This is a list of countries by rail usage. Usage of rail transport may be measured in tonne-kilometres (tkm) or passenger-kilometres (pkm) travelled for freight and passenger transport respectively. This is the number of tonnes or passengers multiplied by the average distance of their journeys in kilometres.
Overview
Globally, rail freight is transported to the extent of almost 10,000 billion tonne-kilometres (9.842 billion long ton-miles or 11.023 billion short ton-miles) per year, of which about one-third occurs in India and a quarter each in the United States and China.
Of the 3,000 bn passenger-kilometres travelled across the world each year, 1,346 bn are travelled in China and 1,150 bn in India. Thus China and India together contribute almost half of world's passenger travel.
The average Swiss person travels 2,430 km by train each year (the highest in the world), almost 500 more than the average Japanese person (the second highest).
In 2014, there were about 1 million kilometres (621,400 miles) of railway in the world, a decrease of 3% compared to 2013.
- 350,000 km (218,000 mi) were in Europe and mainly used for passenger service.
- 370,000 km (230,000 mi) were in North America and mainly used for freight.
- 230,000 km (140,000 mi) were in Asia and used for both freight and passenger service.
In America and Europe, many low-fare airlines and motorways compete with rail for passenger traffic. Asia has experienced a large growth in high-speed rail: its 257bn passenger-kilometres represent 72% of total world high-speed rail passenger traffic.
Passenger rail
These figures do not include metro railway systems; see Lists of rapid transit systems for metro rail statistics.
Passenger-kilometres of rail transport per year
Countries with more than five billion passenger-kilometres (pkm) travelled per year. Unless otherwise specified, data come from the Railway Statistics 2015 Report by the International Union of Railways (UIC).
| Rank | Country/Region | Passenger-kilometres (billions) | Data year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | China | 1,580 | 2024 |
| 2 | India | 1,065 | 2024 |
| 3 | European Union | 429 | 2023 |
| 4 | Japan | 404 | 2024 |
| 5 | Russia | 136.3 | 2023 |
| 6 | Germany | 104.2 | 2023 |
| 7 | France | 89.2 | 2023 |
| 8 | South Korea | 82.9 | 2022 |
| 9 | United Kingdom | 58.4 | 2023 |
| 10 | Italy | 57.8 | 2024 |
| 11 | United States | 45.6 | 2024 |
| 12 | Spain | 29.8 | 2024 |
| 13 | Ukraine | 28.4 | 2019 |
| 14 | Poland | 28.2 | 2024 |
| 15 | Turkey | 22.3 | 2024 |
| 16 | Switzerland | 21.4 | 2019 |
| 17 | Pakistan | 20.3 | 2015 |
| 18 | Taiwan | 19.8 | 2015 |
| 19 | Netherlands | 19.2 | 2023 |
| 20 | Indonesia | 18.5 | 2015 |
| 21 | Kazakhstan | 18.5 | 2018 |
| 22 | Iran | 16.3 | 2014 |
| 23 | Australia | 15 | 2023-24 |
| 24 | Hungary | 15 | 2024 |
| 25 | Austria | 14.6 | 2023 |
Passengers carried in rail transport per year
Countries with more than 20 million passengers per year. Unless otherwise specified, data come from the Railway Statistics 2019 Report by the International Union of Railways.
As mentioned in the notes, many of these figures are very incomplete, as they exclude metro/rapid transport rail services.
| Rank | Country | Million passengers | Data year | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Japan | 25,201 | 2019 | Includes all public and private rail services. For only the JR group rail companies, the figure in 2019 was 9,503 million passengers. |
| 2 | India | 6,905 | 2024 | Includes Indian Railways suburban and intercity traffic only, excludes the passengers carried by rapid transit systems. |
| 3 | China | 4,312 | 2024 | Excludes rapid transit networks, which handled 23.71 billion passengers in 2019. |
| 4 | Germany | 2,938 | 2019 | |
| 5 | Brazil | 2,570 | 2023 | Includes all public and private rail services. Down 21% from the 3.26 billion passengers carried in 2019 |
| 6 | France | 1,880 | 2019 | |
| 7 | United Kingdom | 1,836.8 | 2019 | The London Underground ("The Tube") had an additional 1.34 billion passengers in 2015-16 |
| 8 | Russia | 1,157.2 | 2018 | Moscow Metro alone had 2.45 billion passengers in 2014 |
| 9 | Australia | 1,064.2 | 2018–19 | Combined Urban and Non-Urban Rail Passenger Traffic |
| 10 | Italy | 883.3 | 2019 | |
| 11 | Spain | 636 | 2019 | Madrid Metro alone had 657.2 million passengers in 2018. |
| 12 | United States | 535 | 2019 | Amtrak had 32.5 million passengers in Fiscal Year 2019 (ending September 30). Among regional systems that report to the American Public Transportation Association, there were 502.5 million commuter rail riders in calendar year 2019. |
| 13 | Switzerland | 519.3 | 2019 | |
| 14 | Austria | 511 | 2024 | |
| 15 | Netherlands | 474.5 | 2019 | |
| 16 | Ukraine | 440.9 | 2016 | |
| 17 | Indonesia | 429.2 | 2019 | |
| 18 | Argentina | 426.2 | 2018 | 423,202,522 Buenos Aires commuter 2,036,792 regional 1,009,357 long distance |
| 19 | Poland | 324.1 | 2019 | Passengers carried by all rail passenger transport companies in Poland. |
| 20 | Taiwan | 291.84 | 2018 | |
| 21 | Egypt | 270 | 2019 | |
| 22 | South Africa | 269 | 2017–18 | |
| 23 | Sweden | 264.6 | 2019 | Stockholm metro alone had 353 million passengers in 2017. |
| 24 | Belgium | 246.94 | 2018 | |
| 25 | Denmark | 206.6 | 2019 | |
| 26 | Czech Republic | 193.5 | 2019 | Prague Metro alone had 435.6 million passengers in 2017. |
| 27 | Portugal | 175.5 | 2019 | Lisbon Metro alone had 169 million passengers in 2018. |
| 28 | Turkey | 164.7 | 2019 | Istanbul Metro alone had 469.7 million passengers in 2018. |
| 29 | Sri Lanka | 138.66 | 2017 | |
| 30 | South Korea | 127.84 | 2018 | |
| 31 | Hungary | 119 | 2018 | Budapest Metro alone had 409.3 million passengers in 2017. |
| 32 | Canada | 106.9 | 2019 | Via Rail, Canada's main intercity rail provider, transported 5 million passengers in 2019. Commuter railway systems in and around Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver transported an additional 101.9 million passengers in 2019. |
| 33 | Finland | 92.8 | 2019 | 14.9 million / year long-distance 77.9 million / year in Helsinki commuter traffic |
| 34 | Norway | 80.402 | 2019 | Oslo Metro alone had 122 million passengers in 2018. |
| 35 | Slovakia | 80 | 2019 | |
| 36 | Belarus | 79.86 | 2018 | Minsk Metro alone had 293.7 million passengers in 2019. |
| 37 | Romania | 67.9 | 2019 | Bucharest Metro alone had 178.9 million passengers in 2017. |
| 38 | Israel | 64.6 | 2017 | The Jerusalem Light Rail carried an additional 42.5 million passengers in 2017. |
| 39 | Mexico | 57 | 2018 | Tren Suburbano statistics only |
| 40 | Pakistan | 52.39 | 2018 | |
| 41 | Ireland | 50.06 | 2019 | |
| 42 | Thailand | 50 | 2017 | Bangkok MRT alone had 113.7 million passengers in 2018. |
| 43 | Myanmar | 48 | 2017 | |
| 44 | Chile | 47 | 2018 | Santiago Metro alone had 721 million passengers in 2018. |
| 45 | Malaysia | 44.51 | 2018 | |
| 46 | Tunisia | 41 | 2017 | |
| 47 | Algeria | 39 | 2018 | Algiers Metro alone had 40 million passengers in 2018. |
| 48 | Morocco | 35 | 2018 | |
| 49 | New Zealand | 35 | 2019 | |
| 50 | Luxembourg | 31.3 | 2024 | |
| 51 | Iran | 28.09 | 2018 | Tehran Metro alone had 721 million passengers in 2016. |
| 52 | Kazakhstan | 22.9 | 2018 | |
| 53 | Philippines | 21.84 | 2018 | |
| 54 | Uzbekistan | 21.59 | 2018 | Tashkent Metro alone had 71.2 million passengers in 2019. |
| 55 | Bulgaria | 21.3 | 2019 | Sofia Metro alone had 93.1 million passengers in 2018. |
Passenger modal share for rail
The modal share of railway transport (excluding tram & metro) as compared to other modes of transport, based on Passenger-km.
| Rank | Country | Modal share (%) | year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Japan | 32.9 | 2016 |
| 2 | China | 32 | 2021 |
| 3 | Russia | 24.4 | 2018 |
| 4 | Switzerland | 20.0 | 2019 |
| 5 | India | 20.0 | 2018 |
| 6 | Austria | 14 | 2024 |
| 7 | Netherlands | 11.3 | 2019 |
| 8 | Sweden | 10.5 | 2019 |
| 9 | France | 10.4 | 2019 |
| 10 | Slovakia | 10.2 | 2019 |
| 11 | Czech Republic | 9.9 | 2019 |
| 12 | Germany | 9.4 | 2019 |
| 13 | United Kingdom | 8.5 | 2019 |
| 14 | Belgium | 8.4 | 2019 |
| 15 | Hungary | 8.3 | 2019 |
| 16 | Denmark | 8.2 | 2019 |
| 17 | Poland | 7.3 | 2019 |
| 18 | Spain | 7.1 | 2019 |
| 19 | Indonesia | 6.3 | 2005 |
| 20 | Italy | 6.3 | 2019 |
| 21 | Finland | 6.2 | 2019 |
| 22 | Norway | 4.9 | 2019 |
| 23 | Luxembourg | 4.8 | 2019 |
| 24 | Portugal | 4.6 | 2019 |
| 25 | Romania | 4.2 | 2019 |
| 26 | Latvia | 3.4 | 2019 |
| 27 | Ireland | 3.3 | 2019 |
| 28 | Turkey | 3.3 | 2019 |
| 29 | Croatia | 2.4 | 2019 |
| 30 | Bulgaria | 2.2 | 2019 |
| 31 | Estonia | 2.2 | 2019 |
| 32 | Slovenia | 1.8 | 2019 |
| 33 | Montenegro | 1.2 | 2019 |
| 34 | Greece | 1.0 | 2019 |
| 35 | Lithuania | 1.0 | 2019 |
| 36 | Serbia | 0.7 | 2019 |
| 37 | North Macedonia | 0.6 | 2019 |
| 38 | United States | 0.3 | 2004 |
Passenger rail by passenger-kilometres per capita
Countries with more than five billion passenger-kilometres travelled per year.
| Country | Kilometers/year | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Switzerland | 2,487 | 2023 |
| Japan | 2,320 | 2021 |
| Austria | 1,597 | 2023 |
| France | 1,542 | 2023 |
| South Korea | 1,352 | 2021 |
| Sweden | 1,261 | 2023 |
| Germany | 1,254 | 2023 |
| Hungary | 1,084 | 2023 |
| Denmark | 1,001 | 2023 |
| Belgium | 982 | 2023 |
| Netherlands | 944 | 2023 |
| Czech Republic | 937 | 2023 |
| Finland | 934 | 2023 |
| Italy | 911 | 2023 |
| United Kingdom | 879 | 2023 |
Freight rail
Tonne-kilometres of rail transport per year
Countries with more than one billion tonne-kilometres (tkm) travelled per year. Unless otherwise specified, data come from the Railway Statistics 2014 Report by the International Union of Railways.
| Rank | Country | Billion tkm | Data year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | China | 3,586 | 2024 |
| 2 | Russia | 2,639 | 2021 |
| 3 | United States | 2,105 | 2020 |
| 4 | India | 975 | 2024 |
| 5 | Canada | 460 | 2022 |
| 6 | Australia | 413 | 2016 |
| 7 | Brazil | 397 | 2024 |
| — | European Union | 261 | 2014 |
| 8 | Ukraine | 237 | 2011 |
| 9 | Kazakhstan | 236 | 2012 |
| 10 | South Africa | 135 | 2014 |
| 11 | Mexico | 126.9 | 2017 |
| 12 | Germany | 113 | 2019 |
| 13 | Poland | 53.8 | 2019 |
| 14 | Belarus | 45 | 2014 |
| 15 | France | 31.8 | 2019 |
| 16 | United Kingdom | 24.4 | 2014 |
| 17 | Uzbekistan | 22 | 2012 |
| 18 | Iran | 22 | 2013 |
| 19 | Austria | 21.7 | 2019 |
| 20 | Sweden | 21.1 | 2014 |
| 21 | Japan | 21 | 2014 |
| 22 | Italy | 21 | 2019 |
| 23 | Lithuania | 16.2 | 2019 |
| 24 | Czech Republic | 16.2 | 2019 |
| 25 | Latvia | 15 | 2019 |
| 26 | Turkey | 14.7 | 2019 |
| 27 | Argentina | 12 | 2010 |
| 28 | Turkmenistan | 12 | 2012 |
| 29 | Switzerland | 11 | 2019 |
| 30 | Spain | 10.3 | 2019 |
| 31 | South Korea | 10 | 2013 |
| 32 | Romania | 10 | 2014 |
| 33 | Finland | 9.6 | 2014 |
| 34 | Azerbaijan | 8 | 2014 |
| 35 | Mauritania | 8 | 2010 |
| 36 | Indonesia | 7 | 2010 |
| 37 | Netherlands | 6 | 2013 |
| 38 | Morocco | 6 | 2011 |
| 39 | Belgium | 5 | 2014 |
| 40 | Norway | 4 | 2013 |
| 41 | Chile | 4 | 2009 |
| 42 | Vietnam | 4 | 2012 |
| 43 | Malaysia | 3 | 2011 |
| 44 | Serbia | 3 | 2014 |
| 45 | Thailand | 3 | 2011 |
| 46 | Estonia | 2.2 | 2019 |
| 47 | Gabon | 2 | 2014 |
| 48 | Croatia | 3.279 | 2020 |
| 49 | Denmark | 2 | 2013 |
| 50 | Tunisia | 2 | 2010 |
| 51 | Egypt | 2 | 2010 |
| 52 | Kenya | 1.7 | 2014 |
| 53 | Israel | 1.4 | 2016 |
| 54 | Algeria | 1 | 2012 |
| 55 | Cameroon | 1 | 2011 |
Tonnes carried in rail transport per year
Countries with more than ten million tonnes carried per year. Unless otherwise specified, data come from the Railway Statistics 2014 Report by the International Union of Railways.
| Rank | Country | Million tonnes | Data year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | China | 5,175 | 2024 |
| 2 | United States | 1,600 | 2022 |
| 3 | India | 1,590 | 2024 |
| 4 | Australia | 1,347 | 2016 |
| 5 | Russia | 1,218 | 2015 |
| 6 | Brazil | 540 | 2024 |
| 7 | Ukraine | 457 | 2011 |
| 8 | Canada | 342 | 2022 |
| 9 | Kazakhstan | 295 | 2012 |
| 10 | Poland | 225 | 2015 |
| 11 | Germany | 221 | 2014 |
| 12 | South Africa | 197 | 2011 |
| 13 | Belarus | 141 | 2014 |
| 14 | Mexico | 128 | 2018 |
| 15 | United Kingdom | 110.1 | 2014 |
| 16 | Uzbekistan | 82 | 2014 |
| 17 | Austria | 74 | 2014 |
| 18 | Sweden | 65 | 2015 |
| 19 | France | 63 | 2011 |
| 20 | Czech Republic | 57 | 2014 |
| 21 | Latvia | 57 | 2014 |
| 22 | Switzerland | 50 | 2014 |
| 23 | Lithuania | 49 | 2014 |
| 24 | Romania | 44 | 2014 |
| 25 | Netherlands | 42.6 | 2021 |
| 26 | South Korea | 40 | 2013 |
| 27 | Italy | 38 | 2014 |
| 28 | Finland | 37 | 2014 |
| 29 | Belgium | 37 | 2009 |
| 30 | Slovakia | 36 | 2014 |
| 31 | Morocco | 37 | 2011 |
| 32 | Iran | 33 | 2013 |
| 33 | Japan | 31 | 2010 |
| 34 | Turkmenistan | 27 | 2012 |
| 35 | Turkey | 26 | 2014 |
| 36 | Estonia | 26 | 2012 |
| 37 | Spain | 25 | 2014 |
| 38 | Chile | 25 | 2013 |
| 39 | Argentina | 24 | 2010 |
| 40 | Azerbaijan | 23 | 2012 |
| 41 | Georgia | 20 | 1917 |
| 42 | Indonesia | 20 | 2010 |
| 43 | Mongolia | 18 | 2011 |
| 44 | Slovenia | 17 | 2014 |
| 45 | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 13 | 2014 |
| 46 | Malaysia | 12 | 2011 |
| 47 | Bulgaria | 12 | 2014 |
| 48 | Taiwan | 11 | 2012 |
| 49 | Thailand | 11 | 2011 |
| 50 | Croatia | 10 | 2014 |
| 51 | Tunisia | 10 | 2012 |
Freight modal share for rail
The modal share carried by rail of all freight in a given country.
| Rank | Country | Modal share (%) | Data year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Canada | 68 | 2009 |
| 2 | Latvia | 61 | 2012 |
| 3 | Australia | 60 | 2016 |
| 4 | Russia | 59 | 2010 |
| 5 | Estonia | 47 | 2012 |
| 6 | Switzerland | 46 | 2012 |
| 7 | United States | 44 | 2008 |
| 8 | Austria | 41 | 2012 |
| 9 | Sweden | 40 | 2012 |
| 10 | Lithuania | 38 | 2012 |
| 11 | India | 33 | 2016 |
| 12 | Finland | 27 | 2012 |
| 13 | Brazil | 27 | 2024 |
| 14 | Romania | 24 | 2012 |
| 15 | Germany | 23 | 2012 |
| 16 | Czech Republic | 22 | 2012 |
| 17 | Hungary | 21 | 2012 |
| 18 | Slovakia | 20 | 2012 |
| 19 | Poland | 18 | 2012 |
| 20 | Belgium | 18 | 2012 |
| 21 | China | 15 | 2019 |
| 22 | France | 15 | 2012 |
| 23 | Italy | 14 | 2012 |
| 24 | United Kingdom | 12 | 2012 |
| 25 | Bulgaria | 9 | 2012 |
| 26 | Japan | 6.2 | 2010 |
| 27 | Netherlands | 5 | - |
| 28 | Ireland | 0.7 | 2007 |
Freight rail by tonne-kilometres per capita
| Rank | Country | Tonne-kilometre per capita | Data year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Russia | 12,599 | |
| 2 | Canada | 11,814 | 2022 |
| 3 | United States | 9,165 | |
| 4 | Australia | 2,308 | |
| 5 | China | 2,150 | 2019 |
| 6 | Brazil | 1,861 | 2023 |
| 7 | Switzerland | 1,480 | 2013 |
| 8 | Germany | 1,060 | |
| European Union | 782 |
Brief railway statistics by country
| Country | Area (million km2) | Pop. (million) | Rail company | Net | Double track | Electrified | HSR | Passenger-km (billion) | Freight tonne-km (billion) | HS‑Vol (pass. km) | Pass. | Freight | Pass/ pop % | Elec % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (thousands of km) | (modal %) | |||||||||||||
| Austria | 0.08 | 8.57 | ÖBB | 9.8 | 4.9 | 3.5 | 0.28 | 11.2 | 32.9 | 12.1 | 41 | 71.9 | ||
| Brazil | 8.54 | 209 | 29 | 0.5 | 232 | |||||||||
| China | 9.6 | 1,397 | CR | 141 | 83 | 100 | 36 | 1580 | 3586 | 200 | 41.6 | 31 | 71.9 | |
| Egypt | 1 | 93 | ENR | 5 | 1.5 | 0.07 | 41 | 4 | 6.1 | |||||
| France | 0.55 | 68 | SNCF | 29 | 16 | 14 | 1.8 | 81 | 40 | 48 | 16.8 | 58.2 | ||
| Germany | 0.36 | 80.68 | DB | 34 | 18 | 20 | 1.2 | 74 | 91 | 22 | 10 | 17 | 22.4 | 60 |
| India | 3.28 | 1,326 | IR | 67.3 | 17.4 | 64.5 | 1065 | 975 | 5.5 | 98 | ||||
| Iran | 1.6 | 80.04 | RAJA | 7 | 1 | 0.15 | 0.25 | 13 | 21 | 0 | 4 | 7 | 0.3 | 1 |
| Italy | 0.3 | 59 | FS | 16 | 7 | 12 | 0.82 | 45 | 21 | 9 | 71.6 | |||
| Japan | 0.38 | 126 | JR | 20 | 8 | 12 | 2.5 | 253 | 23 | 79 | 29 | 69.6 | 100 | |
| Kazakhstan | 2.72 | 17 | KTZ | 14 | 5 | 4 | 14 | 191 | ||||||
| Morocco | 0.44 | 34 | ONCFM | 2 | 0.6 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 0.8 | 89 | ||||
| Netherlands | 0.04 | 17 | NS | 3.2 | 2.0 | 2.3 | 0.1 | 17.8 | 6 | 8.8 | 5 | 70.7 | ||
| Pakistan | 0.796 | 192 | PR | 7 | 0.3 | 26 | 6 | |||||||
| Poland | 0.31 | 38 | PKP | 19 | 9 | 12 | 63.7 | |||||||
| Russia | 17.09 | 143 | RZD | 128 | 36 | 48 | 1.3 | 173 | 2090 | 14 | 42 | 67 | 9.1 | 80 |
| Slovakia | 0.049 | 5.45 | ŽSR | 3.627 | 1.587 | 0 | 3.815 | 6.729 | 0 | |||||
| South Africa | 1.22 | 54 | SAR | 24 | 2 | 8 | 14 | 109 | 11 | |||||
| South Korea | 0.1 | 50 | KNR | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0.32 | 32 | 11 | 10 | 20.4 | 20 | ||
| Spain | 0.51 | 46 | Renfe | 15 | 5 | 9 | 3.7 | 21 | 11 | 4 | 63.8 | |||
| Switzerland | 0.041 | 8.38 | SBB | 5.443 | 5.443 | 22.290 | 13 | 22.5 | 37.8 | 40.9 | 100 | |||
| Taiwan | 0.036 | 23 | TR | 1 | 0.67 | 0.69 | 0.33 | 9 | 1 | |||||
| Turkey | 0.78 | 79 | TCDD | 9 | 04 | 1.9 | 0.25 | 6 | 10 | 47 | ||||
| United Kingdom | 0.24 | 65 | Multiple | 16 | 5 | 0.3 | 48 | 21 | 65 | |||||
| United States | 9.6 | 324 | AMTK | 227 | 2820 | 42 | 1 | |||||||
| World | 149 | 7,432 | 900 | 250 | 240 | 35.44 | 2468 | 9486 | 178 | 10 | 20 | 50 | ||
See also
- List of countries by rail transport network size
- Rail transport by country
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