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Rail lines

The total length of rail lines in kilometers.

Unit: km Period: 1995–2021 Source: World Development Indicators (World Bank)
Source: World Bank · About the indicator
Average: 8,426 km Countries: 116

The ranking uses the latest available value for each country — the year is shown in the row. The table spans 1998 to 2021.

Rail lines, 1998–2021

Top-20 · km

Rail lines, 1998–2021050,000100,000150,000United StatesUnited States: 148,553 km148,553ChinaChina: 109,767 km109,767RussiaRussia: 85,544 km85,544IndiaIndia: 68,103 km68,103CanadaCanada: 48,150 km48,150GermanyGermany: 33,401 km33,401BrazilBrazil: 32,622 km32,622FranceFrance: 27,716 km27,716UkraineUkraine: 21,626 km21,626South AfricaSouth Africa: 20,953 km20,953JapanJapan: 20,087 km20,087PolandPoland: 18,620 km18,620ArgentinaArgentina: 17,866 km17,866ItalyItaly: 17,305 km17,305United KingdomUnited Kingdom: 16,179 km16,179KazakhstanKazakhstan: 16,006 km16,006SpainSpain: 15,963 km15,963RomaniaRomania: 10,769 km10,769TürkiyeTürkiye: 10,546 km10,546SwedenSweden: 9,714 km9,714
Rail lines — 1998–2021 Current breakdown Full series CSV XLSX JSON
# Year Subregion World rank
1 US United States 148,553 2021 1
2 CN China 109,767 2021 2
3 RU Russia 85,544 2021 3
4 IN India 68,103 2021 4
5 CA Canada 48,150 2021 5
6 DE Germany 33,401 2021 6
7 BR Brazil 32,622 2007 7
8 FR France 27,716 2021 8
9 UA Ukraine 21,626 2020 9
10 ZA South Africa 20,953 2021 10
11 JP Japan 20,087 2011 11
12 PL Poland 18,620 2021 12
13 AR Argentina 17,866 2019 13
14 IT Italy 17,305 2021 14
15 GB United Kingdom 16,179 2021 15
16 KZ Kazakhstan 16,006 2021 16
17 ES Spain 15,963 2021 17
18 RO Romania 10,769 2021 18
19 TR Türkiye 10,546 2021 19
20 SE Sweden 9,714 2021 20
21 IR Iran 9,455 2021 21
22 CZ Czechia 9,357 2021 22
23 HU Hungary 8,037 2021 23
24 PK Pakistan 7,791 2019 24
25 TM Turkmenistan 7,680 2018 25
26 FI Finland 5,918 2021 26
27 ID Indonesia 5,483 2019 27
28 BY Belarus 5,474 2021 28
29 KP North Korea 5,214 1999 29
30 EG Egypt 5,153 2016 30
31 CU Cuba 5,076 2007 31
32 AT Austria 4,962 2021 32
33 MM Myanmar 4,746 1999 33
34 UZ Uzbekistan 4,732 2021 34
35 KR South Korea 4,309 2021 35
36 CH Switzerland 4,122 2021 36
37 TH Thailand 4,092 2017 37
38 BG Bulgaria 4,031 2021 38
39 DZ Algeria 4,001 2021 39
40 NZ New Zealand 3,908 1998 40
41 NO Norway 3,885 2021 41
42 CD Democratic Republic of the Congo 3,641 2021 42
43 SK Slovakia 3,626 2021 43
44 BE Belgium 3,612 2021 44
45 NG Nigeria 3,528 2015 45
46 RS Serbia 3,348 2021 46
47 VN Vietnam 3,159 2021 47
48 ZW Zimbabwe 3,120 2020 48
49 MZ Mozambique 3,116 2011 49
50 NL Netherlands 3,041 2021 50
51 SA Saudi Arabia 2,939 2018 51
52 BD Bangladesh 2,877 2019 52
53 SD Sudan 2,747 2020 53
54 TZ Tanzania 2,701 2017 54
55 HR Croatia 2,617 2021 55
56 PT Portugal 2,527 2021 56
57 CL Chile 2,396 2021 57
58 IQ Iraq 2,370 2014 58
59 GR Greece 2,339 2021 59
60 MA Morocco 2,295 2021 60
61 SY Syria 2,139 2010 61
62 AZ Azerbaijan 2,139 2021 62
63 DK Denmark 2,131 2009 63
64 LT Lithuania 1,919 2021 64
65 KE Kenya 1,917 2004 65
66 LV Latvia 1,859 2021 66
67 MN Mongolia 1,821 2021 67
68 TN Tunisia 1,777 2021 68
69 IL Israel 1,720 2021 69
70 MY Malaysia 1,655 2021 70
71 IE Ireland 1,650 2021 71
72 PE Peru 1,639 1998 72
73 LK Sri Lanka 1,562 2019 73
74 UY Uruguay 1,498 2021 74
75 GE Georgia 1,387 2021 75
76 ZM Zambia 1,248 2019 76
77 SI Slovenia 1,209 2021 77
78 MD Moldova 1,149 2021 78
79 EE Estonia 1,033 2017 79
80 BA Bosnia and Herzegovina 1,018 2019 80
81 EC Ecuador 956 2000 81
82 GH Ghana 953 2006 82
83 SN Senegal 906 2004 83
84 CG Republic of the Congo 893 2012 84
85 BW Botswana 886 2021 85
86 GT Guatemala 885 2004 86
87 CM Cameroon 884 2021 87
88 CR Costa Rica 848 2001 88
89 MW Malawi 797 2007 89
90 DJ Djibouti 781 2003 90
91 BJ Benin 758 2006 91
92 ET Ethiopia 754 2018 92
93 ML Mali 733 2002 93
94 MR Mauritania 728 2021 94
95 AM Armenia 698 2021 95
96 MK North Macedonia 683 2021 96
97 MG Madagascar 673 2021 97
98 KH Cambodia 650 2004 98
99 GA Gabon 648 2021 99
100 CI Côte d'Ivoire 639 2021 100
101 TJ Tajikistan 620 2021 101
102 SV El Salvador 547 2003 102
103 BF Burkina Faso 518 2021 103
104 PH Philippines 509 2016 104
105 PA Panama 485 2000 105
106 PY Paraguay 441 2000 106
107 AL Albania 423 2009 107
108 KG Kyrgyzstan 417 2021 108
109 LB Lebanon 401 2002 109
110 VE Venezuela 336 2006 110
111 SZ Eswatini 300 2011 111
112 AE United Arab Emirates 279 2021 112
113 LU Luxembourg 271 2021 113
114 UG Uganda 259 2002 114
115 ME Montenegro 250 2019 115
116 HK Hong Kong 230 2021 116
Nothing found. Check the spelling of the name.
Maximum 148,553 km
Median 2,355 km
Minimum 230 km
Breakdown total 977,424 km

About the indicator

The length of rail lines available for traffic, regardless of the number of parallel tracks on a stretch. Multi-track sections are counted once, so the indicator reflects the configuration of the network rather than its capacity.

Updates
quarterly
Unit of measurement
km
Observation period
1995–2021
License
CC BY 4.0
Dataset
World Development Indicators

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