From their website:
The goal of the OpenTrainProject is to gather information about the worldwide passenger train network and provide technical solutions for promotion of this method of transportation.
Here are 5 facts about the world’s railways:
- 153 countries and territories have some sort of railway running in their country.
- The US has the world’s longest railway network at 220,044km most of it just happens to mostly be used for freight rather than passengers (see map below). The EU is not far behind at 211,430km covering a much smaller area and China is number 3 at 159,000km.
- In terms of electrified railways (more often used for passengers). China leads the way at 119,000km, followed again very closely by the EU at 118,363km and India at number 3 with 69,102km.
- Monaco has the world’s densest railway network with 1.7 km of track in just 2.08km2, slightly beating out the Vatican which has 0.3km in 0.5km2. Switzerland has the densest network outside of city states and small islands.
- Saint Kitts and Nevis have the most km of track per capita followed very closely by Canada and Australia.
Now while the map above shows all railways, the team at Open Train Project also created the maps below comparing passenger network size between various continents.
Below we’ll look at all the data, but before I get to it.
The following countries used to have railways:
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Bahamas
- Barbados
- Belize
- Brunei
- Burundi
- Cape Verde
- Central African Republic
- Comoros
- Cyprus
- Dominica
- Equatorial Guinea
- Gambia
- Grenada
- Guinea-Bissau
- Guyana
- Haiti
- Iceland
- Jordan
- Kiribati
- Lebanon
- Libya
- Malta
- Micronesia
- Nicaragua
- Oman
- Palau
- Papua New Guinea
- Rwanda
- Saint Lucia
- Samoa
- San Marino
- São Tomé and Príncipe
- Solomon Islands
- Somalia
- Suriname
- Tonga
- Trinidad and Tobago
- Vanuatu
- Yemen
And these countries never had railways:
- Andorra
- Bahrain
- Bhutan
- Chad
- Timor-Leste
- Kuwait
- Maldives
- Marshall Islands
- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
- Seychelles
- Tuvalu
Full data for countries with railways:
| Country/Territory | Total Length (KM) | Electrified Length (KM) | Electrified % of the total | Density (KM of rail per 1,000 KM2 of land area) | Density (KM per 100,000 people) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| World | 1,374,001 | 426,313 | 31.0% | 9.23 | 16.66 |
| United States | 220,044 | 2,011 | 0.9% | 24.06 | 63.36 |
| European Union | 211,430 | 118,363 | 56.0% | 50.04 | 46.94 |
| China | 159,000 | 119,000 | 74.8% | 16.94 | 11.23 |
| Russia | 105,000 | 54,054 | 51.5% | 6.41 | 72.92 |
| India | 69,800 | 69,102 | 99.0% | 23.48 | 4.77 |
| Canada | 49,422 | 129 | 0.2% | 5.43 | 123.16 |
| Argentina | 36,966 | 190 | 0.5% | 13.51 | 80.62 |
| Germany | 33,351 | 20,851 | 62.5% | 95.68 | 39.67 |
| Australia | 32,924 | 3,448 | 10.5% | 4.29 | 122.06 |
| Brazil | 29,817 | 9,025 | 30.3% | 3.57 | 14.01 |
| France | 27,483 | 16,067 | 58.5% | 50.19 | 41.23 |
| Japan | 27,311 | 20,534 | 75.2% | 74.92 | 22.19 |
| Italy | 24,567 | 12,205 | 49.7% | 83.52 | 41.54 |
| Mexico | 23,389 | 803 | 3.4% | 12.03 | 17.73 |
| South Africa | 20,953 | 7,413 | 35.4% | 17.27 | 32.36 |
| Romania | 20,077 | 6,600 | 32.9% | 87.23 | 106.18 |
| Ukraine | 19,787 | 9,319 | 47.1% | 34.16 | 50.76 |
| Poland | 19,576 | 12,236 | 62.5% | 63.93 | 51.33 |
| Iran | 16,998 | 2,200 | 12.9% | 10.44 | 18.39 |
| Spain | 16,355 | 11,127 | 68.0% | 32.79 | 34.15 |
| United Kingdom | 16,179 | 6,065 | 37.5% | 66.87 | 23.26 |
| Kazakhstan | 15,530 | 4,200 | 27.0% | 5.75 | 74.51 |
| Turkey | 13,919 | 7,142 | 51.3% | 18.09 | 15.87 |
| Myanmar | 11,025 | - | 0.0% | 16.88 | 20.10 |
| Sweden | 10,912 | 8,186 | 75.0% | 26.59 | 102.40 |
| Czechia | 9,567 | 3,237 | 33.8% | 123.86 | 90.18 |
| Indonesia | 8,260 | 621 | 7.5% | 4.56 | 2.89 |
| Cuba | 8,193 | - | 0.0% | 76.97 | 74.91 |
| Hungary | 7,945 | 2,889 | 36.4% | 87.76 | 82.48 |
| Pakistan | 7,791 | 27 | 0.3% | 10.11 | 3.05 |
| Egypt | 7,024 | 62 | 0.9% | 7.06 | 5.93 |
| Chile | 6,634 | 700 | 10.6% | 8.92 | 33.40 |
| Sudan | 6,084 | - | 0.0% | 3.45 | 11.78 |
| Finland | 5,926 | 3,270 | 55.2% | 19.50 | 105.38 |
| North Korea | 5,735 | 3,894 | 67.9% | 47.63 | 21.58 |
| Saudi Arabia | 5,590 | 453 | 8.1% | 2.60 | 16.17 |
| Belarus | 5,459 | 874 | 16.0% | 26.90 | 60.67 |
| Switzerland | 5,317 | 5,317 | 100.0% | 134.55 | 59.29 |
| Turkmenistan | 5,080 | - | 0.0% | 10.81 | 66.68 |
| Austria | 4,859 | 3,650 | 75.1% | 58.96 | 53.32 |
| Thailand | 4,845 | 107 | 2.2% | 9.48 | 6.76 |
| South Korea | 4,837 | 3,787 | 78.3% | 49.75 | 9.36 |
| Uzbekistan | 4,669 | 2,500 | 53.5% | 10.98 | 12.60 |
| Algeria | 4,560 | 480 | 10.5% | 1.91 | 9.61 |
| Bangladesh | 4,458 | - | 0.0% | 34.25 | 2.54 |
| Norway | 4,240 | 2,895 | 68.3% | 11.61 | 75.40 |
| New Zealand | 4,128 | 506 | 12.3% | 15.68 | 78.60 |
| DR Congo | 4,096 | 852 | 20.8% | 1.81 | 3.63 |
| Bulgaria | 4,029 | 3,005 | 74.6% | 37.11 | 60.00 |
| Serbia | 3,764 | 1,279 | 34.0% | 43.04 | 56.27 |
| Slovakia | 3,626 | 1,587 | 43.8% | 75.40 | 66.23 |
| Belgium | 3,607 | 2,960 | 82.1% | 119.12 | 30.68 |
| Nigeria | 3,600 | - | 0.0% | 3.95 | 1.52 |
| Vietnam | 3,315 | - | 0.0% | 10.69 | 3.26 |
| Mozambique | 3,249 | - | 0.0% | 4.13 | 9.12 |
| Zimbabwe | 3,136 | 313 | 10.0% | 8.11 | 18.50 |
| Netherlands | 3,055 | 2,314 | 75.7% | 90.60 | 16.65 |
| Azerbaijan | 2,944 | 1,278 | 43.4% | 35.62 | 28.31 |
| Angola | 2,761 | - | 0.0% | 2.21 | 7.07 |
| Syria | 2,750 | - | 0.0% | 14.98 | 10.73 |
| Denmark | 2,610 | 964 | 36.9% | 61.51 | 43.48 |
| Croatia | 2,604 | 985 | 37.8% | 46.53 | 67.67 |
| Tanzania | 2,600 | 440 | 15.4% | 2.94 | 3.69 |
| Kenya | 2,541 | - | 0.0% | 4.46 | 4.42 |
| Portugal | 2,527 | 1,791 | 70.9% | 27.59 | 24.27 |
| Ireland | 2,400 | 53 | 3.2% | 34.84 | 45.21 |
| Namibia | 2,382 | - | 0.0% | 2.89 | 77.02 |
| Greece | 2,240 | 764 | 34.1% | 17.38 | 22.54 |
| Ethiopia | 2,185 | 1,401 | 64.1% | 2.19 | 1.61 |
| Tunisia | 2,165 | - | 0.0% | 13.94 | 17.53 |
| Morocco | 2,109 | 1,022 | 48.5% | 4.73 | 5.49 |
| Malaysia | 2,041 | 1,028 | 50.4% | 6.21 | 5.67 |
| Iraq | 2,032 | - | 0.0% | 4.68 | 4.32 |
| Peru | 2,020 | - | 0.0% | 1.58 | 5.84 |
| Bolivia | 1,954 | - | 0.0% | 1.80 | 15.53 |
| Lithuania | 1,910 | 156 | 8.2% | 30.48 | 67.49 |
| Latvia | 1,860 | 257 | 13.8% | 29.90 | 100.35 |
| Mongolia | 1,810 | - | 0.0% | 1.17 | 51.46 |
| Uruguay | 1,791 | - | 0.0% | 10.23 | 52.91 |
| Taiwan | 1,782 | 1,300 | 73.0% | 50.32 | 7.71 |
| Colombia | 1,663 | - | 0.0% | 1.50 | 3.11 |
| Georgia | 1,576 | 1,288 | 81.7% | 22.68 | 41.40 |
| Sri Lanka | 1,561 | - | 0.0% | 24.89 | 6.72 |
| Israel | 1,511 | 700 | 46.3% | 69.82 | 15.88 |
| Uganda | 1,244 | - | 0.0% | 6.23 | 2.42 |
| Zambia | 1,237 | - | 0.0% | 1.66 | 5.64 |
| Slovenia | 1,209 | 503 | 41.6% | 60.03 | 57.11 |
| Estonia | 1,161 | 132 | 11.4% | 27.39 | 86.37 |
| Moldova | 1,151 | - | 0.0% | 35.04 | 38.42 |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | 1,018 | 565 | 55.5% | 19.96 | 32.42 |
| Cameroon | 977 | - | 0.0% | 2.07 | 3.27 |
| Ecuador | 966 | - | 0.0% | 3.89 | 5.28 |
| Ghana | 953 | - | 0.0% | 4.19 | 2.72 |
| Senegal | 906 | - | 0.0% | 4.71 | 4.79 |
| United Arab Emirates | 900 | - | 0.0% | 10.77 | 7.93 |
| Botswana | 888 | - | 0.0% | 1.57 | 34.66 |
| Madagascar | 848 | - | 0.0% | 1.46 | 2.59 |
| Guinea | 837 | - | 0.0% | 3.41 | 5.54 |
| Gabon | 810 | - | 0.0% | 3.14 | 31.24 |
| Malawi | 797 | - | 0.0% | 8.45 | 3.59 |
| Congo | 795 | - | 0.0% | 2.33 | 12.26 |
| Benin | 758 | - | 0.0% | 6.72 | 5.12 |
| Mali | 729 | - | 0.0% | 0.60 | 2.89 |
| Mauritania | 728 | - | 0.0% | 0.71 | 13.70 |
| Armenia | 703 | 703 | 100.0% | 24.69 | 23.81 |
| North Macedonia | 683 | 313 | 45.8% | 27.08 | 37.66 |
| Cambodia | 650 | - | 0.0% | 3.68 | 3.64 |
| Ivory Coast | 639 | - | 0.0% | 2.01 | 1.95 |
| Burkina Faso | 622 | - | 0.0% | 2.27 | 2.58 |
| Tajikistan | 616 | - | 0.0% | 4.40 | 5.71 |
| Fiji | 597 | - | 0.0% | 32.68 | 63.98 |
| Togo | 568 | - | 0.0% | 10.44 | 5.84 |
| El Salvador | 562 | - | 0.0% | 27.12 | 8.83 |
| Philippines | 532 | 53 | 10.0% | 1.78 | 0.46 |
| Dominican Republic | 517 | - | 0.0% | 10.70 | 4.49 |
| Liberia | 490 | - | 0.0% | 5.09 | 8.55 |
| Laos | 424 | 414 | 97.6% | 1.84 | 5.39 |
| Kyrgyzstan | 417 | - | 0.0% | 2.17 | 5.72 |
| Panama | 355 | - | 0.0% | 4.78 | 7.77 |
| Venezuela | 336 | - | 0.0% | 0.38 | 1.18 |
| Albania | 334 | - | 0.0% | 12.19 | 12.05 |
| Eritrea | 306 | - | 0.0% | 3.03 | 8.48 |
| Eswatini | 301 | - | 0.0% | 17.50 | 23.96 |
| Costa Rica | 278 | - | 0.0% | 5.44 | 5.39 |
| Luxembourg | 275 | 275 | 100.0% | 106.18 | 40.41 |
| Singapore | 270 | 270 | 100.0% | 385.71 | 4.60 |
| Hong Kong | 268 | 268 | 100.0% | 255.24 | 3.62 |
| Montenegro | 250 | 225 | 90.0% | 18.59 | 39.51 |
| South Sudan | 248 | - | 0.0% | 0.41 | 2.03 |
| Suriname | 166 | - | 0.0% | 1.06 | 25.94 |
| Niger | 143 | - | 0.0% | 0.11 | 0.51 |
| Guyana | 127 | - | 0.0% | 0.65 | 15.19 |
| Djibouti | 92 | - | 0.0% | 3.97 | 7.77 |
| Sierra Leone | 84 | - | 0.0% | 1.16 | 0.95 |
| Qatar | 82 | 82 | 100.0% | 7.06 | 2.63 |
| Afghanistan | 75 | - | 0.0% | 0.11 | 0.17 |
| Honduras | 67 | - | 0.0% | 0.60 | 0.61 |
| Jamaica | 65 | - | 0.0% | 6.00 | 2.29 |
| Saint Kitts and Nevis | 58 | - | 0.0% | 223.08 | 123.61 |
| Nepal | 57 | - | 0.0% | 0.40 | 0.19 |
| Paraguay | 38 | - | 0.0% | 0.10 | 0.54 |
| Mauritius | 30 | 30 | 100.0% | 14.78 | 2.37 |
| Puerto Rico | 17 | 17 | 100.0% | 1.92 | 0.53 |
| Brunei | 13 | - | 0.0% | 2.47 | 2.79 |
| Macau | 13 | 13 | 100.0% | 433.33 | 1.80 |
| Liechtenstein | 9.0 | 9 | 100.0% | 56.25 | 22.43 |
| Nauru | 3.9 | - | 0.0% | 195.00 | 32.43 |
| Monaco | 1.7 | 2 | 100.0% | 850.00 | 4.43 |
| Lesotho | 1.6 | - | 0.0% | 0.05 | 0.07 |
| Guatemala | 1.6 | - | 0.0% | 0.01 | 0.01 |
| Vatican City | 0.3 | - | 0.0% | 600.00 | 59.88 |
Peter Goodwin says
Hi there your railway map of Australia doesn’t have Tasmania on the map and we have tourist passenger and freight trains. You have New Zealand where Tasmania is situated, its so wrong how can I believe that any of your maps are correct.