Country Comparison > Railways > TOP 50

Rank	Country	Railways (km)
1	United States	293,564
2	China	131,000
3	Russia	87,157
4	Canada	77,932
5	India	68,525
6	Argentina	36,917
7	Germany	33,590
8	Australia	33,343
9	Brazil	29,850
10	France	29,640
11	Japan	27,311
12	Ukraine	21,733
13	South Africa	20,986
14	Mexico	20,825
15	Italy	20,182
16	Poland	19,231
17	United Kingdom	16,837
18	Kazakhstan	16,614
19	Spain	15,333
20	Sweden	14,127
21	Turkey	12,710
22	Pakistan	11,881
23	Romania	11,268
24	Czech Republic	9,408
25	Iran	8,484
26	Cuba	8,367
27	Indonesia	8,159
28	Hungary	8,049
29	Korea, North	7,435
30	Chile	7,282
31	Sudan	7,251
32	Finland	5,926
33	Austria	5,800
34	Switzerland	5,690
35	Belarus	5,528
36	Saudi Arabia	5,410
37	Bulgaria	5,114
38	Turkmenistan	5,113
39	Egypt	5,085
40	Burma	5,031
41	Mozambique	4,787
42	Uzbekistan	4,642
43	Tanzania	4,567
44	Ireland	4,301
45	Norway	4,200
46	New Zealand	4,128
47	Thailand	4,127
48	Congo, Democratic Republic of the	4,007
49	Korea, South	3,979
50	Algeria	3,973

Definition: This entry states the total route length of the railway network and of its component parts by gauge, which is the measure of the distance between the inner sides of the load-bearing rails. The four typical types of gauges are: broad, standard, narrow, and dual. Other gauges are listed under note. Some 60% of the world's railways use the standard gauge of 1.4 m (4.7 ft). Gauges vary by country and sometimes within countries. The choice of gauge during initial construction was mainly in response to local conditions and the intent of the builder. Narrow-gauge railways were cheaper to build and could negotiate sharper curves, broad-gauge railways gave greater stability and permitted higher speeds. Standard-gauge railways were a compromise between narrow and broad gauges.

Source: CIA World Factbook - Unless otherwise noted, information in this page is accurate as of January 1, 2020