Left-hand traffic
- Belgium (drives on right but on left until 1899)
- France (drives on right)
- Great Britain (drives on left)
- Ireland (drives on left)
- Italy (drives on right but varied by region before 1923)
- Monaco (drives on right)
- Portugal (drives on right although on the left until 1928)
- Slovenia (drives on right but on left until 1926)
- Sweden (drives on right now but on left until 1967)
- Switzerland (drives on right)
Right-hand Traffic
- Albania
- Armenia
- Austria
- Azerbaijan
- Belarus
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Bulgaria
- Croatia
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- Estonia
- Finland
- Georgia
- Germany
- Greece
- Hungary
- Kosovo
- Latvia
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Moldova
- Montenegro
- Netherlands
- North Macedonia
- Norway
- Poland
- Romania
- Russia
- Serbia
- Slovakia
- Spain
- Turkey
- Ukraine
Only Single Track Railways
In most of these cases, railway systems were developed before road traffic was standardized, and they often followed British or French practices of the time.
Country-Specific Reasons
France
- The French railways adopted left-hand running early on, following British engineering influence in the 19th century.
- Even after France standardized right-hand road driving, the trains kept their original left-hand setup.
Belgium, Italy, Switzerland
- These countries’ rail networks were either heavily influenced by France or directly connected to it.
- To maintain cross-border compatibility (important for international trains), they kept left-hand running.
Portugal
- Influenced by early French railway engineering, so the left-hand standard stuck.
Slovenia
- Part of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire, where left-hand running was common in some regions.
- Maintained for network consistency and connections to Austria and Italy, which also had left-hand rail operations.
Sweden
- This one’s fun: Sweden drove on the left until 1967 (known as “Dagen H“).
- The railways stayed left-hand running, even after road traffic switched to the right.
- Changing rail direction is much harder and expensive, so it wasn’t worth the hassle.
Why Not Just Switch?
- Rail infrastructure is extensive and expensive to reconfigure (signals, platforms, switches).
- Trains can operate just fine on either side, as long as the system is consistent and signaling is adapted.
- In places with strong cross-border traffic, it’s more practical to keep left-hand running to match neighbors.
Poyntre says
Situation in Spain historically is complicated. Still today, there are some sections of the railroad network with left-hand traffic (for instance, Venta de Baños-León), metro networks more complicated, the whole of Madrid metro goes left-hand, Barcelona right-hand with some lines (partially) left-hand, even in sections within the line (lines were extended over time). It must be noted that most of Spain were left-hand road traffic before a national law changed it to right-hand nationwide somewhere in 1920s (it is disputed exactly the law and date, most quoted states it in 1928), with parts of Spain neighboring France (the whole of Catalonia, for instance) driving right-hand.
Kuisma Lappalainen says
Finland has both left-hand and right-hand tracks. The airport train between downtown Helsinki and both of its two airports drives on the left. So do slow commuter trains which use same tracks even on those branches where the track is not the same as with the airport train. But long distance traffic always on right.