Transport in Moldova
In 1995 the main means of transportation in
Moldova were railroads (1,150 kilometers) and a highway system (20,100 kilometers overall, including 14,000 kilometers of paved surfaces). The major railroad junctions are
Chişinău,
Bender/
Tighina,
Ungheni,
Ocnita (Oknitsa, in Russian),
Bălţi, and
Basarabeasca (Bessarabka, in Russian). Primary external rail links connect the republic's network with
Odesa (in
Ukraine) on the Black Sea and with the
Romanian cities of
Iaşi and
Galaţi; they also lead northward into
Ukraine. Highways link Moldova's main cities and provide the chief means of transportation within the country, but roads are in poor repair, and gasoline shortages make interurban motor transportation difficult. The country's major airport is in
Chişinău.
Shipping is possible on the lower
Prut and
Nistru rivers, but water transportation plays only a modest role in the country's transportation system. In 1990 a total of 317 million tonkilometers of freight were carried on inland waterways as compared with 15,007 million ton-kilometers on railroads and 1,673 million ton-kilometers on roads.
The movement of manufactured goods and of passengers on all means of transportation started to decline in 1989. From 1993 to 1994, for example, the total amount of transported goods fell by 31 percent, passenger traffic decreased by 28 percent, and the number of passengers declined by 24 percent. The main causes for these declines are the high cost of transportation, a lack of fuels, and the poor state of Moldova's transportation infrastructure: approximately 20 percent of Moldova's roads are considered in a critical technical state.
Railways:total:1,328 km
broad gauge:1,328 km 1.520-m gauge (1992)
Highways:total:12,300 km
paved:10,738 km
unpaved:1,562 km (1996 est.)
Waterways:424 km (1994)
Pipelines:natural gas 310 km (1992)
Ports and harbors:none
Airports:26 (1994 est.)
Airports - with paved runways:total:8
over 3,047 m:1
2,438 to 3,047 m:2
1,524 to 2,437 m:2
under 914 m:3 (1994 est.)
Airports - with unpaved runways:total:18
2,438 to 3,047 m:3
1,524 to 2,437 m:2
914 to 1,523 m:5
under 914 m:8 (1994 est.)
See also : Moldova
