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Airports
Montenegro has two international airports, with their IATA
Airport Codes:
Podgorica Airport - TGD
Tivat Airport - TIV
Podgorica Airport has a new and modern terminal building,
and Tivat Airport underwent terminal expansion and can now
handle night landings.
There are also airports at Berane, abljak and Nikic,
but those are used mostly for general aviation, and are not
equipped to handle larger aircraft.
Railways
total: 250 km
standard gauge: (1435 mm) 250 km
narrow gauge: none
Rail links with adjacent countries
Serbia - yes - same gauge, couplings, brakes, electrification
system
Albania - yes - defunct.
Croatia - no direct links
Bosnia and Herzegovina - no direct links
Overview
The Montenegrin part of the Belgrade - Bar railway is the
backbone of the Montenegrin railway system. It opened in 1979,
and then was a state-of-the art railway, with features such
as Mala Rijeka viaduct (highest railway viaduct in the world)
and the 6.2 km long Sozina tunnel. About one-third of the
Montenegrin part of the railway is in tunnel or on viaduct.
It is the only railway corridor in Montenegro that is fully
electrified: electrification of Podgorica - Nikic corridor
is not complete.
The railway has suffered from chronic underfunding in 1990s,
resulting in it deteriorating and becoming unsafe. This culminated
in the Bioce train disaster, when a passenger train derailed,
killing 47 passengers. Efforts are being made to thoroughly
reconstruct this railway.
The Podgorica - Nikic railway has been primarily used
for freight traffic, particularly bauxite from the Nikic
mine to the Podgorica aluminium plant. That is about to change,
as this part of railway is currently under reconstruction
and electrification. Passenger traffic is set to start in
2009.
The Podgorica - Shkodër railway, which extends to Tirana,
has been used exclusively for freight traffic for some time.
There are plans to reconstruct the railway and re-introduce
passenger traffic, as it is important for intrests of both
Montenegro and Albania.
Highways
European routes E65, E80, E762, E763 and E851 pass through
the country.
total: 5,277 km
paved: 1,729 km
Roads in Montenegro are generally not up to European standards.
Economic crises during 1990s and Yugoslav wars left the country
with no means to finance maintenance and expansion of the
road network.
All roads in Montenegro are two-laned only, and there is
dual carriageways. In recent years roads between connection
of Podgorica and the coastal towns have improved significantly
with the completion of Sozina tunnel, which shortened the
journey from Podgorica to Bar to under half an hour and made
the trip significantly safer.
In the north, the road from Podgorica to Kolain through
Moraca canyon to Serbia is considered one of the most dangerous
routes in Europe, especially during the winter. Preparatory
work has begun on a bypass for the canyon. This project is
of strategic importance to Montenegro, as this corridor is
currently the weak link in Montenegro's road network.
Ports and harbors
Bar is the major seaport in Montenegro. It is capable of handling
about 5 million tons of cargo, and is a port for ferries to
Bari and Ancona in Italy. Kotor, Tivat and Zelenika (in Bay
of Kotor) are smaller ports.
Montenegro's rivers are generally not navigable, except for
tourist attractions such as rafting on Tara River.
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