longest cargo train covering a distance of . Passengers with tickets ride in cramped cars while many illegal passengers, sometimes with livestock, ride on top of freight cars. There are only of roads, of which are metalled. A small network of highways provide limited ground travel connections. N1 highway is a major roadway traversing along the Atlantic coastline of the country. There are a few roads in the north and only two roads in the south that branch off of N1. All other roads are local ones in the various cities and towns. Off road driving is considered dangerous since there are "thousands of unexploded mines" in the area. Highway road plans in the region started by Algeria have been used to increase its own influence in the region. There are only 4 companies licensed to use buses in Western Sahara which are: CTM, Supratours, Satas and Sat; CTM and Supratours buses have daily service from Dakhla to Marrakech via Laayoune and Agadir. Rail transport Since the closure of the Choum Tunnel, a section of Mauritania Railway cuts through the Polisario Front-controlled part of the Western Sahara (). Ports The major port in Western Sahara are Ad Dakhla - small docking facility (Port Marchand Lassarga/Port-Îlot) located in a shelter bay south of the airport, Cabo Bojador - small port with fishing boats store inland and Laayoune (El Aaiun) - major deep water port facility; used by vessels carrying phosphate, large fishing vessels and military patrol boats. The longest conveyor belt in the world is long, from the phosphate mines of Bu Craa to the coast south of Laayoune. The belt moves about 2,000 metric tons of rock containing phosphate every hour from the mines to El-Aaiun, where it is loaded and shipped. Air transport There are six airfields, three with paved runways and three unpaved surfaces, and one helipad (military in Cape Bojador). Hassan I Airport, serving El Aaiún (Laâyoune), is an international airport, but the carriers at the airport connect only to regional destinations (to Morocco or the Canary Islands). Dakhla Airport is located in Dakhla and has commercial operational flights. Smara Airport in Smara and La Güera Airport serving La Güera are other smaller airports in Western Sahara. See also List of airports in Western Sahara Sources CIA World Factbook (2010). References External links