Transport in Western Sahara: Difference between revisions

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==Surface transport==
[[Western Sahara]] has no rail service,<ref name="gov.uk">{{Cite web|url=https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/western-sahara/safety-and-security|title=Western Sahara|last=|first=|date=|website=Gov.Uk|publisher=|access-date=17 October 2016}}</ref> with the exception of a {{Convert|5|km|mi|adj=on}} section of the [[Mauritania Railway]]; which (since the closure of the [[Choum Tunnel]]), cuts across the extreme south-eastern corner of the territory. The rail-route is considered the world's longest cargo train covering a distance of {{convert|437|mi|km|abbr=on}}.<ref>{{cite news|title=Surfing the Sahara Sandworm: Photographer charts his thrilling - and dangerous - ride on the longest cargo train in the world that winds its way through the blistering desert to the Atlantic coast|url=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3187080/Surfing-Sahara-Sandworm-Photographer-charts-thrilling-dangerous-ride-longest-cargo-train-world-winds-way-blistering-desert-Atlantic-coast.html|newspaper=The Daily Mail|accessdate=11 November 2016cn}}</ref> Passengers with tickets ride in cramped cars while many illegal passengers, sometimes with livestock, ride on top of [[Railroad car|freight cars]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/12/opinions/cnnphotos-sutter-mauritania-train/|title=The 'Normal Train' That Crosses the Sahara|last=Sutter|first=John D.|date=26 January 2016|work=CNN|access-date=17 October 2016|via=}}</ref>
 
There are only {{Convert|6200|km|mi}} of roads, of which {{Convert|1126|km|mi}} are [[metalled]].<ref>{{cite book |author1=United States. Office of International Marketing|author2=United States. Domestic and International Business Administration|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LhdrfsCIERgC&q|title=Market profiles for Africa|date=15 June 2009|publisher=Dept. of Commerce, Domestic and International Business Administration, Bureau of International Commerce, Office of International Marketing : for sale by the Supt. of Docs., U.S. Govt. Print. Off., 1976|p=26}}</ref> A small network of highways provide limited ground travel connections. N1 highway is a major roadway traversing along the Atlantic coastline of the country. There are a few roads in the north and only two roads in the south that branch off of N1. All other roads are local ones in the various cities and towns. Off road driving is considered dangerous since there are "thousands of unexploded [[Land mine|mines]]" in the area.<ref name="gov.uk"/> Highway road plans in the region started by [[Algeria]] have been used to increase its own influence in the region.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8wPGAgAAQBAJ&lpg=PA133|title=Perspectives on Western Sahara: Myths, Nationalisms, and Geopolitics|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|year=2014|isbn=9781442226852|editor-last=Boukhars|editor-first=Anouar|location=New York|pages=|quote=|editor-last2=Roussellier|editor-first2=Jacques|via=|last=Ammour|first=Laurence Aida|chapter=The Algerian Foreign Policy on Western Sahara}}</ref> There are only 4 companies licensed to use buses in Western Sahara which are: CTM, Supratours, Satas and Sat; CTM and Supratours buses have daily service from Dakhla to Marrakech via Laayoune and Agadir.<ref>{{cite book|title=Marrakesh|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ODJtOFUFQtEC&dq=bus+companies+in+western+sahara&source=gbs_navlinks_s|first=Daniel|last= Jacobs|year=2004|isbn=9781843533214|publisher=Rough Guides|page=125}}</ref>