The CIA World Factbook Edition 2002 Transportation
Railways In 36 editions of 36.
Railways was published in 36 editions of the CIA World Factbook, from 1990 to 2025. The 2002 edition carries it in 237 entries, in its Transportation section. Every entry is shown as that edition published it.
- entries in the 2002 edition
- 237
- the first edition with it
- 1990
- the latest edition with it
- 2025
Published as “Railways” (1996 to 2025) and “Railroads” (1990 to 1995).
the entry has the field in that editionnot in that editionthe open editionEach entry below ends in its editions with Railways, 1990 to 2025. Point at a year above to follow it down; choose one in a row to read that edition’s text there.
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World
1 entryWorld
- total:
- 1,201,337 km includes about 190,000 to 195,000 km of electrified routes of which 147,760 km are in Europe, 24,509 km in the Far East, 11,050 km in Africa, 4,223 km in South America, and 4,160 km in North America;
- note - fastest speed in daily service is 300 km/hr attained by France's Societe Nationale des Chemins-de-Fer Francais (SNCF) Le Train a Grande Vitesse (TGV) - Atlantique line
- broad gauge:
- 251,153 km
- narrow gauge:
- 239,430 km
- standard gauge:
- 710,754 km
Africa
58 entriesAlgeria
- total:
- 4,820 km
- standard gauge:
- 3,664 km 1.435-m gauge (301 km electrified; 215 km double-track)
- narrow gauge:
- 1,156 km 1.055-m gauge (1999 est.)
Angola
- total:
- 2,771 km (inland, much of the track is unusable because of land mines still in place from the civil war)
- narrow gauge:
- 2,648 km 1.067-m gauge; 123 km 0.600-m gauge (2000 est.)
Burkina Faso
- total:
- 622 km (517 km from Ouagadougou to the Cote d'Ivoire border and 105 km from Ouagadougou to Kaya)
- narrow gauge:
- 622 km 1.000-m gauge (1995 est.)
Congo, Democratic Republic of the now Democratic Republic of the Congo
- total:
- 5,138 km
- narrow gauge:
- 3,987 km 1.067-m gauge (858 km electrified);
- 125 km 1.000-m gauge;
- 1,026 km 0.600-m gauge
note: severely reduced route-distance in use because of damage to facilities by civil strife (2000 est.)
Congo, Republic of the now Republic of the Congo
- total:
- 894 km
- narrow gauge:
- 894 km 1.067-m gauge (2000 est.)
Cote d'Ivoire
- total:
- 660 km
- narrow gauge:
- 660 km 1.000-meter gauge; 25 km double-track
note: an additional 600 km of this railroad extends into Burkina Faso, ending at Kaya, north of Ouagadougou (2000 est.)
Djibouti
- total:
- 100 km (Djibouti segment of the Addis Ababa-Djibouti railroad)
- narrow gauge:
- 100 km 1.000-m gauge
note: Djibouti and Ethiopia plan to revitalize the century-old railroad that links their capitals by 2003 (2001 est.)
Egypt
- total:
- 4,955 km
- standard gauge:
- 4,955 km 1,435-m gauge (42 km electrified; 1,560 km double-track) (2000 est.)
Eritrea
- total:
- 317 km
- narrow gauge:
- 317 km 0.950-m gauge
note: links Ak'ordat and Asmara with the port of Massawa; nonoperational since 1978 except for about a 5 km stretch that was reopened in Massawa in 1994; rehabilitation of the remainder and of the rolling stock is under way (2001 est.)
Swaziland now Eswatini
- total:
- 297 km
- narrow gauge:
- 297 km 1.067-m gauge
note: includes 71 km which are not in use (2001)
Ethiopia
- total:
- 681 km (Ethiopian segment of the Addis Ababa-Djibouti railroad)
- narrow gauge:
- 681 km 1.000-m gauge
note: in 1998, Djibouti and Ethiopia announced plans to revitalize the century-old railroad that links their capitals and since then Ethiopia has expended considerable effort to repair and maintain the lines; in 2001, Ethiopia and Sudan agreed to build a line from Ethiopia to Port Sudan (2000 est.)
Guinea
- total:
- 1,086 km
- standard gauge:
- 279 km 1.435-m gauge
- narrow gauge:
- 807 km 1.000-m gauge (includes 662 km in common carrier service from Kankan to Conakry, of which 36 km are usable and the rest are deteriorating (2000 est.)
Kenya
- total:
- 2,778 km
- narrow gauge:
- 2,778 km 1.000-m gauge
note: the line connecting Nairobi with the port of Mombasa is the most important in the country
Lesotho
- total:
- 2.6 km; note - owned by, operated by, and included in the statistics of South Africa
- narrow gauge:
- 2.6 km 1.067-m gauge (1995)
Liberia
- total:
- 490 km (328 km single-track)
- standard gauge:
- 345 km 1.435-m gauge
note: in 1989, Liberia had three rail systems owned and operated by foreign steel and financial interests in conjunction with the Liberian Government; one of these, the Lamco Railroad, closed in 1989 after iron ore production ceased; the other two were shut down by the civil war; large sections of the rail lines have been dismantled; approximately 60 km of railroad track was exported for scrap (2001)
- narrow gauge:
- 145 km 1.067-m gauge
Libya
note: Libya has had no railroad in operation since 1965, all previous systems having been dismantled; current plans are to construct a 1.435-m standard-gauge line from the Tunisian frontier to Tripoli and Misratah, then inland to Sabha, center of a mineral-rich area, but there has been little progress; other plans made jointly with Egypt would establish a rail line from As Sallum, Egypt, to Tobruk with completion originally set for mid-1994; Libya signed contracts with two private companies - Bahne of Egypt and Jez Sistemas Ferroviarios of Spain - in 1998 for the supply of crossings and pointwork (2001)
Mali
- total:
- 729 km
- narrow gauge:
- 729 km 1.000-m gauge
note: linked to Senegal's rail system through Kayes (2001)
Mauritania
704 km
- standard gauge:
- 704 km 1.435-m gauge
note: owned and operated by government mining company (2001)
Morocco
- total:
- 1,907 km
- standard gauge:
- 1,907 km 1.435-m gauge (1,003 km electrified; 540 km double-tracked) (2001)
Nigeria
- total:
- 3,557 km
- narrow gauge:
- 3,505 km 1.067-m gauge
- standard gauge:
- 52 km 1.435-m gauge
note: years of neglect of both the rolling stock and the right-of-way have seriously reduced the capacity and utility of the system; a project to restore Nigeria's railways is now underway (2001)
Sierra Leone
- total:
- 84 km
- narrow gauge:
- 84 km 1.067-m gauge
note: Sierra Leone has no common carrier railroads; the existing railroad is private and used on a limited basis while the mine at Marampa is closed (2001)
South Africa
- total:
- 20,384 km
- narrow gauge:
- 20,070 km 1.067-m gauge (9,090 km electrified); 314 km 0.610-m gauge
note: in addition, South Africa has an electrified 1.065-m gauge commuter rail system, with a total length of 1,254 km, which serves Johannesburg-Pretoria, Cape Town, Durban, East London, and Port Elizabeth (2001)
Sudan
- total:
- 5,995 km
- narrow gauge:
- 4,595 km 1.067-m gauge; 1,400 km 0.600-m gauge plantation line
note: the 1.067-m line from Khartoum to Port Sudan carries over two-thirds of Sudan's rail traffic; the 0.600-m gauge system serves Sudan's cotton plantations with over 120 collecting stations (2001)
Tanzania
- total:
- 3,569 km
- narrow gauge:
- 2,600 km 1.000-m gauge; 969 km 1.067-m gauge
note: the Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority (TAZARA), which operates 1,860 km of 1.067-m narrow gauge track between Dar es Salaam and Kapiri Mposhi in Zambia (of which 969 km are in Tanzania and 891 km are in Zambia) is not a part of Tanzania Railways Corporation; because of the difference in gauge, this system does not connect to Tanzania Railways (2001)
Tunisia
- total:
- 2,168 km
- standard gauge:
- 471 km 1.435-m gauge
- dual gauge:
- 10 km 1.000-m and 1.435-m gauges (three rails) (2001)
- narrow gauge:
- 1,687 km 1.000-m gauge
Uganda
- total:
- 1,241 km
- narrow gauge:
- 1,241 km 1.000-m gauge
note: a program to rehabilitate the railroad is underway (2001)
Zambia
- total:
- 2,157 km
- narrow gauge:
- 2,157 km 1.067-m gauge (13 km double-track)
note: the total includes 891 km of the Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority (TAZARA), which operates 1,860 km of 1.067-m narrow gauge track between Dar es Salaam and Kapiri Mposhi where it connects to the Zambia Railways system; TAZARA is not a part of the Zambia Railways system; Zambia Railways assets are scheduled for concessioning (2002)
Zimbabwe
- total:
- 3,077 km
- narrow gauge:
- 3,077 km 1.067-m gauge (313 km electrified; 42 km double-tracked)
note: includes the 318 km Bulawaya-Beitbridge Railway Company line (2001)
Arctic Region
3 entriesAsia
22 entriesAfghanistan
- total:
- 24.6 km
- broad gauge:
- 9.6 km 1.524-m gauge from Gushgy (Turkmenistan) to Towraghondi;
- 15 km 1.524-m gauge from Termiz (Uzbekistan) to Kheyrabad transshipment point on south bank of Amu Darya (2001)
Armenia
- total:
- 852 km in common carrier service; does not include industrial lines
- broad gauge:
- 852 km 1.520-m gauge (779 km electrified) (2001 est.)
Azerbaijan
- total:
- 2,125 km in common carrier service; does not include industrial lines
- broad gauge:
- 2,125 km 1.520-m gauge (1,278 km electrified) (1993 est.)
Bangladesh
- total:
- 2,745 km
- broad gauge:
- 923 km 1.676-m gauge
- narrow gauge:
- 1,822 km 1.000-m gauge (2000 est.)
China
- total:
- 67,524 km (including 5,400 km of provincial "local" rails)
- standard gauge:
- 63,924 km 1.435-m gauge (13,362 km electrified; 20,250 km double-track)
- narrow gauge:
- 3,600 km 0.750-m and 1.000-m gauge local industrial lines (1999 est.)
Georgia
- total:
- 1,583 km in common carrier service; does not include industrial lines
- broad gauge:
- 1,546 km 1.520-m gauge
- narrow gauge:
- 37 km 0.912-m gauge (2000 est.)
India
- total:
- 63,693 km (13,771 km electrified)
- broad gauge:
- 45,103 km 1.676-m gauge
- narrow gauge:
- 15,178 km 1.000-m gauge;
- 3,105 km 0.762-m gauge;
- 307 km 0.610-m gauge (2001)
Japan
- total:
- 23,654 km (15,895 km electrified)
- standard gauge:
- 3,059 km 1.435-m gauge (entirely electrified)
- narrow gauge:
- 77 km 1.372-m gauge (entirely electrified);
- 20,491 km 1.067-m gauge (12,732 km electrified);
- 27 km 0.762-m gauge (entirely electrified) (2000)
Kazakhstan
- total:
- 13,601 km in common carrier service; does not include industrial lines
- broad gauge:
- 13,601 km 1.520-m gauge (3,661 km electrified) (2001)
Korea, North now North Korea
- total:
- 5,000 km
- standard gauge:
- 4,095 km 1.435-m gauge (3,500 km electrified; 159 km double-tracked)
- narrow gauge:
- 665 km 0.762-m gauge
- dual gauge:
- 240 km 1.435-m and 1.600-m gauges (three rails provide two gauges) (1996)
Korea, South now South Korea
- total:
- 3,124 km
- standard gauge:
- 3,124 km 1.435-m gauge (661 km electrified) (2000)
Kyrgyzstan
- total:
- 370 km in common carrier service; does not include industrial lines
- broad gauge:
- 370 km 1.520-m gauge (1990)
Pakistan
- total:
- 8,163 km
- broad gauge:
- 7,718 km 1.676-m gauge (293 km electrified)
- narrow gauge:
- 445 km 1.000-m gauge (2001)
Russia
- total:
- 87,157 km
- broad gauge:
- 86,200 km 1.520-m gauge (40,300 km are electrified)
- narrow gauge:
- 957 km 1.067-m gauge (installed on Sakhalin Island)
note: an additional 63,000 km of broad gauge routes serve specific industries and are not available for common carrier use (2002)
Sri Lanka
- total:
- 1,463 km
- broad gauge:
- 1,404 km 1.676-m gauge
- narrow gauge:
- 59 km 0.762-m gauge (2001)
Tajikistan
- total:
- 482 km
- broad gauge:
- 482 km 1.520-m gauge
note: includes only lines in common carrier service; lines dedicated to particular industries are excluded (2001)
Central America and the Caribbean
31 entriesAntigua and Barbuda
- total:
- 77 km
- narrow gauge:
- 64 km 0.760-m gauge; 13 km 0.610-m gauge (used almost exclusively for handling sugarcane) (2001 est.)
Cuba
- total:
- 4,807 km
- standard gauge:
- 4,807 km 1.435-m gauge, in public use (147 km electrified)
note: in addition to the 4,807 km of standard-gauge track in public use, 7,162 km of track is in private use by sugar plantations; about 90% of the private use track is standard gauge and the rest is narrow gauge (2000 est.)
Dominican Republic
- total:
- 757 km
- standard gauge:
- 375 km 1.435-m gauge (Central Romana Railroad)
- miscellaneous gauge:
- 240 km operated by sugar companies in various gauges (0.558-m, 0.762-m, 1.067-m gauges) (2000 est.)
- narrow gauge:
- 142 km 0.762-m gauge (Dominican Republic Government Railway)
El Salvador
- total:
- 562 km
- narrow gauge:
- 562 km 0.914-m gauge
note: length of operational route is reduced to 283 km by disuse and lack of maintenance (2001 est.)
Guatemala
- total:
- 884 km
- narrow gauge:
- 884 km 0.914-m gauge (single-track)
note: much of the railway is inoperable (2001 est.)
Haiti
- total:
- 40 km
- narrow gauge:
- 40 km 0.760-m gauge; single-track
note: privately owned industrial line; closed in early 1990s (2001 est.)
Jamaica
- total:
- 272 km
- standard gauge:
- 272 km 1.435-m gauge;
- note - 207 km, belonging to the Jamaica Railway Corporation, were in common carrier service but are no longer operational;
- the remaining track is privately owned and used to transport bauxite (2000)
Nicaragua
- total:
- 6 km
- narrow gauge:
- 6 km 1.067-m gauge
note: carries mostly passengers from Chichigalpa to Ingenio San Antonio (2001)
Puerto Rico
- total:
- 96 km
- narrow gauge:
- 96 km 1.000-m gauge,
note: rural, narrow-gauge system for hauling sugarcane; no passenger service (2001)
Saint Kitts and Nevis
- total:
- 58 km
- narrow gauge:
- 58 km 0.762-m gauge on Saint Kitts to serve sugarcane plantations (2002)
Trinidad and Tobago
minimal agricultural railroad system near San Fernando; common carrier railway service was discontinued in 1968 (2001)
Europe
45 entriesAustria
- total:
- 6,095.2 km (3,643.3 km electrified)
- standard gauge:
- 5,564.2 km 1.435-m gauge (3,521.2 km electrified)
- narrow gauge:
- 33.9 km 1.000-m gauge (28.1 km electrified); 497.1 km 0.760-m gauge (94 km electrified) (2001 est.)
Belgium
- total:
- 3,422 km
- standard gauge:
- 3,422 km 1.435-m gauge (2,517 km electrified; 2,563 km double-tracked) (2001)
Bosnia and Herzegovina
- total:
- 1,021 km (795 km electrified; operating as diesel or steam until grids are repaired)
- standard gauge:
- 1,021 km 1.435-m gauge; note - many segments still need repair and/or reconstruction because of war damage (2000 est.)
Bulgaria
- total:
- 4,294 km
- standard gauge:
- 4,049 km 1.435-m gauge (2,710 km electrified)
- narrow gauge:
- 245 km 0.760-m gauge (2002)
Czech Republic now Czechia
- total:
- 9,444 km
- standard gauge:
- 9,350 km 1.435-m gauge (2,843 km electrified; 1,929 km double-track)
- narrow gauge:
- 94 km 0.760-m gauge (2000 est.)
Denmark
- total:
- 2,859 km (508 km privately owned and operated)
- standard gauge:
- 2,859 km 1.435-m gauge (600 km electrified; 760 km double-track) (1998 est.)
Estonia
- total:
- 968 km common carrier lines only; does not include dedicated industrial lines
- broad gauge:
- 968 km 1.520-m gauge (132 km electrified) (2001)
Finland
- total:
- 5,865 km
- broad gauge:
- 5,865 km 1.524-m gauge (2,234 km electrified; 480 km double- or multiple-track) (2000 est.)
France
- total:
- 31,939 km (operated by French National Railways (SNCF); 14,176 km of SNCF routes are electrified and 12,132 km are double- or multiple-track)
- standard gauge:
- 31,840 km 1.435-m gauge
- narrow gauge:
- 99 km 1.000-m gauge (2000 est.)
Germany
- total:
- 44,000 km (including at least 20,300 km electrified); most routes are double- or multiple-track
note: since privatization in 1994, Deutsche Bahn AG (DBAG) no longer publishes details of the track it owns; in addition to the DBAG system there are 102 privately owned railway companies which own approximately 3,000 to 4,000 km of track (2001 est.)
Greece
- total:
- 2,571 km
- standard gauge:
- 1,565 km 1.435-m gauge (36 km electrified)
- narrow gauge:
- 961 km 1.000-m gauge; 22 km 0.750-m gauge (a rack-type railway for steep grades)
- dual gauge:
- 23 km combined 1.435-m and 1.000-m gauges (three rail system) (2001 est.)
Holy See (Vatican City)
- total:
- 0.86 km
- standard gauge:
- 0.86 km 1.435-m gauge
note: a spur of the Italian Railways system, serving Rome's Saint Peter's station (2001 est.)
Hungary
- total:
- 7,869 km
- broad gauge:
- 36 km 1.524-m gauge
- narrow gauge:
- 219 km 0.760-m gauge
- standard gauge:
- 7,614 km 1.435-m gauge (2,423 km electrified; 1,236 km double-tracked)
note: Hungary and Austria jointly manage the cross-border, standard-gauge railway connecting Gyor, Sopron, and Ebenfurt (Gysev railroad) which has a route length of about 101 km in Hungary and 65 km in Austria (2001)
Ireland
- total:
- 3,314 km
- broad gauge:
- 1,949 km 1.600-m gauge (38 km electrified; 485 km double-tracked)
- narrow gauge:
- 1,365 km 0.914-m gauge (operated by the Irish Peat Board to transport peat to power stations and briqueting plants) (2001)
Italy
- total:
- 19,786 km
- standard gauge:
- 18,761 km 1.435-m gauge (11,251 km electrified)
- narrow gauge:
- 113 km 1.000-m gauge (113 km electrified); 912 km 0.950-m gauge (192 km electrified) (2001)
Latvia
- total:
- 2,412 km
- broad gauge:
- 2,379 km 1.520-m gauge (271 km electrified)
- narrow gauge:
- 33 km 0.750-m gauge (2001)
Liechtenstein
- total:
- 18.5 km
- standard gauge:
- 18.5 km 1.435-m gauge (electrified)
note: owned, operated, and included in statistics of Austrian Federal Railways (2001)
Lithuania
- total:
- 1,998 km
- broad gauge:
- 1,807 km 1.524-m gauge (122 km electrified)
- narrow gauge:
- 169 km 0.750-m gauge (2001)
- standard gauge:
- 22 km 1.435-m gauge
Macedonia, The Former Yugoslav Republic of now North Macedonia
- total:
- 699 km
- standard gauge:
- 699 km 1.435-m gauge (233 km electrified)
note: a 56-km extension of the Kumanovo-Beljakovce line to the Bulgarian border at Gyueshevo is under construction (2001)
Poland
- total:
- 23,420 km
- broad gauge:
- 646 km 1.524-m gauge
- standard gauge:
- 21,639 km 1.435-m gauge (11,626 km electrified; 8,978 km double-tracked)
- narrow gauge:
- 1,135 km various gauges including 1.000-m, 0.785-m, 0.750-m, and 0.600-m (2001)
Portugal
- total:
- 2,850 km
- broad gauge:
- 2,576 km 1.668-m gauge (623 km electrified; 426 km double-tracked)
- narrow gauge:
- 274 km 1.000-m gauge (2001)
Romania
- total:
- 11,385 km (3,888 km electrified)
- standard gauge:
- 10,898 km 1.435-m gauge
- narrow gauge:
- 427 km 0.760-m gauge (2001)
- broad gage:
- 60 km 1.524-m gauge
San Marino
0 km; note - there is a 1.5-km cable railway connecting the city of San Marino to Borgo Maggiore
Serbia and Montenegro
- total:
- 4,059 km
- standard gauge:
- 4,059 km 1.435-m gauge (1,377 km electrified)
note: during the 1999 Kosovo conflict, the Serbian rail system suffered significant damage due to bridge destruction; many rail bridges have been rebuilt; Montenegrin rail lines remain intact (2001)
Slovakia
- total:
- 3,660 km
- broad gauge:
- 102 km 1.520-m gauge
- narrow gauge:
- 51 km (46 km 1,000-m gauge; 5 km 0.750-m gauge) (2001)
- standard gauge:
- 3,507 km 1.435-m gauge (1,505 km electrified; 1,011 km double-tracked)
Spain
- total:
- 15,171 km
- broad gauge:
- 12,781 km 1.668-m gauge (6,434 km electrified)
- standard gauge:
- 525 km 1.435-m gauge (525 km electrified)
- narrow gauge:
- 1,837 km 1.000-m gauge (617 km electrified); 28 km 0.914-m gauge (28 km electrified) (2001)
Sweden
- total:
- 12,821 km
- standard gauge:
- 12,600 km 1.435-m gauge (7,918 km electrified)
- narrow gauge:
- 221 km 0.891-m gauge (2001)
Switzerland
- total:
- 4,406 km
- standard gauge:
- 3,440 km 1.435-m gauge
- dual gauge:
- 56 km 1.435-m and 1.000-m gauges (3 rail system)
note: Swiss railways are virtually all electrified (2001)
- narrow gauge:
- 900 km 1.000-m gauge; 10 km 0.800-m gauge
Ukraine
- total:
- 22,510 km
- broad gauge:
- 21,951 km 1.524-m gauge (8,927 km electrified)
- standard gauge:
- 49 km 1.435-m gauge
note: these data do not include railroads dedicated to serving industry and not in common carrier service (2001)
- narrow gauge:
- 510 km 0.750-m gauge
United Kingdom
- total:
- 16,878 km
- standard gauge:
- 16,536 km 1.435-m gauge (4,928 km electrified; 12,591 km double- or multiple-tracked)
- broad gauge:
- 342 km 1.600-m gauge (190 km double-tracked)
note: all 1.600-m gauge track is in common carrier service in Northern Ireland (1996)
Middle East
17 entriesGaza Strip
- total:
- NA km;
- note - one line,
- abandoned and in disrepair,
- little trackage remains (2001 est.)
Iran
- total:
- 6,130 km
- broad gauge:
- 94 km 1.676-m gauge
- standard gauge:
- 6,036 km 1.435-m gauge (187 km electrified)
note: broad-gauge track is employed at the borders with Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan which have broad-gauge rail systems; 41 km of the standard-gauge, electrified track is in suburban service at Tehran (2001)
Lebanon
- total:
- 399 km
- standard gauge:
- 317 km 1.435-m
note: entire system is unusable because of damage in civil war (2001)
- narrow gauge:
- 82 km 1.050-m
Saudi Arabia
- total:
- 1,392 km
- standard gauge:
- 1,392 km 1.435-m gauge (724 km are double-tracked) (2001)
Syria
- total:
- 2,750 km
- standard gauge:
- 2,423 km 1.435-m gauge
note: rail link between Syria and Iraq replaced in 2000 (2001)
- narrow gauge:
- 327 km 1.050-m gauge
Turkey now Turkiye
- total:
- 8,607 km
- standard gauge:
- 8,607 km 1.435-m gauge (2,131 km electrified) (2001)
North America
5 entriesCanada
- total:
- 36,114 km
- standard gauge:
- 36,114 km 1.435-m gauge (156 km electrified)
note: Canada has two major transcontinental freight railway systems: Canadian National (privatized November 1995) and Canadian Pacific Railway; passenger service is provided by the government-operated firm VIA, which has no trackage of its own (2000 est.)
United States
- total:
- 212,433 km mainline routes
- standard gauge:
- 212,433 km 1.435-m gauge
note: represents the aggregate length of roadway of all line-haul railroads including an estimate for Class II and III railroads (1998)
Oceania
25 entriesAustralia
- total:
- 33,819 km (2,540 km electrified)
- broad gauge:
- 3,719 km 1.600-m gauge
- narrow gauge:
- 14,506 km 1.067-m gauge
- standard gauge:
- 15,422 km 1.435-m gauge
- dual gauge:
- 172 km NA gauges (1999 est.)
Fiji
- total:
- 597 km
- narrow gauge:
- 597 km 0.610-m gauge
note: belongs to the government-owned Fiji Sugar Corporation (1995)
Nauru
- total:
- 5 km
note: gauge unknown; used to haul phosphates from the center of the island to processing facilities on the southwest coast (2001)
South America
14 entriesArgentina
- total:
- 33,744 km (167 km electrified)
- broad gauge:
- 20,594 km 1.676-m gauge (141 km electrified)
- standard gauge:
- 2,739 km 1.435-m gauge (26 km electrified)
- narrow gauge:
- 10,154 km 1.000-m gauge; 257 km 0.750-m gauge (2000 est.)
Bolivia
- total:
- 3,691 km
- narrow gauge:
- 3,652 km 1.000-m gauge; 39 km 0.760-m gauge (13 km electrified) (1995 est.)
Brazil
- total:
- broad gauge:
- 5,679 km 1.600-m gauge (1,199 km electrified)
- narrow gauge:
- 24,666 km 1.000-m gauge (930 km electrified)
- dual gauge:
- 336 km 1.000-m and 1.600-m gauges (three rails)
- standard gauge:
- 194 km 1.440-m gauge
note: in addition to the interurban routes itemized above, Brazil has 247.8 km of suburban railway consisting of 170.8 km of 1.600-m gauge (75 km electrified) and 77 km of 1.000-m gauge (1999 est.)
Chile
- total:
- 6,702 km
- broad gauge:
- 2,831 km 1.676-m gauge (1,317 km electrified)
- narrow gauge:
- 117 km 1.067-m gauge (28 km electrified); 3,754 km 1.000-m gauge (37 km electrified) (2000 est.)
Colombia
- total:
- 3,304 km
- standard gauge:
- 150 km 1.435-m gauge (connects Cerrejon coal mines to maritime port at Bahia de Portete)
- narrow gauge:
- 3,154 km 0.914-m gauge (major sections not in use) (2000 est.)
Guyana
- total:
- 187 km
- standard gauge:
- 139 km 1.435-m gauge
note: all dedicated to ore transport (2001 est.)
- narrow gauge:
- 48 km 0.914-m gauge
Paraguay
- total:
- 971 km
- standard gauge:
- 441 km 1.435-m gauge
note: there are 470 km of various gauges that are privately owned
- narrow gauge:
- 60 km 1.000-m gauge
Suriname
- total:
- 166 km (single-track)
- standard gauge:
- 80 km 1.435-m gauge
note: Suriname railroads are not in operation (2001)
- narrow gauge:
- 86 km 1.000-m gauge
Uruguay
- total:
- 2,993 km
- standard gauge:
- 2,993 km 1.435-m gauge
note: of the total route length, 461 km have been taken out of service and 460 km are in only partial use; moreover, not all lines offer passenger service (2001)
Venezuela
- total:
- 682 km
- standard gauge:
- 682 km 1.435-m gauge
note: 248 km of the existing system are privately owned; passenger services are nonexistent; however, a National Railways Plan, intended to provide a significant railway system, has been initiated (2001)
Southeast Asia
16 entriesHong Kong
- total:
- 34 km
- standard gauge:
- 34 km 1.435-m gauge (electrified and double-tracked)
note: connects to China railway system at Hong Kong-China border (2001)
Indonesia
- total:
- 6,458 km
- narrow gauge:
- 5,961 km 1.067-m gauge (101 km electrified; 101 km double-track); 497 km 0.750-m gauge (2001)
Singapore
- total:
- 38.6 km
- narrow gauge:
- 38.6 km 1.000-m gauge
note: there is also a 83 km mass transit system with 48 stations
Taiwan
- total:
- 1,108 km
- narrow gauge:
- 1,108 km 1.067-m gauge (519 km electrified)
note: in addition to the above routes in common carrier service, there are several thousand kilometers of 1.067-m gauge routes that are dedicated to industrial use (2001)
Vietnam
- total:
- 3,142 km
- standard gauge:
- 209 km 1.435-m gauge
- narrow gauge:
- 2,625 km 1.000-m gauge
- dual gauge:
- 308 km three-rail track combining 1.435-m and 1.000-m gauges (2001)
Cite this page
Central Intelligence Agency. The World Factbook 2002, “Railways”, all entries. Archived by The Factbook, thefactbook.org/fields/railways/2002.