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 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 in Tanzania.

Airports and air services

Burundi possesses eight airports, of which one has paved runways, whose length exceeds 3,047m. Bujumbura International Airport 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, flydubai, Kenya Airways, 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 Ai ...

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 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, 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 with the existing Tanzanian 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 and other neighbouring countries, including the Democratic Republic of the Congo (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, and therefore to the rest of Southern Africa. At a meeting to inaugurate the Northern Corridor Transit and Transport Coordination Authority (NCTTCA), the governments of Uganda and Burundi backed the proposed new railway from the Ugandan western railhead at Kasese 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, 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