Transport in Benin

Benin has a total of 578 km (359 mi) of single track, 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) metre gauge railway.

The Trans–West African Coastal Highway crosses Benin, connecting it to Nigeria to the east, and Togo, Ghana and Ivory Coast to the west.

A paved highway also connects Benin northwards to Niger, and through that country to Burkina Faso and Mali to the north-west.

[2] Gasoline smuggled from Nigeria is widely available in glass bottles and jugs at informal roadside stands throughout Cotonou and much of the country.

Nighttime driving is particularly hazardous as vehicles frequently lack headlights and/or taillights, and brake lights are often burned out.

There have been numerous carjackings and robberies on roads in Benin after dark, several of which resulted in murder when the driver refused to comply with the assailants' demands.

The National Police periodically conduct vehicle checks at provisional roadblocks in an effort to improve road safety and reduce the increasing number of carjackings.