Transport in Iceland

An example of an Icelandic Road sign, showing the way to many farms and villages

The modes of transport in Iceland are governed by the country’s rugged terrain and sparse population. The principal mode of personal transport is the car. There are no public railways — although there are bus services. Transport from one major town to another, for example Reykjavík to Akureyri, may be by aeroplane on a domestic flight. The only way of getting in and out of the country is by air and sea. Most of the country's transport infrastructure is concentrated near the Capital Region, which is home to two thirds of the country's population.

Rail

Iceland has no public railways, although proposals to build a passenger line between Keflavík and Reykjavík have been made as well as proposals to build a light rail system in Reykjavík.[1] Several former locomotive-powered and hand-operated railways have closed and been dismantled, although some evidence of their existence remains in museums and as static exhibits.

Road

Main article: Roads in Iceland
Road across Eyjafjörður in northern Iceland from the western exit of the Öxnadalsheiði pass
The Ring Road of Iceland and some towns it passes through: 1.Reykjavík, 2.Borgarnes, 3.Blönduós, 4.Akureyri, 5.Egilsstaðir, 6.Höfn, 7.Selfoss

Iceland has 12,869 kilometres (7,996 mi) of publicly administered roads, 5,040 kilometres (3,130 mi) of which are paved.[2] Organized road building began about 1900 and has greatly expanded since 1980. Vegagerðin (Icelandic Roads Administration) is the legal owner and constructor of the roads, and oversees and maintains them as well.

Sea

The major harbours in Iceland are:

Merchant marine:
total: 3 ships (with a volume of 1,000 gross register tons (GRT) or over) totaling 13,085 GRT/16,938 tonnes deadweight (DWT)
ships by type: chemical tanker 1, container ship 1, petroleum tanker 1 (1999 est.)

Transport ferries: The only habitable islands around Iceland are supplied and infrastructurally connected with the mainland via ferries which run regularly. Those islands are:

Those ferries are considered part of the infrastructure system such as roads, and are therefore run by Vegagerðin like the roads.

Air

A Boeing 757-200 of Icelandair, the main airline of Iceland

As of 2010,[3] there are 98 airports in Iceland:

Airport runways in Iceland
Length Paved Unpaved Totals
over 3,047 m 1 0 1
1,524 to 2,437 m 3 3 6
914 to 1,523 m 2 27 29
under 914 m 0 63 63
Total 6 93 99

Public transport

Strætó bs is a company which operates bus services in The Capital Region and Strætisvagnar Akureyrar operates bus services in Akureyri.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "MPs Propose Trains in Iceland". Iceland Review. 2008-02-20. Retrieved 2010-04-25.
  2. ↑ "Samgönguáætlun 2009-2012 (National transport plan 2009-2012)" (PDF). Alþingi (Icelandic parliament). Retrieved 2010-04-25.
  3. ↑ "CIA World Factbook". CIA World Factbook. CIA.
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