There are a number of systems of transport in Burundi, including road and water-based infrastructure, the latter of which makes use of

Lake Tanganyika Lake Tanganyika () is an African Great Lake. It is the second-oldest freshwater lake in the world, the second-largest by volume, and the second-deepest, in all cases after Lake Baikal in Siberia. It is the world's longest freshwater lake. ...

. Furthermore, there are also some airports in

Burundi Burundi (, ), officially the Republic of Burundi ( rn, Repuburika y’Uburundi ; Swahili language, Swahili: ''Jamuhuri ya Burundi''; French language, French: ''République du Burundi'' ), is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley at the ...

. Burundi has limited ferry services on Lake Tanganyika, few road connections to neighboring countries, no rail connections, and only one airport with a paved runway. Public transport is extremely limited and private bus companies operate buses on the route to Kigali, Uganda, Tanzania and Democratic Republic of Congo.

Roads

Roads total as of 2004. On paper, there are 90 public buses in the country but few of these are operational. Transport is extremely limited, and private bus companies operate buses on the route to Kigali, Uganda, Tanzania or the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Waterways

is used for transport, with the major

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...

on the lake being

Bujumbura Bujumbura (; ), formerly Usumbura, is the economic capital, largest city and main port of Burundi. It ships most of the country's chief export, coffee, as well as cotton and tin ore. Bujumbura was formerly the country's normal capital. In late ...

. Most freight is transported down waterways. As of May 2015,

MV Mwongozo MV ''Mwongozo'' is a mixed passenger and cargo ferry on Lake Tanganyika operated by the Marine Services Company Limited. She can carry up to 800 passengers and 80 tons of cargo. Her accommodation includes open sleeping areas, individual cabins and ...

, a passenger and cargo ferry, connects Bujumbura with

Kigoma Kigoma is a city and lake port in Kigoma-Ujiji District in Tanzania, on the northeastern shores of Lake Tanganyika and close to the border with Burundi and The Democratic Republic of the Congo. It serves as the capital for the surrounding Kigoma R ...

in Tanzania.

Airports and air services

Burundi possesses eight airports, of which one has paved

runway According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and takeoff of aircraft". Runways may be a man-made surface (often asphalt concrete, as ...

s, whose length exceeds 3,047m.

Bujumbura International Airport Melchior Ndadaye International Airport is an airport in Bujumbura, the former capital of Burundi. It is Burundi's only international airport and the only one with a paved runway. History The airport was opened in 1952. On 1 July 2019, the airpo ...

is the country's primary airport and the country's only airport with a paved runway. There are also a number of helicopter landing strips. As of May 2015, the airlines serving Burundi are:

Brussels Airlines Brussels Airlines is the flag carrier and largest airline of Belgium, based and headquartered at Brussels Airport. It operates to over 100 destinations in Europe, North America and Africa and also offers charter services, maintenance and crew ...

Ethiopian Airlines Ethiopian Airlines (commonly referred to as Ethiopian; am, የኢትዮጵያ አየር መንገድ, translit=Ye-Ītyōṗṗyā āyer menged), formerly ''Ethiopian Air Lines'' (EAL), is the flag carrier of Ethiopia, and is wholly owned by t ...

flydubai Flydubai ( ar, فلاي دبي), legally Dubai Aviation Corporation ( ar, مؤسسة دبي للطيران), is an Emirati government-owned low-cost airline in Dubai, United Arab Emirates with its head office and flight operations in Terminal 2 ...

Kenya Airways Kenya Airways Ltd., more commonly known as Kenya Airways, is the flag carrier airline of Kenya. The company was founded in 1977, after the dissolution of East African Airways. Its head office is located in Embakasi, Nairobi, with its hub at Jo ...

, and

RwandAir RwandAir Limited is the flag carrier airline of Rwanda. It operates domestic and international services to East Africa, Central Africa, West Africa, Southern Africa, Europe, the Middle East and Asia, from its main base at Kigali International ...

Kigali Kigali () is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Rwanda. It is near the nation's geographic centre in a region of rolling hills, with a series of valleys and ridges joined by steep slopes. As a primate city, Kigali has been Rwa ...

is the city with the most daily departures.

Railways

Burundi does not possess any

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

infrastructure, although there are proposals to connect Burundi to its neighbours via railway. At a meeting in August 2006 with members of the

Rwanda Patriotic Front The Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF–Inkotanyi, french: Front patriotique rwandais, FPR) is the ruling political party in Rwanda. Led by President Paul Kagame, the party has governed the country since its armed wing defeated government forces, win ...

Wu Guanzheng Wu Guanzheng (born August 11, 1938), also spelled as Wu Kuan-cheng is a former Chinese politician and one of the major leaders of the Chinese Communist Party during the administration of Hu Jintao. He served on the Politburo Standing Committee ...

, of the

Chinese Communist Party The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victoriou ...

, confirmed the intention of

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

to fund a study into the feasibility of constructing a railway connecting at

Isaka Isaka is a small town and station on the narrow-gauge Mwanza railway line of Tanzania which connects to the seaport of Dar es Salaam. Transport It is located in Kahama Rural District of Shinyanga Region. In the 1980s a dry port was establ ...

with the existing

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...

n railway network, and running via

Rwanda Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator ...

through to Burundi. Tanzanian railways use , although

TAZARA The Tazara Railway, also called the Uhuru Railway or the Tanzam Railway, is a railway in East Africa linking the port of Dar es Salaam in east Tanzania with the town of Kapiri Mposhi in Zambia's Central Province. The single-track railway is ...

and other neighbouring countries, including the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

(DRC) use the gauge, leading to some potential difficulties. Another project was launched in the same year, which aims to link Burundi and Rwanda (which also has no railways) to the DRC and

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most cent ...

, and therefore to the rest of Southern Africa. At a meeting to inaugurate the

Northern Corridor Transit and Transport Coordination Authority The Northern Corridor Transit and Transport Coordination Authority (NCTTCA) is an intergovernmental body, encompassing six countries in Eastern Africa, tasked with the job of coordinating transport infrastructure improvements. The Northern Corr ...

(NCTTCA), the governments of Uganda and Burundi backed the proposed new railway from the Ugandan western

railhead In the UK, railheading refers to the practice of travelling further than necessary to reach a rail service, typically by car. The phenomenon is common among commuters seeking a more convenient journey. Reasons for railheading include, but are ...

Kasese Kasese is a town north of Lake George in the Western Region of Uganda. It originally grew around the copper mine at Kilembe, while attention later turned to cobalt mining. It is the chief town of Kasese District, and the district headquarters ...

into the DRC. Additionally, Burundi has been added to a planned railway project to connect Tanzania and Rwanda.

2013

A project started in November 2013 to build a

Standard Gauge A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), International gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge and European gauge in Europe, and SGR in Ea ...

line from

Mombassa Mombasa ( ; ) is a coastal city in southeastern Kenya along the Indian Ocean. It was the first capital of the British East Africa, before Nairobi was elevated to capital city status. It now serves as the capital of Mombasa County. The town is ...

, Kenya, to Burundi, via Rwanda and Uganda.Kenya launches new railway to reach South Sudan and Burundi
BBC News, 28 November 2013. The main line from Mombasa will also feature branches in other directions, including Ethiopia and DR Congo.

External links

UN Map of BurundiMap of railways in southern Africa

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Transport In Burundi