Transport in the Arab world

Transport in the Arab League describes the land, air, and water transport methods and infrastructure of the countries in the Arab world. Transport infrastructure in the states of the Arab League has been growing, albeit slowly.

Highways[edit]

Regional highways[edit]

Highways and Roads in the States of the Arab League

There are several cross-Arab State roads, crossing the Arab world from its farthest point in the west in Mauritania, to its eastern farthest point in Oman. The Arab States are connected with roads and highways that cross deserts, mountains and forests. The most developed state with high road infrastructure is the United Arab Emirates, followed by Syria, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Morocco, Jordan and Egypt, while countries such as Sudan, Libya, Mauritania, Somalia and Yemen seem to have a lot of building to do.

Railways[edit]

Rail Lines in the Arab League

Egypt has by far the oldest railroad in the Middle East and Africa and one of the oldest in the world, built in 1854 by Khedive Abbas I of Egypt. Now Egypt has the most extensive railway system in the Middle East, and is the only country in the Arab League to have an underground metro system in Cairo.

The Souk Ahras–Ghardimaou line already connect Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia with each other, but Morocco and Algeria have closed the line due to increased tensions. while Libya, Egypt and Sudan are not connected to each other. In the Asian part, almost all Arab states have been connected by railroads, except the Arab states of the Persian Gulf.

Perhaps the most developed railways connecting Arab states can be found between Iraq and Syria, with the Iraqi Republic Railways which run through Syria to Turkey. New projects underway to develop the Arab rail lines have been under construction, linking the south Egyptian city of Abu Simbel with the north Sudanese city of Wadi Halfa.

Proposed railways[edit]

In October 2007 French company Alstom announced it would supply 18 TGV Duplex trains to the Office National des Chemins de Fer du Maroc (ONCF) in 2008. The trains will run at 320 km/h between Tangier, Rabat and Casablanca
There are long-term projects to re-open the Palestine Railway with Egypt
Reviving the Hijaz railway between Medina and Mecca to Damascus, crossing Jordan
The Gulf Railway will run through Kuwait City, Dammam, Abu Dhabi, Dubai and end in Muscat. Other plans of extending it to Manama and Doha are under study