Transportation

The national highway road number 4 is the main road extending for 230 km between Preah Sihanouk Province and Phnom Penh. The coastal roads are useful for scenic drives outside the city. The Kang Keng Airport, 18 km from the city center, is the only airport in the area. Built in the 1960s, the runway is adequate to receive only small charter and private aircraft. Modernization of the airport is one of the most critical development need for improving the tourism industry and the development of Preah Sihanouk Province as a whole. There are a number of boat and ferry service operating from Preah Sihanouk Province, transporting tourists to and from the many islands and next door to Kos Chong, Thailand. Sihanoukville also has a railway connection running 263 km to and from Phnom Penh. A one-way trip to Phnom Penh by railway takes about 12 hours.

Railway: Preah Sihanouk Province has one railway connection on the Royal Cambodia Railway service. Built from 1960 to 1969, the 263 kilometers of railway between Preah Sihanouk Province and Phnom Penh in used by only one train per day, due to lack of maintenance and security problems. In 1993, the railway handled only 1.5% of the port traffic, with the road network handling the rest. The maximum speed of the trains is 35-40 km/hour. The railway is planned for eventual rehabilitation, starting with improvements of the rolling stock.

Local Airport:

After stopping operation for a while ago, now the airport of Sihanoukville was operated and opened on January 15, 2007 for domestic flight from Phnom Penh International airport to Sihanoukville and reach to Siem Ream Province, the flight schedule; three times a week.

Sihanoukville Autonomous Port

The Port Authority of Sihanoukville (PAS) completed in 1969 is the sole deep-water port of Cambodia. The total length of PAS is 930 meters and is comprised of the old and the new parts. The old port opened in 1960 that is 290 meters in length and has 12,000 m² of warehouse facilities and 35,000 m² open space for cargo handling. The new port, completed in 1969 is 350 m in length, can accommodate three vessels at a time and contains 24,000 m² of warehouses. Besides the general cargo and container berths the port also contains an oil container port. In addition there are a variety of cargo handling facilities and services. With the implementation of the free market economy in 1993 came a rapid increase in the volume of cargo. By 1999 the amount of cargo being handled was 1,140 million tons. The volume is expected to increase beyond two million by the year 2005. The main import cargo include rice, general cargo, cement, machinery, sugar, steel, containerized cargo, fuel, and cigarettes. Export cargo leaving the port includes timber, logs, plywood and containerized cargo.

To meet the demands of the rapid increase in marine transportation in and out of Cambodia, the government is proposing a new port development including 240 meters container berths, a container terminal of 60,000 m² and road within the port area. In addition PAS proposes to develop a free trade zone, of up to 91 hectares.