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Czechoslovakia Transportation
Czechoslovakia is one of Europe's major transit countries for
north-south movement. In 1985 Czechoslovakia had a highly
developed transportation system consisting of 13,130 kilometers
of railroad tracks, 73,809 kilometers of roads, and 475
kilometers of inland waterways, according to official sources
(see
fig. 13). The country also had 1,448 kilometers of
pipelines for transport of crude oil, 1,500 kilometers for
refined products, and 7,500 kilometers for natural gas. The state
owned and subsidized the means of transport, and passenger fares
were among the lowest in the world. In 1985 cargo movement
totaled over 99 billion ton-kilometers. Of the nearly 90 billion
ton-kilometers of cargo-carrying service performed by public
transportation, railroads handled about 81 percent, roads 13
percent, inland waterways 5 percent, and civil aviation less than
1 percent. Since the 1970s, in an effort to save fuel, the
government had been encouraging the displacement of freight
transport from the highways to the railroads.
Major improvements were made in the transport infrastructure
after World War II, particularly with regard to the railroads,
and the result was a relatively extensive and dense road and
railroad network. In developing the transportation system, the
government's primary goal was to facilitate movement of
industrial goods; passenger traffic, while not neglected,
received secondary consideration. Nevertheless, in the 1980s
transportation frequently was a bottleneck in the economy because
of low operating efficiency and long-term inadequate investment.
In the mid-1980s, both rail and highway transport systems were in
need of substantial upgrading. Although the shortcomings of the
systems were well known and received considerable public
attention, limited funding slowed the pace of improvement. During
the 1981-85 plan period, for example, almost 97 percent of the
funding available for railroads--Kcs36 billion (for value of the
koruna--Kcs--see Glossary)--had
to be spent on repair and
replacement, leaving scant resources for major improvement
projects. In 1985 about 22 percent of the tracks in the rail
network were double track. About 28 percent were electrified,
including the main east-west Friendship Railway linking Prague
with the Soviet border, which formed the basis of the network.
Situated near the center of Europe, Czechoslovakia had rail links
to surrounding countries, and transit traffic moved in all
directions. Many of the difficulties of the railroads were caused
by lack of new equipment, poor maintenance of tracks and rolling
stock (partly caused by the lack of spare parts), an insufficient
number of skilled workers, and constant pressure to keep
operating. The railroad management also had to cope with outmoded
station facilities.
The highway system has received less attention than the
railroads during the decades since World War II. Most
improvements have focused on local roads, and, in general, the
country has been slow to develop modern highways. Nevertheless,
highway cargo movement increased rapidly in the 1960s and 1970s,
doubling between 1970 and 1979. It was only in 1980 that a modern
superhighway was completed linking the three largest cities
(Prague, Brno, and Bratislava), a distance of 317 kilometers.
This project had started in 1938 and was left uncompleted from
the early 1940s to the late 1960s. In 1985 approximately 482
kilometers, or somewhat less than 1 percent of the road network,
consisted of superhighways. Public officials acknowledged that
the status and maintenance of the system remained inadequate for
the country's needs. As a landlocked country, Czechoslovakia has
no maritime ports. In the mid-1980s, the country's overseas trade
passed through East German, West German, Polish, and Yugoslav
ports. The Labe and Danube rivers were both navigable in
Czechoslovakia. In the 1980s, the Vltava was carrying increasing
amounts of traffic, and efforts were underway to make it more
extensively navigable. Principal river ports were located at
Prague, Decin, Komarno, and Bratislava.
Civil aviation played a particularly significant role in the
movement of passengers. Czechoslovak Airlines, the state airline
company, serviced most European cities and also provided domestic
services. A regional airline, Slov-Air, headquartered in
Bratislava, provided additional domestic service. In 1985 civil
aviation transported 1.2 million travelers. About 90 percent of
this transportation service consisted of international flight.
In the mid-1980s, Czechoslovakia had a relatively well
developed communications system. According to official data,
there were 3,591,045 telephones in the country in 1985, about
23.2 telephones for every 100 persons, the greatest density of
telephones among Comecon countries. There were 4,233,702 licensed
radios, or one for every 3.7 persons, and 4,368,050 licensed
televisions, or one for every 3.6 persons. Both journalism and
broadcasting were closely supervised by the government, but many
inhabitants could receive West German or Austrian television and
radio transmissions as well as Czechoslovak broadcasts.
Data as of August 1987
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