<!-- "none" is preferred when the title is sufficiently descriptive; see WP:SDNONE -->

thumb|Photograph of the [[Cairo–Dakar Highway taken near Nouadhibou]]

Citizens of Mauritania have limited access to transportation. The single-line railroad serves mining interests with very occasional ad hoc passenger services. Apart from two infrastructural road developments there are few paved roads.

Railways

thumb|Railways in Mauritania.

  • 717 km total of single track (standard gauge), owned and operated by a government mining company, Société Nationale Industrielle et Minière (National Mining and Industrial Company, SNIM). The railway goes from the mines at Zouérat and El Rhein, passes another mine at Fderik, and ends at the port of Nouadhibou/Cansado.
  • One of the world's longest trains (up to 2.5 km long) runs here, with more than 200 wagons mainly transporting iron ore, and some carriages for passengers; alternatively, people sit on top of the iron piles.

There are no rail links with adjacent countries.

In 2008, a railway was proposed that would link Nouakchott with Tiguint, Mederdra, R'Kiz, Leguatt, Leeleibatt, Menjem Boffal, Kaedi, and Bofal.

Maps

Timeline

2007

  • Sunday, August 5, 2007 - Sudan, China to Build $630 Mln Mauritania Railway.

Sudan's Danfodio Holding and China's Transtech Engineering have signed an agreement to build a 460-million-euro ($634 million) railway linking Mauritania's capital Nouakchott with southern phosphate deposits at Bofal. The line would run close to the southern frontier with Senegal. It is hoped that the new line would link with existing lines just across the border in Senegal, Mali. There is no through link to Burkina Faso. There are problems of choice of gauge.

2008

  • May - 8 new EMD locomotives.

2013

  • Proposed line for phosphate traffic - 430&nbsp;km long railway line, Nouakchott and Kaedi, Mauritania's third city, through Tiguint, Mederdra, R'Kiz, Leguatt, Leeleibatt and Menjem Boffal, is to be constructed in three years' time.

2014

  • Glencore Xstrata proposes branch lines to new mines at Askaf and Guelb El Aouj sharing infrastructure of SNIM.

Motorway

There are 450&nbsp;km of paved roads in Mauritania (in 2010), connecting Nouakchott to Nouadhibou along a coastal route. A motorway linking Nouakchott to Rosso is under construction (due for completion in 2012).

Highways

The in Mauritania|right|thumb|250px

Mauritania has only about of surfaced roads, of unsurfaced roads, and of unimproved tracks.

The country's size and harsh climate make road maintenance and repair especially problematic.