Countries with Railway Networks
A list of all the countries in the world with railway networks –
- The networks are sorted by size based on miles of route (2017).
- Total route mileage for the world in 2017 is approximately 800,000 miles.
- Networks that do not have passenger services (2017) appear in the main list.
- Countries with systems planned (2017) are listed separately.
- Countries that previously had networks (closed in 2017) are listed separately.
- Countries with neither historic nor planned railways are listed separately.
- The year I visited the country is listed in the right hand column.
| Rank | Country | Miles | Passenger | Visited |
| 1 | United States | 156250 | Y | 1986 |
| 2 | China | 75625 | Y | 1988 |
| 3 | India | 71875 | Y | 1994 |
| 4 | Russia | 53750 | Y | 1988 /2002 |
| 5 | Canada | 29095 | Y | 1986 |
| 6 | Germany | 27168 | Y | 1984 |
| 7 | Australia | 24028 | Y | 1986 |
| 8 | Argentina | 23104 | Y | 2011 |
| 9 | South Africa | 19375 | Y | 1995 |
| 10 | France | 18525 | Y | 1984 |
| 11 | Brazil | 18314 | Y | 2011 |
| 12 | Japan | 16989 | Y | 1987 |
| 13 | Italy | 15112 | Y | 1984 |
| 14 | Ukraine | 13938 | Y | 2003 |
| 15 | Romania | 13936 | Y | 2008 |
| 16 | Poland | 12267 | Y | 2004 |
| 17 | United Kingdom | 11083 | Y | 1964 |
| 18 | Mexico | 10729 | Y | 1986 |
| 19 | Spain | 9967 | Y | 1984 |
| 20 | Kazakhstan | 9608 | Y | 2006 |
| 21 | Iran | 8124 | Y | |
| 22 | Sweden | 8013 | Y | 1984 |
| 23 | Turkey | 7500 | Y | 2003 |
| 24 | Czech Republic | 5929 | Y | 1997 |
| 25 | Indonesia | 5331 | Y | 1990 |
| 26 | Hungary | 4964 | Y | 1984 |
| 27 | Pakistan | 4869 | Y | |
| 28 | Egypt | 4188 | Y | 1998 |
| 29 | Austria | 3704 | Y | 1984 |
| 30 | Finland | 3699 | Y | 2008 |
| 31 | Chile | 3686 | Y | 2012 |
| 32 | Belarus | 3461 | Y | (*1) – 19882019 |
| 33 | Sudan / South Sudan | 3424 | Y | |
| 34 | South Korea | 3276 | Y | 1989 |
| 35 | North Korea | 3272 | Y | 2018 |
| 36 | Switzerland | 3270 | Y | 1984 |
| 37 | Cuba | 3173 | Y | 2016 |
| 38 | Turkmenistan | 3113 | Y | |
| 39 | Algeria | 2698 | Y | |
| 40 | Uzbekistan | 2675 | Y | |
| 41 | Bulgaria | 2599 | Y | 2005 |
| 42 | New Zealand | 2580 | Y | 1987 |
| 43 | Norway | 2571 | Y | 1984 |
| 44 | Thailand | 2544 | Y | 1987 |
| 45 | Democratic Republic of the Congo | 2504 | Y | |
| 46 | Myanmar (Burma) | 2472 | Y | 2014 |
| 47 | Serbia | 2381 | Y | 2007 |
| 48 | Slovakia | 2286 | Y | 1997 |
| 49 | Nigeria | 2205 | NO | |
| 50 | Ireland | 2023 | Y | 2001 |
| 51 | Belgium | 2021 | Y | 1984 |
| 52 | Vietnam | 1967 | Y | 2011 |
| 53 | Mozambique | 1948 | Y | |
| 54 | Netherlands | 1883 | Y | 1984 |
| 55 | Zimbabwe | 1875 | Y | 2025 |
| 56 | Uruguay | 1871 | Y | |
| 57 | Croatia | 1859 | Y | 2017 |
| 58 | Azerbaijan | 1824 | Y | |
| 59 | Bolivia | 1791 | Y | |
| 60 | Bangladesh | 1772 | Y | |
| 61 | Portugal | 1746 | Y | 1984 |
| 62 | Kenya | 1736 | Y | (*2) 1995 |
| 63 | Angola | 1726 | Y | |
| 64 | Tanzania | 1701 | Y | 2025 |
| 65 | Denmark | 1667 | Y | 1984 |
| 66 | Greece | 1595 | Y | 2005 |
| 67 | Namibia | 1489 | Y | |
| 68 | Latvia | 1418 | Y | 2005 |
| 69 | Tunisia | 1386 | Y | |
| 70 | Syria | 1337 | Y | |
| 71 | Iraq | 1270 | Y | |
| 72 | Peru | 1263 | Y | 2019 |
| 73 | Morocco | 1243 | Y | 2002 |
| 74 | Malaysia | 1156 | Y | 1987 |
| 75 | Mongolia | 1131 | Y | 1988 |
| 76 | Lithuania | 1104 | Y | 2022 |
| 77 | Taiwan | 1064 | Y | 2008 |
| 78 | Colombia | 1039 | Y | 2022 |
| 79 | Georgia | 946 | Y | |
| 80 | Sri Lanka | 943 | Y | 2017 |
| 81 | Saudi Arabia | 883 | Y | |
| 82 | Uganda | 778 | NO | |
| 83 | Zambia | 773 | Y | 2025 |
| 84 | Slovenia | 768 | Y | 2017 |
| 85 | Israel | 750 | Y | 2010 |
| 86 | Moldova | 723 | Y | |
| 87 | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 689 | Y | 2018 |
| 88 | Cameroon | 609 | Y | |
| 89 | Ecuador | 604 | Y | |
| 90 | Ghana | 596 | Y | 2024 |
| 91 | Senegal | 566 | NO | |
| 92 | Botswana | 555 | Y | |
| 93 | Guatemala | 553 | NO | 2023 |
| 94 | Armenia | 543 | Y | |
| 95 | Madagascar | 534 | Y | |
| 96 | Guinea | 523 | Y | |
| 97 | Estonia | 510 | Y | 2018 |
| 98 | Gabon | 506 | Y | |
| 99 | Malawi | 498 | Y | |
| 100 | Republic of the Congo | 497 | Y | |
| 101 | Djibouti | 488 | Y | |
| 102 | Benin | 474 | Y | |
| 103 | Mali | 458 | NO | |
| 104 | Mauritania | 455 | NO | |
| 105 | Honduras | 437 | Y | |
| 106 | North Macedonia | 437 | Y | 2019 |
| 107 | Ethiopia | 437 | Y | 2025 |
| 108 | Cambodia | 406 | Y | 2012 |
| 109 | Côte d’Ivoire | 399 | Y | |
| 110 | Burkina Faso | 389 | Y | |
| 111 | Tajikistan | 385 | Y | |
| 112 | Fiji | 373 | Y | |
| 113 | Togo | 355 | NO | |
| 114 | El Salvador | 351 | NO | |
| 115 | Dominican Republic | 323 | Y | |
| 116 | Jordan | 317 | Y | 2012 |
| 117 | Liberia | 306 | NO | |
| 118 | Philippines | 299 | Y | 1989 |
| 119 | Albania | 281 | Y | 2019 |
| 120 | Kyrgyzstan | 261 | Y | |
| 121 | Lebanon | 251 | NO | |
| 122 | Panama | 222 | Y | |
| 123 | Venezuela | 210 | Y | |
| 124 | Eritrea | 191 | Y | |
| 125 | Swaziland | 188 | NO | |
| 126 | Costa Rica | 174 | Y | |
| 127 | Luxembourg | 171 | Y | 1984 |
| 128 | United Arab Emirates | 165 | Y | |
| 129 | Montenegro | 156 | Y | 2018 |
| 130 | Hong Kong (PRC) | 131 | Y | 1988 |
| 131 | Suriname | 104 | NO | |
| 132 | Singapore | 100 | Y | 1988 |
| 133 | Guyana | 80 | NO | |
| 134 | Sierra Leone | 53 | NO | 2024 |
| 135 | Jamaica | 41 | NO | |
| 136 | Nepal | 37 | Y | |
| 137 | Saint Kitts and Nevis | 36 | Y | |
| 138 | Paraguay | 24 | Y | |
| 139 | Puerto Rico (US) | 11 | Y | |
| 140 | Brunei | 8.1 | NO | |
| 141 | Liechtenstein | 5.9 | Y | 2002 |
| 142 | Western Sahara | 3.1 | NO | |
| 143 | Nauru | 2.4 | NO | |
| 144 | Laos | 2.2 | Y | |
| 145 | Monaco | 1.5 | Y | 1996 |
| 146 | Lesotho | 1.0 | Y | |
| 147 | Vatican City | 0.8 | NO | 1996 |
| 148 | Iceland | Planned | 2014 | |
| 149 | Kuwait | Planned | ||
| 150 | Libya | Planned | ||
| 151 | Macau | Planned | 1988 | |
| 152 | Niger | Planned | ||
| 153 | Oman | Planned | ||
| 154 | Papua New Guinea | Planned | ||
| 155 | Qatar | Planned | 2015 | |
| 156 | Rwanda | Planned | ||
| 157 | Trinidad and Tobago | Planned | ||
| 158 | Yemen | Planned | ||
| 159 | Andorra | Historic | ||
| 160 | Cyprus | Historic | ||
| 161 | East Timor | Historic | ||
| 162 | Guinea-Bissau | Historic | ||
| 163 | Malta | Historic | 2015 | |
| 164 | Marshall Islands | Historic | ||
| 165 | Mauritius | Historic | ||
| 166 | Micronesia | Historic | ||
| 167 | Nicaragua | Historic | ||
| 168 | San Marino | Historic | ||
| 169 | Solomon Islands | Historic | ||
| 170 | Somalia | Historic | ||
| 171 | Tonga | Historic | ||
| 172 | Tuvalu | Historic | ||
| 173 | Vanuatu | Historic | ||
The following countries (subject to correction) appear never to have had railways, nor do they have (2017) any railways planned.
| Country | Visited | |
| 1 | Antigua and Barbuda | |
| 2 | Bahamas | |
| 3 | Bahrain | |
| 4 | Barbados | |
| 5 | Belize | |
| 6 | Bhutan | |
| 7 | Burundi | |
| 8 | Cape Verde | |
| 9 | Central African Republic | |
| 10 | Chad | |
| 11 | Comoros | |
| 12 | Dominica | |
| 13 | Equatorial Guinea | |
| 14 | Grenada | |
| 15 | Haiti | |
| 16 | Kiribati | |
| 17 | Maldives | (*3) 2017 |
| 18 | Palau | |
| 19 | Saint Lucia | |
| 20 | Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | |
| 21 | Samoa | |
| 22 | São Tomé and Príncipe | |
| 23 | Seychelles |
Notes
*1 – Passed through Belarus when it was part of the USSR
*2 – Landed at Nairobi Airport to Refuel
*3 – Landed at Male Airport to Refuel
Trains To Beyond 