Guinea: Guinea Transportation Profile

 The railway from Conakry to Kankan ceased operating in the mid-1980s.[citation needed] Domestic air services are intermittent. Most vehicles in Guinea are 20+ years old, and cabs are any four-door vehicle which the owner has designated as being for hire.

Locals, nearly entirely without vehicles of their own, rely upon these taxis (which charge per seat) and small buses to take them around town and across the country. There is some river traffic on the Niger and Milo rivers. Horses and donkeys pull carts, primarily to transport construction materials.

Iron mining at Simandou (South) in the southeast beginning in 2007 and at Kalia in the east is likely to result in the construction of a new heavy-duty standard gauge railway and deepwater port. Iron mining at Simandou (North) will load to a new port near Buchanan, Liberia, in exchange for which rehabilitation of the Conakry to Kankan line will occur.

Conakry International Airport is the largest airport in the country, with flights to other cities in Africa as well as to Europe.

Railways

total: 1,086 km
standard gauge: 279 km 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) gauge
metre gauge: 807 km 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 3⁄8 in) gauge (includes 662 km in common carrier service from Kankan to Conakry)[citation needed]

The lines do not all connect.
Cities served by rail
Main article: Railway stations in Guinea
Northern line

This line is 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) gauge (standard gauge) and carries about 12,000,000 t (11,810,478 long tons; 13,227,736 short tons) per annum.

Port Kamsar - port
Boké
Sangarédi - bauxite mine

Central line

This line is 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 3⁄8 in) gauge and head off in a northwestern direction.

Conakry - capital and port.
Dubréka
Fria - bauxite mine

Southern line

This line is 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 3⁄8 in) gauge. Conversion to 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) gauge has been proposed.[1]

Conakry - capital and port.
Kindia - provincial capital.
Kolèntèn
Konkouré - several km north of railway
Mamou - provincial capital
Kégnégo
Dabola - junction and break of gauge
Bissikrima
Cisséla -
Kouroussa - bridge over Niger River
Kankan - terminus and provincial capital.

This line is 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in).

Dabola - junction and break of gauge
Tougué - bauxite

South Western line

This line is 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) and parallels the Southern line.

Conakry - capital and port. Rail Map (red dots) Rail Map (gray lines)

Kindia - bauxite mine.

Proposed Trans-Guinean Railways

The heavy duty Transguinean Railways is about 750 km long and would be 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) (standard gauge). It goes from iron ore mines in the south east and bauxite mines in the north to a new port a Matakong.[3]

Matakong - Deepwater port
Forécariah
Madina Woula - way station
Bambafouga - junction
Marela - way station
Faranah
Tiro
Kissidougou - way station
Macenta
Koule
Nzerekore
Lola
Simandou iron ore deposit near Diéké
Nimba - iron ore

Pontiola - bauxite

Tougué - branch terminus - bauxite

Highways

total: 30,500 km
paved: 5,033 km
unpaved: 25,467 km (1996 est.)

The Trans–West African Coastal Highway crosses Guinea, connecting it to Bissau (Guinea-Bissau), and when construction in Sierra Leone and Liberia is complete, to a total of 13 other nations of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).