Railways

The northern railway (TCE) is currently concessioned to Madarail

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 heavily in Madagascar's rail system...

. The southern line, Fianarantsoa-Côte-Est railway

Fianarantsoa-Côte Est railway

The Fianarantsoa-Côte Est railway is a colonial-built railway in southeast Madagascar that connects the high plateau city of Fianarantsoa to the port-city of Manakara. It is 163 kilometers long and was built by the French between 1926 and 1936 using the forced-labor program SMOTIG. The French used...

 (FCE), is a parastatal line.


total:
875 km

narrow gauge:
875 km 1.000-m gauge (2006)

There are two unconnected systems.

Interfaces

• Continuous Brakes
  Brake (railway)
  Brakes are used on the cars of railway trains to enable deceleration, control acceleration or to keep them standing when parked. While the basic principle is familiar from road vehicle usage, operational features are more complex because of the need to control multiple linked carriages and to be...
  
  : Air/Vacuum/Unbraked ?
• Couplers
  Coupling (railway)
  A coupling is a mechanism for connecting rolling stock in a train. The design of the coupler is standard, and is almost as important as the railway gauge, since flexibility and convenience are maximised if all rolling stock can be coupled together.The equipment that connects the couplings to the...
  
  : Centre buffer and two side hooks and chains.

Cities served by rail

• Antananarivo
  Antananarivo
  Antananarivo , formerly Tananarive , is the capital and largest city in Madagascar. It is also known by its French colonial shorthand form Tana....
  
   - national capital
• Toamasina
  Toamasina
  Toamasina , meaning "like salt" or "salty", unofficially and in French also Tamatave, is a city on the east coast of Madagascar on the Indian Ocean. The city is the chief seaport of the country, situated northeast of its capital and biggest city Antananarivo, near the centre of the eastern coast...
  
   - chief seaport

Highways

total:
49,837 km

paved:
5,781 km

unpaved:
44,056 km (1996 est.)

The majority of "paved" roads outside the capital can no longer be considered so due to heavy use, erosion and lack of maintenance. Due to excessive rainfall in the regions land slides have depleted roads.

Waterways

Of local importance only; isolated streams and small portions of Lakandranon' Ampangalana (Canal des Pangalanes) navigated by pirogue

Pirogue

A pirogue is a small, flat-bottomed boat of a design associated particularly with the Cajuns of the Louisiana marsh. In West Africa they were used as traditional fishing boats. These boats are not usually intended for overnight travel but are light and small enough to be easily taken onto land...

. Coastal inter-city transport routes, especially on the West coast.

Ports and harbors

Antsiranana

Antsiranana

Antsiranana , named Diego-Suarez prior to 1975, is a city at the northern tip of Madagascar.Antsiranana is the capital of Diana Region.-Transports:...

, Antsohimbondrona

Antsohimbondrona

Antsohimbondrona is a municipality in Madagascar. It belongs to the district of Ambilobe, which is a part of Diana Region. According to 2001 census the population of Antsohimbondrona was 32080....

, Mahajanga

Mahajanga

Mahajanga is a city and a district on the north-west coast of Madagascar.- City :The City of Mahajanga is the capital of the Boeny region. Population: 135,660 ....

, Toamasina

Toamasina

Toamasina , meaning "like salt" or "salty", unofficially and in French also Tamatave, is a city on the east coast of Madagascar on the Indian Ocean. The city is the chief seaport of the country, situated northeast of its capital and biggest city Antananarivo, near the centre of the eastern coast...

, Toliara

Toliara

-References:...

, Tôlanaro

Tôlanaro

Tôlanaro or Tolagnaro is a city in Madagascar. It is the capital of Anosy Region and of Tôlanaro District. It has a port of local importance, and a new port has been built at Ehoala...

. The country's principal cargo port is Toamasina Autonomous Port

Toamasina Autonomous Port

Toamasina Autonomous Port or Société de Gestion du Port Autonome de Toamasina 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 International Container Terminal Services , a subsidiary of...

.

Merchant marine

total:
13 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 24,819 GRT/

ships by type:
cargo 7, chemical tanker 1, liquified gas 1, petroleum tanker 2, roll-on/roll-off 2 (1999 est.)

Airports - with paved runways

total:
29

over 3,047 m:
1

2,438 to 3,047 m:
2

1,524 to 2,437 m:
4

914 to 1,523 m:
20

under 914 m:
2 (1999 est.)

Airports - with unpaved runways

total:
104

1,524 to 2,437 m:
3

914 to 1,523 m:
59

under 914 m:
42 (1999 est.)

See also

• Madagascar
  Madagascar
  The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...
  
  
• Ivato International Airport
• List of airports by ICAO code

External links

• Mada Bus - inter-city bus transport. Bankrupt in 2008, due to an internal fraud by some staff members. Madabus has closed down.
• Madagascar Helicopter - helicopter transfer service in Madagascar
• Report about Madarail and TCE (Tananarive-Côtes Est) by photojournalist Rijasolo