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

Almost 10,000 billion freight tonne-kilometres are travelled around the world each year. Roughly one quarter of these are travelled in the United States, another quarter in China, and a third in India.

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 around 1 million kilometres of railway in the world (a decrease of 3% compared to 2013). Of this,

350,000 km were in Europe and mainly used for passenger service,
370,000 km were in North America and mainly used for freight, and
230,000 km were in Asia and used for both freight and passenger service.

In America and Europe, there are many low cost airlines and motorways which compete with rail for passenger traffic, while Asia has seen a large growth in high-speed rail, with 257bn pkm representing 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	1,550	2019
2	India	1,157	2019
3	Japan	446.7	2019
4	Russia	133.6	2019
5	France	112.6	2019
6	Germany	100	2019
7	South Korea	93.9	2019
8	United Kingdom	80.5	2018
9	Italy	56.6	2019
10	United States	32.5	2019
11	Ukraine	28.4	2019
12	Spain	27.3	2019
13	Netherlands	22.6	2018
14	Poland	22.1	2019
15	Switzerland	21.7	2019
16	Pakistan	20.3	2015
17	Taiwan	19.8	2015
18	Indonesia	18.5	2015
19	Kazakhstan	18.5	2018
20	Australia	17.6	2018
21	Iran	16.3	2014
22	Sweden	14.6	2019
23	Turkey	14.3	2019
24	Austria	13.4	2019
25	Czech Republic	10.9	2019
26	Belgium	10.2	2017
27	Argentina	8.4	2017
28	Hungary	7.8	2019
29	Thailand	7.5	2011
30	Bangladesh	7.3	2010
31	Denmark	6.6	2018
32	Belarus	6.3	2019
33	Romania	5.9	2019
34	Portugal	5	2019
35	Finland	4.9	2019
	World	2,954	2014
	European Union	416	2019

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	24,598.4	2019	Includes all public and private rail services. For only the JR group rail companies, the figure in 2016 was 9.39 billion passengers.
2	India	8,439	2019	Includes Indian Railways suburban and intercity traffic only, excludes the passengers carried by rapid transit systems. The Delhi Metro alone transported 1.73 billion passengers in 2018.
3	China	3,660	2019	Excludes rapid transit networks, which handled 23.71 billion passengers in 2019.
4	Germany	2,938	2019
5	France	1,880	2019
6	United Kingdom	1,836.8	2019	The London Underground ("The Tube") had an additional 1.34 billion passengers in 2015-16
7	Russia	1,157.2	2018	Moscow Metro alone had 2.45 billion passengers in 2014
8	Brazil	1,125.8	2018	CPTM and SuperVia commuter rail networks alone
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	Netherlands	474.5	2019
15	Ukraine	440.9	2016
16	Indonesia	429.2	2019
17	Argentina	426.2	2018	423,202,522 Buenos Aires commuter 2,036,792 regional 1,009,357 long distance
18	Poland	324.1	2019	Passengers carried by all rail passenger transport companies in Poland.
19	Taiwan	291.84	2018
20	Austria	278	2019	Vienna U-Bahn alone had 463.1 million passengers in 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	Bangladesh	77.81	2018
38	Romania	67.9	2019	Bucharest Metro alone had 178.9 million passengers in 2017.
39	Israel	64.6	2017	The Jerusalem Light Rail carried an additional 42.5 million passengers in 2017.
40	Mexico	57	2018	Tren Suburbano statistics only
41	Pakistan	52.39	2018
42	Ireland	50.06	2019
43	Thailand	50	2017	Bangkok MRT alone had 113.7 million passengers in 2018.
44	Myanmar	48	2017
45	Chile	47	2018	Santiago Metro alone had 721 million passengers in 2018.
46	Malaysia	44.51	2018
47	Tunisia	41	2017
48	Algeria	39	2018	Algiers Metro alone had 40 million passengers in 2018.
49	Morocco	35	2018
50	New Zealand	35	2019
51	Iran	28.09	2018	Tehran Metro alone had 721 million passengers in 2016.
52	Luxembourg	25	2019
53	Kazakhstan	22.9	2018
54	Philippines	21.84	2018
55	Uzbekistan	21.59	2018	Tashkent Metro alone had 71.2 million passengers in 2019.
56	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	12.9	2019
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	1,637	2021
France	1,040	2021
Austria	950	2021
Sweden	768	2021
Denmark	722	2021
Germany	697	2021
Belgium	653	2021
Czech Republic	637	2021
Netherlands	570	2021
Hungary	552	2021
United Kingdom	460	2021
Italy	457	2021
Poland	417	2021
Spain	348	2021
Romania	220	2021
Croatia	139	2021
Japan	3,400	2016
Russia	1,220
India	1,178	2017
Ukraine	1,150
Belarus	1,030
China	1,019	2019
Kazakhstan	880
South Korea	650
Egypt	550
Taiwan	410
Iran	180
Argentina	170
Pakistan	160
Thailand	150
Indonesia	110
Turkey	80
United States	80

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	3,018	2019
2	Russia	2,596	2018
3	United States	2,105	2020
4	India	1,418	2022
5	Australia	413	2016
6	Canada	352	2011
7	Brazil	267	2014
—	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	Colombia	12	2009
30	Switzerland	11	2019
31	Spain	10.3	2019
32	South Korea	10	2013
33	Romania	10	2014
34	Finland	9.6	2014
35	Azerbaijan	8	2014
36	Mauritania	8	2010
37	Indonesia	7	2010
38	Netherlands	6	2013
39	Morocco	6	2011
40	Belgium	5	2014
41	Norway	4	2013
42	Chile	4	2009
43	Vietnam	4	2012
44	Malaysia	3	2011
45	Serbia	3	2014
46	Thailand	3	2011
47	Estonia	2.2	2019
48	Gabon	2	2014
49	Croatia	3.279	2020
50	Denmark	2	2013
51	Tunisia	2	2010
52	Egypt	2	2010
53	Kenya	1.7	2014
54	Israel	1.4	2016
55	Algeria	1	2012
56	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	4,389	2019
2	United States	1,600	2022
3	India	1,512	2022
4	Australia	1,347	2016
5	Russia	1,218	2015
6	Brazil	460	2014
7	Ukraine	457	2011
8	Canada	310	2011
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	Colombia	59	2014
21	Czech Republic	57	2014
22	Latvia	57	2014
23	Switzerland	50	2014
24	Lithuania	49	2014
25	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	2000	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	25	2005
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	10,517
3	United States	9,165
4	Australia	2,308
5	China	2,150	2019
6	Switzerland	1,480	2013
7	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 %
Country	Area (million km²)	Pop. (million)	Rail company	(thousands of km)				Passenger-km (billion)	Freight tonne-km (billion)	HS‑Vol (pass. km)	(modal %)		Pass/ pop %	Elec %
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	1470	3018	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	52.3		696	481				5.5	82
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	4	2	3		15	13				40.9	100
Taiwan	0.036	23	TRA	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	NR	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

References

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