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).
RankCountry/Region Passenger-kilometres(billions)Data year11,640(Chinese) 2025年铁道统计公报 - 2025 Railway Statistical Bulletin202521,133202534292023442020255142.3202561122025796.62025893.52023963.82024105420251145.620241230.720251329.820241428.420191723.1Railway Statistics Synopsis - Edition 202620221522.820251621.220251819.820151918.520152018.520182117.320252216.320142315.1202524152023-2425152024
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. RankCountry MillionpassengersData yearNotes1 Japan 23,377 2024 Includes all public and private rail services. For only the JR group rail companies, the figure in 2024 was 8,673 million passengers.2 India 7,293 2025Includes 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 20195 Brazil 2,571 2024 Includes all public and private, urban and long distance rail services. 3.63% increase from the 2.481 billion passengers carried in 2023. In 2024 long-distance services alone carried 1.259 million passengers, 0.05% of the total.6 France 1,880 20197 United Kingdom 1,836.8 2019The London Underground ("The Tube") had an additional 1.34 billion passengers in 2015-168 1,157.2 2018 Moscow Metro alone had 2.45 billion passengers in 20149 1,064.2 2018–19Combined Urban and Non-Urban Rail Passenger Traffic10 Italy 883.3 201911 636 2019 Madrid Metro alone had 657.2 million passengers in 2018. 12 535 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 2019.13 511 2024 14 507.3 202415 474.5 2019 16 440.9 2016 17 439 2025 Passengers carried by all rail passenger transport companies in Poland.18 429.2 201919 426.2 2018 423,202,522 Buenos Aires commuter2,036,792 regional1,009,357 long distance20 291.84 2018 21 270 2019 222692017–1823 264.6 2019 Stockholm Metro alone had 353 million passengers in 2017. 24 246.94 201825 206.6 201926 193.5 2019 Prague Metro alone had 435.6 million passengers in 2017.27 175.5 2019 Lisbon Metro alone had 169 million passengers in 2018.Metro de Lisboa Tem Aumento Recorde de Passsageiros Em 2018 Transportando Mais de 169 Milhões de Passageiros [Lisbon Metro has record increase in passengers in 2018 transporting more than 169 million passengers] 2019.28 164.7 2019 Istanbul Metro alone had 469.7 million passengers in 2018.29138.66201730 127.84 201831 119 2018 Budapest Metro alone had 409.3 million passengers in 2017.32106.92019Via 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 92.8 2019 14.9 million / year long-distance77.9 million / year in Helsinki commuter traffic34 80.402 2019 Oslo Metro alone had 122 million passengers in 2018.35 80 201936 79.86 2018 Minsk Metro alone had 293.7 million passengers in 2019. 37 67.9 2019Bucharest Metro alone had 178.9 million passengers in 2017.38 64.6 2017 The Jerusalem Light Rail carried an additional 42.5 million passengers in 2017. 39 57 2018 Tren Suburbano statistics only 40 55.7 2025 Excludes rapid transit networks Ridership of 2 MRT and 2 LRT lines was omitted. Includes KL Monorail, 3 KTM and 2 KLIA lines. Total ridership of Metro and Rail Lines was 364.8 Million in 2025 41 52.39 2018 42 50.06 2019 43 50 2017 Bangkok MRT alone had 113.7 million passengers in 2018. 44 48 2017 45 46 2018 Santiago Metro alone had 721 million passengers in 2018. 46 41 2017 47 39 2018 Algiers Metro alone had 40 million passengers in 2018. 48 35 2018 49 35 2019 50 31.3 2024 51 28.09 2018 Tehran Metro alone had 721 million passengers in 2016. 52 22.9 2018 53 21.84 2018 54 21.59 2018 Tashkent Metro alone had 71.2 million passengers in 2019. 55 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 (%) year1 32.9 20162322021324.420184 22.9 2024520.020186 14 20247 12 2023Eurostat (2026) Statistics Modal split of inland passenger transport. Data from 2023 ec.europa.eu8 11.8 20239 11.1 202310 10.6 202311 10 202312 9.9 202313 9.4 202314 9.2 202315 9.0 202316 8.5 202317 7.9 202318 7.3 202319 7.1 202320 6.3 200521 6.8 202322 5.3 202323 5 202324 4.2 202325 4.0 202326 4.0 202327 3.8 202328 3.0 202329 2.6 202330 2.4 202331 2.3 202332 1.6 202333 1.3 202334 1.2 202335 1.0 202336 0.5 202337 0.2 202338 0.3 2004
Passenger rail by passenger-kilometres per capita
Countries with more than five billion passenger-kilometres travelled per year.
CountryKilometers/yearYear 2,8252022 2,5192024 1,6142024 1,5712024 1,5652024 1,3522021 1,2872024 1,2872024 1,0812024 9822023 9652024 9482024 9472024 9442024 9432024
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.
RankCountry Billion tkmData year13,687202522,639202132,10520204972202554512024641320167408.12025—2612014823720119236201210135201411126.920171211320191356.22025144520141531.820191624.4201417222012182220131921.720192021.1201421212014222120192316.220192416.22019251520192614.720192712201028122012291120193010.320193110201332102014339.62014348201435820103672010376201338620113952014404201341420094242012433201144320144532011462.220194722014483.2792020492201350220105122010521.72014531.4201654120125512011
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. RankCountry Million tonnesData year15,277202521,600202231,617202441,347201651,11620256554.5202574212024829520129221201410217.8202511197201112161.3202513141201414128201815110.1201416822014177420141865 Rail Traffic 2015. Trafikanalys, page 25. Retrieved 2016-12-28.20151963201120572014215720142250201423492014244420142542.620212640201327382014283720142937200930362014313720113233201333312010342720123526201436262012372520143825201339242010402320124120191742202010431820114417201445132014461220114712201448112012491120115010201451102012
Freight modal share for rail The modal share carried by rail of all freight in a given country. Rank Country Modal share (%) Data year168200926120123 60 2016 4 59 20105472012646201274420088 41 20129 40 201210 38 201211 33 201612 27 20121326.9202414 24 201215 23 201216 22 201217 21 201218 20 201219 18 201220 18 201221 15 201922 15 201223 14 201224 12 201225 9 201226 6.2 201027 5 -280.7 2007
Freight rail by tonne-kilometres per capita RankCountryTonne-kilometre per capitaData year112,599210,932202439,16542,30852,150201961,873.4202471,480 201381,060 782
Brief railway statistics by country
CountryArea(million km2)Pop.(million)Railcompany Net Double track Electrified HSRPassenger-km(billion)Freighttonne-km(billion)(pass. km) Pass. FreightPass/ pop %Elec %(thousands of km)(modal %) 0.088.57 ÖBB 9.8 4.9 3.5 0.28 11.2 32.9 12.1 41 71.9 8.51212.58 Multiple31.71.861.140.000.66398.30.000.8526.91.213.59 9.61,397 CR141(Chinese) 2019 年铁道统计公报 - 2019 Railway Statistical Bulletin83100361640368720041.63171.9 193 ENR51.50.074146.1 0.5568 SNCF2916141.881404816.858.2 0.3680.68 DB3418201.2749122101722.460 3.281,326 IR67.317.464.510659755.598 1.680.04 RAJA710.150.2513210470.31 0.359 FS167120.824521971.6 0.38126 JR208122.525323792969.6100 2.7217 KTZ145414191 0.4434 ONCFM20.61460.889 0.0417 NS3.22.02.30.117.868.8570.7 0.796192 PR70.3266 0.3138 PKP199120.13630.763.7 17.09143 RZD12836481.317320901442679.1800.0495.45ŽSR3.6271.58703.8156.7290 1.2254 SAR24281410911 0.150 KNR3120.3232111020.420 0.5146 Renfe15593.72111463.8 0.0418.38 SBB5.4435.44322.2901322.537.840.9100 0.03623 TR10.670.690.3391 0.7879 TCDD9041.90.2561047 0.2465 Multiple1650.34821 65 9.6324 AMTK2272820421 World1497,432 90025024035.4424689486178102050
See also
List of countries by rail transport network size Rail transport by country
References