APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R00020011022-9
Transportation and Telecommunications
A. Appraisal (S)
The transportation and telecommunications (telecom) system of East Germany are generally adequate for current needs and are gradually being improved and expanded to keep capacities in line with increasing requirements of the economy. East Germany's location in the Northern European plain makes its transportation facilities especially important for transit of international traffic moving between Western Europe and countries of Eastern Europe and Scandinavia.
The rail, highway, and telecom networks center on Berlin, from which main lines radiate to serve all areas adequately. The densest sections of the transportation systems lie in the central and southern portions of the country.
Except for some privately owned highway and waterway carriers, transportation and telecom facilities are government owned and operated; control is exercised through elements of the Ministry for Transport and the Ministry for Posts and Telecommunications.
The railroad system is the basis of the transportation network and is the principal long-haul mode. Highway transport is the primary short-haul mover of freight and is becoming more so since an increasing amount of rail short-distance traffic is being diverted to the highways. The complex inland-waterway system—densest among the Eastern European Communist nations—is an important part of the transportation network, but its significance to the economy is not fully conveyed by performance figures.
Of the 852.2 million short tons moved by the three major transport modes in 1972, highways accounted for 62.6% of the total as compared with 34.2% for railroads and 1.8% for inland waterways; in terms of ton-mile performance, the railroads produced 74.4% of the total, highways 22.2%, and waterways 3.4%.
Although the East German pipeline system is sparse, it is an important complement to the major surface transportation facilities, and in 1970 moved 16.8 million short tons of crude and refined products.
Civil aviation plays a relatively minor role as a means of transportation, being used mainly by officials of government and industry, and for transporting high-priority cargo. Air services are operated by the government's flag carrier INTERFLUG, which has a fleet of 28 to 30 major transport aircraft—all Soviet-manufactured—as well as a mixed fleet of about 80 smaller aircraft. INTERFLUG provides domestic services to key East German cities and international flights to Africa, the Middle East, Austria, Denmark, and the European Communist countries. East Germany has 146 operational airfields, over 50% of which are military. The principal airport for civil-air operations is Schonefeld in East Berlin. In 1971, INTERFLUG carried some 21,000 short tons of cargo and 923,370 passengers. In April 1972 East Germany's growing
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APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R00020011022-9
