbook states the following regarding Egypt's pipelines: "condensate 486 km; condensate/gas 74 km; gas 7,986 km; liquid petroleum gas 957 km; oil 5,225 km; oil/gas/water 37 km; refined products 895 km; water 65 km (2013)"

Ports

Egypt has 15 commercial ports and 29 specialized ports. The specialized ports include 5 tourist seaports, 12 petroleum seaports, 6 mining seaports, and 6 fishing seaports.

Commercial Ports

Alexandria Port The Port of Alexandria is on the West Verge of the Nile Delta between the Mediterranean Sea and Mariut Lake in Alexandria, Egypt, and is considered the second most important city and the main port in Egypt. Alexandria port consists of two harbours ...

* El-Dekheila Port * Damietta Port * Port Said Port *

East Port Said Port East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fa ...

* Arish Port * Suez Port * Petroleum Dock Port * Adabiya Port * Sokhna Port * Nuwaiba Port * Al-Tour Port * Sharm El Sheikh Port * Hurghada Port * Safaga Port

Merchant marine

In 2018, the number of Egypt's sea vessels, according to the CIA World Factbook is 399 as follows: *

bulk carrier A bulk carrier or bulker is a merchant ship specially designed to transport unpackaged bulk cargo — such as grains, coal, ore, steel coils, and cement — in its cargo holds. Since the first specialized bulk carrier was built in 1852, ec ...

: 14 *

container ship A container ship (also called boxship or spelled containership) is a cargo ship that carries all of its load in truck-size intermodal containers, in a technique called containerization. Container ships are a common means of commercial intermoda ...

: 8 *

general cargo In shipping, break-bulk, breakbulk, or break bulk cargo, also called general cargo, refers to goods that are stowed on board ship in individually counted units. Traditionally, the large numbers of items are recorded on distinct bills of lading ...

: 33 *

petroleum tanker An oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tanker, is a ship designed for the bulk transport of oil or its products. There are two basic types of oil tankers: crude tankers and product tankers. Crude tankers move large quantities of unrefined cru ...

: 36 * Other: 308 (2017)

Airports

Cairo International Airport is used by numerous international airlines, including the country's own

and Nile Air.

Airports with paved runways

''total:'' 72 ''over 3,047 m:'' 15 ''2,438 to 3,047 m:'' 36 ''1,524 to 2,437 m:'' 15 ''914 to 1,523 m:'' 0 ''under 914 m:'' 6 (2017)

Airports with unpaved runways

''total:'' 11 ''2,438 to 3,047 m:'' 1 ''1,524 to 2,437 m:'' 3 ''914 to 1,523 m:'' 4 ''under 914 m:'' 3 (2013)

Heliports

* 7 (2013)

Monorail

In 2015 plans to construct two monorail systems were announced, one linking October City to suburban Giza, a distance of 35 km, and the other linking Nasr City to New Cairo, a distance of 52 km. They will be Egypt's first monorail systems. In May 2019 the contract to build 70 four-car trains was awarded to Bombardier Transportation, Derby, England. Delivery of the trains is expected between 2021 and 2024. The network is to be built by Orascom Construction and Arab Contractors.

External links

Map

Egyptian National Railways

The Holding Company for Maritime and Land Transport

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Transport In Egypt