Chapter 8

TRANSPORT AND COMMUNICATION

FACTS THAT MATTER

•Transport, communication and trade establish links between producing and consuming centres. Trade relies on trade and communication. Transport provides the network of links and carries through which trade takes place.

Transport

•It is a service or facility for the physical movement of persons and goods from one place to another through different means/modes.

•It is an organized service industry and includes:

-Transport arteries

-Vehicles to carry goods and people

-Organisation to maintain arteries and handle loading, unloading and delivery.

•Assured transportation and communication promote cooperation and unity.

Transport Network

•Several places (nodes) joined together by routes (links) to form a pattern or network.

•The significance of mode depends. on (a) the type of goods services to be transported (b) cost (c) availability of mode.

Various modes complement each other.

Land Transport

•Maximum movement takes place over land. It has evolved from the earlier doli/palki to the animals and then with the invention of wheel the other vehicles came into being

- Revolution in transportation came after the invention of steam engine.

- New inventions are the pipelines, ropeways and cableways.

Road:

- Most economical for short distance travel.

- Door to door service.

-Cheaper in compare less to railways as far as construction and maintenance cost is Compared.

-Is very suitable for places where railways can't be built in the suggests terrains/mountain.

-World's total motorable road length is 15 million km. Of this North America has 33%.

-Traffic on road has increased over the years leading to traffic congestions.

- Vehicles can not carry many passengers/goods at one there.

- Two types of roads Unmetalled not serviceable in all seasons and Metalled - All weather roads.

- Road construction and maintenance require heavy expenditure and so the quality of roads vary among the developed and developing countries.

Highways: They are metalled roads connecting distance places for unobstructed movement.

-80 metre wide with separate carriage ways, bridges, flyovers.

- In developed countries every port and city is connected through highways.

- North America has highest highway density (65 km/h) - Similarly cities of Pacific (east coast) are linked with those of Atlantic (east coast).

- Similarly cities of Canada are linked with those of Mexico.

(a) Trans Canadian Highway links Vancouver (west) to St. John's city (east)

(b) Pan-American Highway will connect South, Central America and USA-Canada.

(d) In Europe well connected highways face competition from railways and waterways.

(e) Russia - Moscow Vladivostok highway connects underlaid, regions and Bastern hubs. But because of its vast expanse railways are more significant here.

(f) China All major cities are connected. A new highway connects Chengdu with

Lhasa in Tibet.

(g) India National Highway and the Golden Quadrilateral connect all the major cities and ports.

(h) Africa - A highway joins Algiers in the north to Conakry in Guinea. Cairo is also connected to Cape Town.

Border Roads:

Those roads laid along international boundaries of countries. Very significant for the people in remote areas, for trading and for the defense of a country Lifelines for them.

•Railways:

They are meant for bulky goods and large number of people over long distances on land.

- Cheaper and convenient for long distances.

-Helps in bringing and distributing heavy and bulky raw materials and finished products.

-Commuter/sub urban trains are an important mode of transport for the people in the suburbs all over the world.

- 13 lakh km of railways open for traffic in the world.

•Europe:

One of the most diverse networks in world 4,40,000 km of railways -northern double/multiple tracked.

•Industrial regions have high density.

•London, Paris, Brussels, Milan, Berlin, Warsaw are the rail heads.

•Undergrounds are important in London and Paris.

- Channel tunnel connects London and Paris.

- Losing importance to other flexible forms of transport.

•Russia:

90% of country's total transport with dense network is in west of Urals.

Underground is an important part of Moscow.

•North America: Accounts for almost 40% of the world's total and used for bulky commodities. Most dense network is in industrialised and urbanised areas of E. Central USA and adjoining Canada. In Canada railways are in Public sector.

•Australia:

Accounts for about 40,000 km and runs across the country from Perth to

Sydney. New Zealand's railways serve the farming areas in the North Island.

South America: Pampas of Argentina and coffee growing areas of Brazil account for 40% rail route.

•Asia:

Most dense network is in populated areas of Japan, China and India. West Asia has least developed connections because of desert and sparse population.

•Africa: Africa continent, despite being the second largest, has only 40,000 km of railways with South Africa alone accounting for 18,000 km due to the concentration of gold, diamond and copper mining activities.

Trans continental Railways

•Run across the continents and links its two ends

-Were constructed for economic and political reasons to facililate connectivity in different directions.

•Proposal to build a Trans Asiatic Railway linking Istanbul to Bangkok via Iran, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Myanmar.

Water Transport

Advantages: Does not require route construction.

•Oceans are linked and negotiable with ships.

•Cheaper to carry heavy and bulky goods as water provides less friction.

Sea Routes:

Ocean routes: No maintenance cost - cheaper for bulky goods ocean currents and wind help.

-Refrigerated chambers help in carrying perishable goods.

-Tankers and specialized ships help in cargo movement.

-Modern liners are equipped with radar, wireless and other navigation aids.

Coastal shipping :

Shenzhen states in Europe are most suitably placed for coastal shipping connecting one member's coast with the other.

Shipping canals :

• Suez Canal : in Egypt between port said in North end port switch in South linking the the Mediterranean and red seas route.

• Panama canal : in Panama Isthmus between Panama City and colon constructed by USA in canal zone connecting the the Atlantic ocean to the Pacific Ocean.

Inland Waterways:

•Rivers, canals, lakes and coastal areas have been important waterways since time

immemorial.

Development of Inland waterway depends on:

(I) Navigability: Width and depth of the channel

(ii) Continuity in water flow and in

(iii) Transport technology in use.

-The course of the river should be free from rapids/waterfalls with less meanders.

-Though they offer cheaper means of transportation they have lost importance because of

(a) Competition from railways.

(b) Lack of water due to diversion of water for irrigation.

•In dense forests, they are the only means of transport.

Important Inland/Riverways:

1. The Rhine Waterways:

- Flows through Germany and Netherlands -700 km from Rotterdam (Netheran to Basel (Switzerland).

- Ruhr joins it from east. It flows through rich coalfield in manufacturing area

•Dusseldorf is the Rhine port.

•World's most heavily used waterway

•Connects the industrial areas of Switzerland, Germany, France, Belgium

Netherlands with the North Atlantic Sea routes.

2. Danube waterway:

-Serves Eastern Europe.

-Rises in Black forest and flows through many countries.

-Navigable upto Taurna Severin.

-Export items-wheat, maize, timber and machinery,toebr

3. The Volga waterway:

- Provide Navigable waterway of 11200 km and drains into Caspian Sea.

- Volga-Moscow canal connects it with Moscow region and Volga-Don canal with the Black sea.

4. Great lakes - The St. Lawrence Seaway:

- The great lakes of N. America Superior, Huron inland Erie and Ontario are connected by Soo and Welland canals to form an inland waterway.

-Duluth and Buffalo are important ports and ocean going vessels that can navigate upto Montreal.

-3.5 m deep canals to avoid presence of rapids.

5. The Mississippi waterways

Mississippi - Ohio waterway connects the interior part of USA with Gulf of Mexico.

Air Transport

-Fastest means of transportation s. preferred for long distance travel by passengerTS and high value commodities.

- Help to reach inaccessible areas and in case of emergency and for defence purpose.

- It requires infrastructure and maintenance. It is expensive.

- But its advantages outweigh the disadvantages.

Inter Continental Air routes:

•Northern Hemisphere has developed distinct routes because of demand. USA accounts for 60% of traffic. New York, London, Paris, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Rome, Moscow,

Dubai, Doha, Tokyo, San Francisco, Delhi, Mumbai, Singapore, Sydney, Chicago are nodal points for air routes.

•Africa, Asiatic part of Russia and South America lack air services -limited service between 10-35 latitudes due to limited land, sparse population and low economic growth.

Pipelines

-Used to transport liquid, gases or solids in slurry for uninterrupted flow

- In USA dense work of oil pipelines joining producing and consuming areas:

Big inch is one such pipeline carrying oil from Gulf of Mexico to NE States. About 1770 of all freight per tonne km is carried through pipelines in USA.

In Europe, Russia, West Asia and India, pipelines are used to connect oil wells to refineries and to ports or domestic markets.

Communication

-In order to exchange ideas /knowledge, humans have used different forms o communication over the years.

-Today telephone (mobiles) are the most commonly used mode.

Today-phenomenal development has been possible due to the use of optic fiber cables (OFC). They allow large volume of data to be transmitted rapidly, securely and are virtually error free.

•With digitilisation of information, telecommunication merged with computer to form integrated networks termed as internet.

Satellite Communication

•internet is the largest electronic network. This form became important since 1970s after USA and the then USSR pioneered space research.

•Artificial satellites connect the remote corners of the globe. This has rendered the unit cost and time of communication invariant in terms of distance and has brought down the cost.

-India started off with the launch of Aryabhatt (1979), Bhaskar I(1979) and Rohini (1980).

-1981 APPLE was launched.

•Bhaskar, Challenger and INSAT-1-B have made long distance communication (T.V. radio) very effective in India.

Cyberspace Internet

•It is the world of electronic computerized space. It is the electronic digital world for communicating or accessing information over computer networks without physical movement of the sender and the recipient. The majority of the users are in developed countries of USA, UK, Germany, Japan. China and India have also caught on to them.

Cyberspace will expand the contemporary economic and social space of humans through e-mail, e-commerce, e-learning and e-governance.

Internet with fax, T.V. and radio will be accessible to more and more people and will emake the concept of global village a reality.

We hope CBSE/MP Board Class 12th "Geography" Chapter 8 "Transport and Communication" will help you.

Written By - HIMANSHU SHARMA