Transport in Venezuela

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Transport in Venezuela revolves around a system of highways and airports. Venezuela is connected to the world primarily via air (Venezuela's airports include the Simón Bolívar International Airport near Caracas and La Chinita International Airport near Maracaibo) and sea (with major seaports at La Guaira, Maracaibo and Puerto Cabello). In the south and east the Amazon rainforest region has limited cross-border transport; in the west, there is a mountainous border of over 1,375 miles (2,213 km) shared with Colombia. The Orinoco River is navigable by oceangoing vessels up to 400 km inland, and connects the major industrial city of Ciudad Guayana to the Atlantic Ocean.

Venezuela has a limited national railway system, which has no active rail connections to other countries. Several major cities have metro systems; the Caracas Metro has been operating since 1983. The Maracaibo Metro and Valencia Metro were opened more recently. Venezuela has a road network of around 100,000 km (placing it around 47th in the world); around a third of roads are paved.

As of 2019, about 80% of public transportation is not operational within the country.[1]

## Contents

* 1 Railways
* 1.1 Cities with underground railway systems
* 1.2 See also
* 1.3 Railway links with adjoining countries
* 1.4 Maps
* 1.5 Standards
* 1.6 Stations
* 1.7 Timeline
* 1.7.1 2006
* 1.7.2 2008
* 1.7.3 2009
* 2 Highways
* 2.1 Motorways
* 3 Waterways
* 4 Pipelines
* 5 Ports and harbors
* 6 Air travel
* 6.1 Airports - with paved runways
* 6.2 Airports - with unpaved runways
* 6.3 Heliports
* 7 Cable car
* 8 References
* 9 External links

## Railways[edit | edit source]

Main article: Instituto de Ferrocarriles del Estado

total: 7000 km (?) (248 km privately owned, including Orinoco Mining Company)
standard gauge: 682 km (40 km electrified) 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) ([2])

### Cities with underground railway systems[edit | edit source]

* Caracas (El Metro de Caracas, operated by C.A. Metro de Caracas[3])
* Los Teques Metro \- opened in 2006.
* Maracaibo Metro \- opened in 2006.
* Valencia Metro (Venezuela) \- opened in 2006.

### See also[edit | edit source]

* East-West Railway, Venezuela

### Railway links with adjoining countries[edit | edit source]

* Guyana \- no
* Brazil \- no
* Brazil
* Colombia \- yes, but inoperative (Railroad of Cúcuta) - proposed rebuilding
* Colombia

### Maps[edit | edit source]

* Encarta[4]

### Standards[edit | edit source]

* Gauge: 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in)
* Coupling: AAR
* Brakes: Air
* Electrification: 25 kV AC 60 Hz

### Stations[edit | edit source]

Main article: Railway stations in Venezuela

### Timeline[edit | edit source]

#### 2006[edit | edit source]

* Venezuela awards contracts worth $2.2 billion to build two new railway lines. Construction on the two new lines connecting San Juan de los Morros to San Fernando de Apure and connecting Chaguaramas to Cabruta is expected to begin in Q2 2006 and is expected to take six years to complete. April 2006 in rail transport.
* In October 2006, Venezuela opened a new Caracas-Cúa railway, the first new railway in the country for 70 years[5]
* "Towards the end of this month, we would have final discussions with Mittal Steel," said Mr Kapur, adding that the initial discussions took place in March.[citation needed] Moreover, Ircon is also likely to construct a new rail line in Venezuela at an estimated cost of $350 million.

#### 2008[edit | edit source]

* On August 23, 2008, a deal was signed between Argentina (Argentina), Brazil (Brazil) and Venezuela to develop an electrified railway link between these countries. A minor hurdle is the use of both 50 Hz and 60 Hz.
* July 5 - meeting between Venezuela, Colombia (Colombia) and Ecuador (Ecuador) regarding a railway for freight and passengers to link the three countries, and linking the Pacific with the Atlantic also.

#### 2009[edit | edit source]

* March 2009 - China to help build new network [6]

## Highways[edit | edit source]

Automobile transport is encouraged by the fact that Venezuela has the lowest gas prices in the world, at $0.18 per gallon ($0.05 per liter).[7] In some cases, gas is less expensive than bottled water.[7]

total: 96,155 km
paved: 32,308 km
unpaved: 63,847 km (1997 est.)

### Motorways[edit | edit source]

Venezuela has a fairly developed motorway network, certainly more developed than in most of South American nations. It is especially operative in the Northern and Western parts of the country, connecting the main cities of the country. The following roads feature at least 4 lanes and double carriageway:

* Autopista Barquisimeto - Acarigua. It runs from Barquisimeto through Cabudare to Acarigua. Its length is 70 km.
* Autopista Caracas - La Guaira. It runs from Caracas to the Maiquetía International Airport and La Guaira. It extends for 30 km.
* Autopista Cimarrón Andresote. It runs from Barquisimeto through San Felipe and Morón. Its length is 125 km.
* Autopista Circunvalación del Este. It runs from Valencia to Naguanagua. Its length is 13 km.
* Autopista Circunvalación Norte. It serves as a bypass for Barquisimeto. Its length is 30 km.
* Autopista Gran Mariscal de Ayacucho. Projected to run from Caracas to Güiria, it is a motorway currently under construction, though parts of it are already in use, including Caracas \- Río Chico (98 km.), Caucagua \- Higuerote (20 km.), Boca de Uchire - Clarines (43 km.), Píritu \- Puerto La Cruz (66 km.) and Santa Fe - Cumaná (52 km).
* Autopista José Antonio Páez. It runs from Valencia to Barinas. It also connects the cities of San Carlos, Acarigua and Guanare. It has a length of 336 km.
* Autopista Manuel Piar. It connects Ciudad Guayana and Upata. It stretches for 62 km.
* Autopista Regional del Centro. It is one of the most important motorways of the country, running between Venezuela's first and third biggest population centres: Caracas and Valencia. It also connects Charallave, Maracay and Guacara. Its length is 160 km.
* Autopista San Cristóbal - La Fría. It is a motorway currently under construction, projected to link San Cristóbal and La Fría. Some parts of the motorway are already open, such as San Cristóbal \- Palmira (18 km), Lobatera \- San Juan de Colón (16 km) and San Félix - La Fría (19 km).
* Autopista Simón Bolívar. It links Ciudad Guayana and Puerto Ordaz with Ciudad Bolívar. It has a length of 131 km.
* Autopista Valencia - Puerto Cabello. It extends from Guacara, to Puerto Cabello in the Caribbean coast. It has a length of 60 km.
* Autopista Valera - Trujillo. It connects the city of Valera with Trujillo. It extends for 34 km.
* Autopista Zulia - Lara. It extends from Barquisimeto to Maracaibo, two of the main population centres of Venezuela. It also links Carora, Ciudad Ojeda and Cabimas. It has a length of 293 km.
* Avenida Juan Bautista Arismendi. It connects Porlamar and Punta de Piedras. It has a length of 36 km.
* Carretera Rafael Caldera. It is a two lane expressway that links Mérida with El Vigía. It has a length of 60 km.
* Intercomunal Coro - Punto Fijo. It connects Coro and Punto Fijo. It extends for 79 km.

## Waterways[edit | edit source]

7,100 km; Rio Orinoco (400 km) and Lago de Maracaibo accept oceangoing vessels

## Pipelines[edit | edit source]

* extra heavy crude 980 km
* crude oil 6,694 km
* refined products 1,620 km
* natural gas 5,347 km (2010)

## Ports and harbors[edit | edit source]

* Amuay
* Bajo Grande
* El Tablazo
* La Guaira
* La Salina
* Maracaibo
* Matanzas

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* Palua
* Puerto Cabello
* Puerto la Cruz
* Puerto Miranda
* Puerto Ordaz
* Puerto Sucre
* Punta Cardon

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## Air travel[edit | edit source]

Main article: List of airlines of Venezuela

In 2012, Venezuela had 492 airports.[citation needed]

In 2014, due to difficulty converting bolivars to other currencies, many international airline either cut back or entirely cancelled service to the country. A shortage of seats caused international ticket prices to rise; one report found airfare to Miami more than double the fare to Miami from Bogota in Colombia.[8]

### Airports - with paved runways[edit | edit source]

Simón Bolívar International Airport

total: 128
over3,047 m: 6
2,438 to 3,047 m: 9
1,524 to 2,437 m: 35
914 to 1,523 m: 61
under 914 m: 17 (2012)

### Airports - with unpaved runways[edit | edit source]

total: 364
2,438 to 3,047 m: 3
1,524 to 2,437 m: 55
914 to 1,523 m: 113
under 914 m: 193 (2012)

### Heliports[edit | edit source]

3 (2012)

## Cable car[edit | edit source]

At one time Venezuela had the world's highest cable car. The Mérida cable car opened in 1960, connecting Mérida with the top of the Sierra Nevada de Mérida. It was closed indefinitely in 2008, having reached the end of its service life.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Transport in Venezuela.

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Transport in the Americas

* North America
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* v
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Venezuela articles

History|

* New Granada
* Captaincy General
* War of Independence
* Gran Colombia (reunification)
* Federal War
* 1895 crisis
* 1902-03 crisis
* World War II
* El Trienio Adeco
* 1958 coup d'état
* Puntofijo Pact
* El Carupanazo
* El Porteñazo
* Caracazo
* 1992 coup d'état attempts
* Vargas tragedy
* 2002 coup d'état attempt
* 2002-03 general strike
* Crisis
* 2017 constitutional crisis
* 2019 presidential crisis

Geography|

* Borders
* Cities
* metropolitan areas
* Climate
* Earthquakes
* Environmental issues
* Fauna
* Flora
* National parks
* Natural Regions
* World Heritage Sites

Politics|

* Administrative divisions
* regions
* states
* Constitution
* Elections
* Foreign relations
* Military
* Missions
* National Assembly
* President
* list
* Cabinet of Venezuela
* Supreme Tribunal of Justice
* in exile
* Guayana Esequiba (Reclamation area)

| Parties|

| Great Patriotic Pole|

* United Socialist Party
* Movement We Are Venezuela
* Communist Party
* For Social Democracy
* Tupamaro
* People's Electoral Movement

|

Democratic Unity Roundtable|

* Justice First
* Popular Will
* A New Era
* Democratic Action
* Come Venezuela

Agreement for Change|

* Progressive Advance
* Movement for Socialism
* COPEI
* Ecological Movement of Venezuela

Economy|

* Agriculture
* Currency
* Companies
* PDVSA
* CVG
* Cooperatives
* Energy
* Oil industry
* Science and technology
* Stock Exchange
* Telecommunications
* Tourism
* Transport

Society|

* Crime
* Demographics
* Diaspora
* Education
* Healthcare
* Immigration
* Indigenous peoples
* Languages
* List of Venezuelans
* Public holidays
* Refugees
* Squatting

Culture|

* Cinema
* Cuisine
* Literature
* Media
* Miss Venezuela
* Music
* Religion
* Sport
* Symbols
* anthem
* coat of arms
* flag

* Outline
* Index

* Category

## References[edit | edit source]

1. ^ "El 80% del transporte público terrestre en Venezuela está paralizado". La Patilla (in European Spanish). 2019-06-13. Retrieved 2019-06-14.
2. ^ Index Mundi: Venezuela Railways
3. ^ C.A. Metro de Caracas
4. ^ Encarta Archived 2008-06-02 at the Wayback Machine
5. ^ VENEZUELA: A Bolivarian railway, by Coral Wynter & Jim McIlroy, Caracas (link)[permanent dead link]
6. ^ "The Opportunity To Revitalise The Rail Sector". Railwaysafrica.com. Retrieved 2022-09-07.
7. ^ a b "Venezuela- $0.18 per gallon ($0.05 per liter) - CSMonitor.com". The Christian Science Monitor. 13 September 2011.
8. ^ Reuters

## External links[edit | edit source]

Justapedia supports:

* Definitions from Wiktionary
* Media from Commons
* Quotations from Wikiquote

* Map of transport infrastructures of Venezuela

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