Transport in Eritrea


Transport in Eritrea includes highways, airports and seaports, in addition to various forms of public and private vehicular, maritime and aerial transportation.

Railways

As of 1999, there was a total of 317 kilometres of rail line in Eritrea. The railway links Agordat and Asmara with the port of Massawa; however, it was nonoperational since 1978 except for about a 5 kilometre stretch that was reopened in Massawa in 1994. Rehabilitation of the remainder and of the rolling stock has occurred in recent years. By 2003, the line had been restored from Massawa all the way through to Asmara.
There are no rail links with adjacent countries.

Highways

The Eritrean highway system is named according to the road classification. The three levels of classification are: primary, secondary, and tertiary. The lowest level road is tertiary and serves local interests. Typically they are improved earth roads which are occasionally paved. During the wet seasons these roads typically become impassable. The next higher level road is a secondary road and typically is a single-layered asphalt road that connects district capitals together and those to the regional capitals. Roads that are considered primary roads are those that are fully asphalted and in general they carry traffic between all the major towns in Eritrea.
TitleStart pointIntermediate pointEnd pointRoad type
P-1AsmaraGhindaMassawaAsphalt
P-2AsmaraAdi TekelezanKerenAsphalt
P-3AsmaraAdi KeyhSenafeAsphalt
P-4AsmaraMendeferaMareb River
Asphalt
P-5KerenBarentuTesseneyAsphalt
P-6MassawaTiyoAssebGravel
P-7Assebn/aBureAsphalt
P-8GahtelaiShebahShe'ebAsphalt
P-9Serejeqan/aShebahGravel


total:
4,010 km

paved:
874 km

unpaved:
3,136 km

Seaports and harbours

Red Sea


total:
5 ships totaling /

ships by type:
bulk carrier 1, cargo ship 1, liquefied gas 1, petroleum tanker 1, roll-on/roll-off ship 1

Airports

There are three international airports, one in the capital, Asmara International Airport, and the two others in the coastal cities, Massawa and Assab. The airport in Asmara received all international flights into the country as of March 2007, as well as being the main airport for domestic flights.
21

Airports - with paved runways

NameLength of the runway
Asmara
Massawa
Assab

Airports - with unpaved runways

total:
18

over 3,047 m:

2,438 to 3,047 m:

1,524 to 2,437 m:

914 to 1,523 m:

under 914 m:
2

Cableway

The Asmara-Massawa Cableway, built by Italy in the 1930s, connected the port of Massawa with the city of Asmara. The British later dismantled it during their eleven-year occupation after defeating Italy in World War II.