Based on a comparison of 76 countries in 2021, USA ranked the highest in rail lines with 148,553 km followed by China and Russia. On the other end of the scale was Hong Kong with 230 km, Montenegro with 250 km and Luxembourg with 271 km.
Data for more countries are available at Rail Lines (km) indicator page.
| Rail Lines (km) | Unit | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 |
| Argentina | km | ... | ... | ... | ... | 28,527 | 17,609 | 17,609 | 17,866 | 17,866 | ... | ... | ||||||||||
| Canada | km | 45,582 | 48,498 | 48,150 | 47,687 | 47,987 | ||||||||||||||||
| China | km | 89,966 | 91,675 | 93,742 | 96,353 | 102,462 | ||||||||||||||||
| France | km | 28,866 | 29,237 | 29,248 | 28,241 | 28,157 | ||||||||||||||||
| Germany | km | 33,332 | 33,380 | 33,488 | 33,440 | 33,423 | ||||||||||||||||
| India | km | 66,030 | 66,687 | 67,368 | 69,249 | 67,414 | ||||||||||||||||
| Italy | km | 16,724 | 16,788 | 16,787 | 16,781 | 16,779 | ||||||||||||||||
| Kazakhstan | km | 14,767 | 15,529 | 16,040 | 16,061 | 16,061 | ||||||||||||||||
| Poland | km | 18,510 | 18,429 | 18,513 | 18,536 | 18,538 | ||||||||||||||||
| Russia | km | 85,262 | 85,375 | 85,545 | 85,626 | 85,494 | ||||||||||||||||
| South Africa | km | 20,953 | 20,953 | 20,953 | 20,953 | 20,953 | ||||||||||||||||
| Spain | km | 15,711 | 15,650 | 15,559 | 15,618 | 15,718 | ||||||||||||||||
| USA | km | 151,735 | 151,270 | 150,966 | 150,462 | 149,489 | ||||||||||||||||
| Ukraine | km | 20,975 | 21,603 | 21,626 | 21,626 | 21,626 | ... | |||||||||||||||
| United Kingdom | km | 16,245 | 16,257 | 16,294 | 16,295 | 16,295 |
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