Mongolia Transport

The sparse population, landlocked location and extreme climate make developing Mongolia’s transportation and logistics infrastructure a prominent challenge. Deciding how to allocate the state’s limited resources is a complex question at a time when spending is needed in so many areas in order to remove the bottlenecks holding back economic growth....

As Mongolians migrate to their capital city in search of work, Ulaanbaatar is increasingly suffering from traffic congestion. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) in summer 2012 approved a loan for a bus rapid transit (BRT) system that its designers expect will have a significant mitigating impact.

Railroad plans are central to the country’s development strategy, as a massive boost in capacity is required to preserve and extend the mining boom under way now. The country’s parliament, the Great Khural, formed a new government corporation to address the needs in 2008, and made clear its railway policy in 2010. There has been little progress in...

Given Mongolia’s large territory and the natural barriers that cross it, along with a low density of road and railway, air transport has provided a vital link within the country ever since civil aviation began in 1946.

For many years Mongolia was largely inaccessible by rail, but in 1947 work began on the Trans-Mongolia line, a southern spur of the famous Trans-Siberian railway, connecting Europe with the Pacific. By 1955, the line had been completed, running 2215 km from the Russian to the Chinese border, via the capital, Ulaanbaatar. Add to this two earlier...

As a large, landlocked country bordering only two others – Russia and China – Mongolia depends on its land and air transport systems to get goods and services to market. Economic development has also meant the country is undergoing rapid urbanisation, placing increasing pressure on its urban transport infrastructure, while boosting a need for better...