Basic data:
Mali: 1,030,700 sq km. Population 3,129,486 inhabitants.
Important cities: Nouakchott (capital), Nouadhibou (port)
Mali: 1,030,700 sq km. Population 3,129,486 inhabitants.
Important cities: Nouakchott (capital), Nouadhibou (port)
The observations date from a visit in June/July 2007 and from information gleaned from publications as mentioned.
Mauritania consists largely of desert, with only along the Senegal river in the south a more humid area. The only main road runs along the coast from the Western Sahara (de facto Morocco) border to the Senegalese border. The population is very young. The main cities are sprawling areas of organised and less-organised settlements without high-rises. Only the main roads are surfaced. A 728 km long railway runs from the port city of Nouadhibou to a mining area and boasted for a long time the longest trains in the world.
Motorised public transport is by secondhand Mercedes-Benz vans in the towns and on tarred roads. Four-wheel drive vehicles, mainly Toyota Landcruiser, are used for off-road and desert transport. Buses are a recent phenomena. Just a few years ago several companies (El Bouragh, El Gavileh and LTM) started to operate the route Nouakchott-Nouadhibou, mostly providing one round trip per day. Secondhand European buses are used, except for El Gavileh who uses Mercedes-Benz -Catosa from Mexico, 20 of which were imported in 1998. Most of these are in service with the army, it appears. A recent (2009) site mentions the companies El Bouragh, Global, Al-Moussavir, As-Salaam, Somatir and Sonef as providing Nouakchott-Nouadhibu services.
Urban transport in Nouadhibou started on November 15, 2000 through a joint venture between GLOBAL SALCAI UTINSA from the Canary Islands and the Municipality of Nouadhibou (ref: Global newsletter). The company is called MT GLOBAL. Six used Pegaso -Castrosua were imported by Global to start the city service. In June 2007 one such bus was seen parked in Nouakchott. In Nouakchott there were no buses in service then but three newly imported and as yet unused Mercedes-Benz -Castrosua from the Canary Islands were seen parked. There were also disused bus shelters in town, but no other signs of a regular bus service. Instead, lareg numbers of decripit Mercedes-Benz minibuses and vans were in service. Click here to go to the pictures.
No formal bus body builders are known to exist in Mauritania, though local workshops will repair and rebuilt (small) buses.
(This site will be further developed over time)
I WELCOME ANY ADDITIONAL INFORMATION AT
info@bus-africa.com
Mauritania consists largely of desert, with only along the Senegal river in the south a more humid area. The only main road runs along the coast from the Western Sahara (de facto Morocco) border to the Senegalese border. The population is very young. The main cities are sprawling areas of organised and less-organised settlements without high-rises. Only the main roads are surfaced. A 728 km long railway runs from the port city of Nouadhibou to a mining area and boasted for a long time the longest trains in the world.
Motorised public transport is by secondhand Mercedes-Benz vans in the towns and on tarred roads. Four-wheel drive vehicles, mainly Toyota Landcruiser, are used for off-road and desert transport. Buses are a recent phenomena. Just a few years ago several companies (El Bouragh, El Gavileh and LTM) started to operate the route Nouakchott-Nouadhibou, mostly providing one round trip per day. Secondhand European buses are used, except for El Gavileh who uses Mercedes-Benz -Catosa from Mexico, 20 of which were imported in 1998. Most of these are in service with the army, it appears. A recent (2009) site mentions the companies El Bouragh, Global, Al-Moussavir, As-Salaam, Somatir and Sonef as providing Nouakchott-Nouadhibu services.
Urban transport in Nouadhibou started on November 15, 2000 through a joint venture between GLOBAL SALCAI UTINSA from the Canary Islands and the Municipality of Nouadhibou (ref: Global newsletter). The company is called MT GLOBAL. Six used Pegaso -Castrosua were imported by Global to start the city service. In June 2007 one such bus was seen parked in Nouakchott. In Nouakchott there were no buses in service then but three newly imported and as yet unused Mercedes-Benz -Castrosua from the Canary Islands were seen parked. There were also disused bus shelters in town, but no other signs of a regular bus service. Instead, lareg numbers of decripit Mercedes-Benz minibuses and vans were in service. Click here to go to the pictures.
No formal bus body builders are known to exist in Mauritania, though local workshops will repair and rebuilt (small) buses.
(This site will be further developed over time)
I WELCOME ANY ADDITIONAL INFORMATION AT
info@bus-africa.com
Buses in Mauritania
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