Considering Yemen’s size, its road transport system is extremely limited. Yemen has 71,300 kilometers of roads, only 6,200 kilometers of which are paved. In the north, roads connecting Sanaa, Taizz, and Al Hudaydah are in good condition, as is the intercity bus system. In the south, on the other hand, roads are in need of repair, except for the Aden–Taizz road. Yemen does not have any railways, despite several proposals. At the beginning of the 20th century, the Ottoman Empire suggested that the Hejaz railway be extended to Yemen, but this never materialized. In 1916 the Royal Engineers built a metre gauge railway from Ma’ala in Aden to Sheikh Othman. This was later extended to El Khudad, a total distance of 29 miles (47 km). The line was operated by the North Western Railway of India until it closed in 1929. More recently, in 2005, the Yemeni government began to investigate rail connections as part of an overall initiative to upgrade its transport infrastructure.In 2008 the Gulf Cooperation Council announced that it had agreed to include Yemen in plans for an integrated regional rail system and launched feasibility studies.Yemen has expressed preference for a coastal route beginning in Aden.