The essentials
Land transport includes roads and railways. Roads are the most economical for short distances and offer door-to-door service. Their quality varies; in many countries unmetalled roads become unusable in the rainy season. Road density and the flow of traffic are greatest in developed regions. Highways are metalled roads connecting distant places, built for unobstructed vehicle flow.
Railways carry bulky goods and passengers over long distances at low cost. Rail networks are densest in industrial regions such as western and central Europe and eastern USA.
Key points
- Notable highways: Trans-Canadian Highway (Vancouver to St. John's City in Newfoundland), Alaskan Highway (Edmonton to Anchorage), Pan-American Highway (linking countries of South, Central and North America).
- Trans-Siberian Railway: St. Petersburg in the west to Vladivostok on the Pacific coast; the longest double-tracked electrified railway in the world; opened up Asian Russia to markets.
- Trans-Canadian Railway: Halifax in the east to Vancouver on the Pacific coast; links the Quebec–Montreal industrial region with the wheat belt of the prairies.
- Union and Pacific Railway: New York on the Atlantic coast to San Francisco on the Pacific coast.
- Australian Trans-Continental Railway: Perth on the west coast to Sydney on the east coast.
- Orient Express: Paris to Istanbul.
- Border roads and frontier roads strengthen links in remote and strategic areas.
Exam tips
Learn terminal stations of each trans-continental railway in a west-to-east or east-to-west order and the main idea of each line.
Common mistakes
Do not swap the end points of the Trans-Canadian (Halifax–Vancouver) and Union and Pacific (New York–San Francisco) railways.