Montenegro Infrastructure
Physical Infrastructure
Montenegro's transport includes 7,353km of roads, of which 4,274km
are paved. The quality of the road network is below European
standards because the economic crisis of the 1990s and the Yugoslav
wars restricted the availability of finance for maintenance and
expansion of the road network. As a result of the poor condition of
Montenegrin roads, driving in the winter and in the evening can be
dangerous. That said, significant improvements have been made in
recent years, helped by aid from the EU's Community Assistance for
Reconstruction, Development and Stabilisation (CARDS) programme. In
particular, the connections between Podgorica and the coastal towns
are markedly better, journey times have become shorter and routes
safer. The two major roads in Montenegro are the Adriatic motorway
from Igalo to Ulcinj and the motorway linking the north and the
south, from Pertovac to Bijelo Polje via Podgorica and Kolasin. The
country also has reasonable road connections with neighbouring
countries.
The country has 250km of railway, all of which is standard
gauge. While the railway system is reliable and inexpensive,
services are quite limited and are neither fast nor modern.
Nevertheless, since independence in 2006, significant efforts have
been made to reconstruct and improve the railway. Montenegro's key
railway line runs from Bar-Podgorica-Belgrade, and then connects to
the European network. The Podgorica-Niki (Albania) railway is
currently used solely for freight traffic, however reconstruction
is under way and passenger traffic will start on the line in
2009.
Montenegro's communications network is modern by emerging Europe
standards and offers good coverage of the country. As of 2006,
353,000 main line telephones were in use. The mobile telephone
network offers excellent national coverage, and has the highest
penetration of GSM telephony in Europe at 175.6%, with 1,089,140
telephones in use as of February 2008. Internet and email use are
popular, with services available in all major cities and towns and
even in some remote areas, as of 2006 Montenegro had a total of
266,000 internet users.
Airport & Port
Montenegro's main airport is Podgorica Airport, located 15 minutes
outside the capital city. A new terminal has recently been built at
the airport, which has helped to improve travel conditions. Flights
are available from Podgorica to major European cities including
Budapest, Frankfurt, Zurich and London, the frequency of flights
increases in the summer months. Another international airport is
located at Tivat, the airport is mainly used by charter flights to
the northern coastal resorts as it is close to the key tourist
destinations of Kotor and Budva. The airport was extensively
refurbished in 2006. In addition to Montenegro Airlines, a number
of international carriers service both airports.
The main port in Montenegro is located in Bar, it is capable of
serving between 14 and 20 boats simultaneously. Bar is also a port
for ferries to Bari and Ancona, Italy. Montenegro has three smaller
ports at Kotor, Tivat and Zelenika which are mainly used for
warehousing.
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