Transportation in Mongolia
The transport sector plays a very important role in the development of Mongolia which is unique with its vast territory and sparsely settled population.
Mongolia has plans to be connected to the road network of South Asia and Europe in the near future through the "Millennium Road". The Mongolian transportation sector consists of 4 sub-sectors, namely road transport, railway transport, air transport and water transport.
Road sector
The main objective of the domestic road network is to provide connectivity between aimag centers and Ulaanbaatar, and between aimag centers and their surrounding region. To achieve this, Mongolia has a state road network of just over 11,200 km, of which only about 1,500 km are paved, 1,440 km has a gravel surface and 1,346 km has an improved earth surface. Over 6,900 km is earth tracks. On the state road network there are 364 bridges with a total length of just over 13,500 meters (an average length of 37 meters). But of these, 178 are of wooden construction and account for about 20 percent of the total length.
A second objective is to provide connectivity between aimag centers and their surrounding regions, and this is achieved by a local road network of about 38,000 km, of which only 400 km is paved and 500 km have a gravel surface, so about 96 percent of this network comprises earth tracks.
The third objective is to provide links to neighboring countries. At present only one paved road leads to a border post, the road from Ulaanbaatar to the Russian border, but the road to the Chinese border at Zamyn Uud is nearing completion. A third paved border road, in Western Mongolia linking China to Russia, is under consideration.
The road network has been developing in Mongolia since 1929. Over the past years a total road network of 49.250 kilometers been developed, of which 1714.9 kilometers is paved, 1946.3 kilometers is graved, and 1923.36 kilometers is
improved earth. In addition, there were constructed 16419.3 meters of concrete and 11287.3 meters of wooden bridges. The Mongolian Department of Roads was assigned as the Government Implementing Agency for developing the state road network, implementing Government road-related policies, providing road construction and maintenance companies with professional administration and operational co-operation, and supervising road bridge construction and maintenance.
Millennium road
The Parliament of Mongolia approved the "Millennium Road" project by its resolution No.09 of 2001 and instructed the Government to arrange activities associated with the implementation of the project. Construction of roads and bridges under the "Millennium Road" project are set to be carried out within 8-10 years. As the capacity of the road construction machinery and equipment used in road sector industries is not adequate for construction of the "Millennium Road", "Laws on Customs Duty and Value Added Tax Exemption of road construction machinery and equipment imported for the purpose of "Millennium Road" and "law on Exemption from fee on common minerals" were ratified and followed for promoting technical innovation.
The "Millennium Road" has been planned to be constructed starting from Ulaanbaatar, and directing towards east and west and construction is carried out in accordance with the plan.
Urban Transport
Capital city of Mongolia, Ulaanbaatar has a road network of 464 km, of which about 78 percent is paved, the remainder being mostly earth tracks within ger districts. Of the 50 bridges in Ulaanbaatar, almost 90 percent are of concrete construction. The paved road network has remained largely unchanged in length for two decades, during which time the vehicle fleet has more than doubled.
Railways
The Mongolian rail network comprises 1,815 km of broad gauge track, of which 1,110 km are on the main line linking Russia to China /Trans-Mongolian main line/, 239 km are on an separate network in Eastern Mongolia that has its own link to the Russian railway, and the remaining 477 km are branches from the main line.
For Mongolia, which is landlocked, Mongolian Railway is critically important, linking the country with Europe and East and South East Asia through our 2 great neighboring countries. Being an integral part of the International Railway Network it is the land bridge and shortest way, connecting East with West. A fiber-optic terrestrial network linking Mongolia, China and Russia was launched in April 2004.
In addition to mining outputs, the railway is the preferred means of transport for most of Mongolia’s international trade. The current dominance is likely to reduce when the paved road is completed to compete with the railway from Ulaanbaatar to the Chinese border at Zamyn Uud. The Chinese authorities require that some Mongolian products, especially animal products including cashmere, be transported by road within China. But even given these disincentives, the railway should be able to retain a cost advantage over road transport over this distance, particularly if road transport from Ulaanbaatar to Zamyn Uud is expected to contribute to its infrastructure development and maintenance cost in a way comparable to that of the railway.
Mongolian Railway is a member of the Railway Cooperation Organization, the International Railway Union, and the International Union for Freight Coordination of Trans-Siberia.
Aviation
Due to the sparse population, and the severe weather conditions during winter, surface transportation by road and railway is not well developed in Mongolia. Air transport plays an important role in smoothing socio-economic activities in Mongolia. Particularly, tourism is highly considered in view of the importance of this industry to the general economy of Mongolia. Without the proper air transportation infrastructure that provides the connection of Ulaanbaatar and the regional centers, tourism would be disadvantaged. More than 98 percent of international air transport services use the Genghis Khan International Airport in Ulaanbaatar, while domestic aviation has 17 airports available with runways suitable for un-pressurized turbo-prop aircraft.
The international airport faces frequent closures because of strong winds, sand or snow storms or unacceptable visibility because of excessive air pollution. The runway is relatively short for a full service international airport. Consideration is being given to construction of a new airport in a more appropriate location, but this would be very expensive for the relatively small number of passengers who would use it.
Few domestic airports have infrastructure that complies with the International Civic Aviation Organization standards, but they mostly have sufficient infrastructure to accommodate the few scheduled domestic services that operate. Only four have paved runways, and only these and one other have runway lighting. All four paved runways exceed 2,440 m in length and the thirteen gravel runways exceed 1,800 m. Gravel runways are adequate for operations by un-pressurized turbo-prop aircraft, such as have been used on domestic services for the last three decades, but are likely to cause damage to pressurized jet powered aircraft now beginning to be used on domestic routes.
Membership also makes it possible for MIAT to do business and cooperate with foreign airline members with the status of a fellow member. In Mongolia also operate 6 private air companies. The main operation of private airlines is the charter flights, particularly to the tourist camps, and flights to certain sites during emergency situations. The Mongolian Government's policy on the development of the civil aviation sector is the acceleration of the participation of private sector, decrease market monopolization and supporting the foreign investment and cooperation.
MIAT makes 6 international flights to Moscow, Beijing, Soul, Tokyo, Berlin and Irkutsk from Ulaanbaatar.
Ports and Shipping
The main ports to enter Mongolia are:
- Chinggis Khaan International Airport, Ulaanbaatar
- Suhhbaatar Railway Station -Mongolian-Russian border
- Zamyn Uud Railway Station -Mongolian-Chinese border
- The railway system serves the transit route for cargo moving between the People’s Republic of China and the Russian Federation via Mongolia. Both Mongolian and Russian gauge are broad and allows the cargo to go straight from Mongolia into the Russian Federation and Europe. Chinese rail lines use the standard gauge of 1,435 mm and cargo must be changed at the border.
Sea access:
- Tianjin [China]: 1,344 km
- Nakhodka [Russia]: 4,037 km
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