Transport in Bangladesh
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[edit] Railways
Railway acts as an important method of mass transport in Bangladesh. Many districts of the country are connected via railroads. Bangladesh Railway was mostly inherited from the British-established Assam Bengal railway system after the partition of India in 1947. Bangladesh Railway's headquarters are located in the southern port city of Chittagong, which had historically been the south-eastern terminus of the Assam-Bengal Railway. After independence from West Pakistan in 1971, only a small length of new tracks were laid out.
As of 2005, the total length of railroad is 2,706 kilometres (1,681 mi).[1] Of that, 923 km (574 mi) are 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in) (broad gauge) tracks (mostly in the western region), and the remaining 1,822 km (1,132 mi) are metre gauge tracks (mostly in the central and eastern regions). The gauge problem is being addressed by adding third rails to the most important broad and metre gauge routes, so that they become dual gauge.
A major road-rail bridge at Jamuna opened in 1998 to connect the previously isolated east and west rail networks.
The border between India and Bangladesh cuts across rail lines, forcing them into the other country for short distances. This complicates border controls such as passport validation.
[edit] Roads
Total: 239,226 km
county comparison to the world: 22
Paved: 22,726 km
Unpaved: 216,500 km (2003)
[edit] Waterways
There are 5,150–8,046 km (3,200–5,000 mi) of navigable waterways (includes 2,575–3,058 km/1,600–1,900 mi of main cargo routes).
Because of Bangladesh's many rivers, ferries are a major form of transportation. These ferries are notoriously dangerous. They are often overloaded, and they continue to operate during rough weather. Hundreds of people die each year in ferry accidents. Many types of boats are also used for transportation.
[edit] Pipelines
- natural gas 2,597 km (2008)
[edit] Ports and harbors
- Chittagong; Port of Chittagong; Chittagong Port Authority - east coast
- Dhaka - river port
- Mongla Port
- Sonadia - proposed
[edit] Other
The International Maritime Bureau reports the territorial waters of Bangladesh as high risk for armed robbery against ships; numerous commercial vessels have been attacked both at anchor and while underway; crews have been robbed and stores or cargoes stolen
[edit] Merchant marine
 Statistics for the Shipping Industry of Bangladesh |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
| Total: 36 ships (1,000 gross register tons (GRT) or over) | |||
| Totalling: 284,489 GRT/405,845 metric tons deadweight (DWT) | |||
| Cargo ships | |||
| Bulk ships | 2 | ||
| Container ships | 1 | ||
| Roll-on/Roll-off ships | 2 | ||
| Tanker ships | |||
| Petroleum tanker ships | 2 | ||
| Passenger ships | |||
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| Source: This article contains material from the CIA World Factbook which, as a US government publication, is in the public domain. | |||
[edit] Airports
17 (2008)
county comparison to the world: 139
[edit] Airports with paved runways
total: 16
over 3,047 m: 1
2,438 to 3,047 m: 3
1,524 to 2,438 m: 5
914 to 15,23 m: 1
under 914 m: 6 (2008)
[edit] Airports with unpaved runways
total: 1
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2008)
[edit] References
This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the CIA World Factbook.
[edit] External links
- Bangladeshi ferry corpses found, BBC News, Tuesday, 17 May, 2005.
