The CIA World Factbook Edition 1995 Transportation
Railways In 36 editions of 36.
Railways was published in 36 editions of the CIA World Factbook, from 1990 to 2025. The 1995 edition carries it in 241 entries, in its Transportation section, under the heading “Railroads”. Every entry is shown as that edition published it.
- entries in the 1995 edition
- 241
- the first edition with it
- 1990
- the latest edition with it
- 2025
Published as “Railways” (1996 to 2025) and “Railroads” (1990 to 1995).
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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 SNCF TGV-Atlantique line
- broad gauge:
- 251,153 km
- standard gauge:
- 710,754 km
- narrow gauge:
- 239,430 km
Africa
58 entriesAlgeria
- total:
- 4,733 km
- standard gauge:
- 3,576 km 1.435-m gauge (299 km electrified; 215 km double track)
- narrow gauge:
- 1,157 km 1.055-m gauge
Angola
- total:
- 3,189 km;
- note - limited trackage in use because of landmines still in place from the civil war;
- majority of the Benguela Railroad also closed because of civil war
- narrow gauge:
- 2,879 km 1.067-m gauge; 310 km 0.600-m gauge
Burkina now Burkina Faso
- total:
- 620 km (520 km Ouagadougou to Cote d'Ivoire border and 100 km Ouagadougou to Kaya; single track)
- narrow gauge:
- 620 km 1.000-m gauge
Zaire now Democratic Republic of the Congo
- total:
- 5,138 km; note - severely reduced trackage in use because of civil strife
- 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
Congo now Republic of the Congo
- total:
- 797 km (includes 285 km that are privately owned)
- narrow gauge:
- 797 km 1.067-m gauge
Cote D'ivoire now Cote d'Ivoire
- total:
- 660 km (25 km double track)
- narrow gauge:
- 660 km 1.000-meter gauge
Djibouti
- total:
- 97 km (Djibouti segment of the Addis Ababa-Djibouti railroad)
- narrow gauge:
- 97 km 1.000-m gauge
Egypt
- total:
- 4,895 km (42 km electrified; 951 km double track)
- standard gauge:
- 4,548 km 1,435-m gauge (42 km electrified; 951 km double track)
- narrow gauge:
- 347 km 0.750-m gauge
Eritrea
- total:
- 307 km;
- note - nonoperational since 1978;
- links Ak'ordat and Asmara (formerly Asmera) with the port of Massawa (formerly Mits'iwa)
- narrow gauge:
- 307 km 1.000-m gauge (1993 est.)
Swaziland now Eswatini
- total:
- 297 km; note - includes 71 km which are not in use
- narrow gauge:
- 297 km 1.067-m gauge (single track)
Ethiopia
- total:
- 681 km (Ethiopian segment of the Addis Ababa-Djibouti railroad)
- narrow gauge:
- 681 km 1.000-m gauge
Ghana
- total:
- 953 km; note - undergoing major renovation
- narrow gauge:
- 953 km 1.067-m gauge (32 km double track)
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
Liberia
- total:
- 490 km (single track);
- note - three rail systems owned and operated by foreign steel and financial interests in conjunction with Liberian Government;
- one of these, the Lamco Railroad, closed in 1989 after iron ore production ceased;
- the other two have been shut down by the civil war
- standard gauge:
- 345 km 1.435-m gauge
- 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 no progress; other plans made jointly with Egypt would establish a rail line from As Sallum, Egypt, to Tobruk with completion set for mid-1994; no progress has been reported
Mali
- total:
- 642 km; note - linked to Senegal's rail system through Kayes
- narrow gauge:
- 642 km 1.000-m gauge
Mauritania
- total:
- 690 km (single track); note - owned and operated by government mining company
- standard gauge:
- 690 km 1.435-m gauge
Morocco
- total:
- 1,893 km
- standard gauge:
- 1,893 km 1.435-m gauge (974 km electrified; 246 km double track)
Sierra Leone
- total:
- 84 km mineral line is used on a limited basis because the mine at Marampa is closed
- narrow gauge:
- 84 km 1.067-m gauge
South Africa
- total:
- 20,638 km
- narrow gauge:
- 20,324 km 1.067-m gauge (substantial electrification); 314 km 0.610-m gauge
Tanzania
- total:
- 2,600 km;
- note - not a part of Tanzania Railways Corporation is the Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority (TAZARA), which operates 1,860 km of 1.067-m narrow gauge track between Dar es Salaam and New Kapiri M'poshi in Zambia;
- 969 km are in Tanzania and 891 km are in Zambia;
- because of the difference in gauge, this system does not connect to Tanzania Railways
- narrow gauge:
- 2,600 km 1.000-m gauge
Tunisia
- total:
- 2,260 km
- standard gauge:
- 492 km 1.435-m gauge
- narrow gauge:
- 1,758 km 1.000-m gauge
- dual gauge:
- 10 km 1.000-m and 1.435-m gauges
Zambia
- total:
- 1,273 km
- narrow gauge:
- 1,273 km 1.067-m gauge (13 km double track)
note: not a part of Zambia Railways is the Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority (TAZARA), which operates 1,860 km of 1.067-m narrow gauge track between Dar es Salaam and New Kapiri M'poshi where it connects to the Zambia Railways system; 891 km of the TAZARA line transit Zambia
Zimbabwe
- total:
- 2,745 km
- narrow gauge:
- 2,745 km 1.067-m gauge (355 km electrified; 42 km double track)
Arctic Region
3 entriesAsia
23 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
Armenia
- total:
- 840 km in common carrier service; does not include industrial lines
- broad gauge:
- 840 km 1.520-m gauge (1990)
Azerbaijan
- total:
- 2,090 km in common carrier service; does not include industrial lines
- broad gauge:
- 2,090 km 1.520-m gauge (1990)
Bangladesh
- total:
- 2,892 km
- broad gauge:
- 978 km 1.676-m gauge
- narrow gauge:
- 1,914 km 1.000-m gauge (1992)
China
- total:
- 65,780 km
- standard gauge:
- 55,180 km 1.435-m gauge (7,174 km electrified; more than 11,000 km double track)
- narrow gauge:
- 600 km 1.000-m gauge; 10,000 km 0.762-m to 1.067-m gauge dedicated industrial lines
Georgia
- total:
- 1,570 km in common carrier service; does not include industrial lines
- broad gauge:
- 1,570 km 1.520-m gauge (1990)
India
- total:
- 62,211 km (6,500 km electrified; 12,617 km double track)
- broad gauge:
- 34,544 km 1.676-m gauge
- narrow gauge:
- 23,599 km 1.000-m gauge; 4,068 km 0.762-m and 0.610-m gauge (1994 est.)
Japan
- total:
- 27,327 km (5,724 km double track and multitrack sections)
- standard gauge:
- 2,012 km 1.435-m gauge (2,012 km electrified)
- narrow gauge:
- 25,315 km predominantly 1.067-m gauge (9,038 km electrified) (1987)
Kazakhstan
- total:
- 14,460 km in common carrier service; does not include industrial lines
- broad gauge:
- 14,460 km 1.520-m gauge (1990)
Korea, North now North Korea
- total:
- 4,915 km
- standard gauge:
- 4,250 km 1.435-m gauge (3,397 km electrified; 159 km double track)
- narrow gauge:
- 665 km 0.762-m gauge (1989)
Korea, South now South Korea
- total:
- 6,763 km
- standard gauge:
- 6,716 km 1.435-meter gauge (525 km electrified; 847 km double track)
- narrow gauge:
- 47 km 0.610-meter gauge
Kyrgyzstan
- total:
- 370 km in common carrier service; does not include industrial lines
- broad gauge:
- 370 km 1.520-m gauge (1990)
Pakistan
- total:
- 8,773 km
- broad gauge:
- 7,718 km 1.676-m gauge (286 km electrified; 1,037 double track)
- narrow gauge:
- 445 km 1.000-m gauge; 610 km less than 1.000-m gauge (1985)
Russia
- total:
- 154,000 km;
- note - 87,000 km in common carrier service (49,000 km diesel; and 38,000 km electrified);
- 67,000 km serve specific industries and are not available for common carrier use
- broad gauge:
- 154,000 km 1.520-m gauge (1 January 1994)
Turkmenistan
- total:
- 2,120 km in common carrier service; does not include industrial lines
- broad gauge:
- 2,120 km 1.520-m gauge (1990)
Uzbekistan
- total:
- 3,460 km in common carrier service; does not include industrial lines
- broad gauge:
- 3,460 km 1.520-m gauge (1990)
Central America and the Caribbean
31 entriesAntigua And Barbuda now Antigua and Barbuda
- total:
- 77 km
- narrow gauge:
- 64 km 0.760-m gauge; 13 km 0.610-m gauge (used almost exclusively for handling sugar cane)
Cuba
- total:
- 12,623 km
- standard gauge:
- 4,881 km 1.435-m gauge (151.7 km electrified)
- other:
- 7,742 km 0.914- and 1.435-m gauge for sugar plantation lines
Dominican Republic
- total:
- 1,655 km (in numerous segments; includes 4 different gauges from 0.558-m narrow gauge to 1.435-m standard gauge)
El Salvador
- total:
- 602 km (single track; note - some sections abandoned, unusable, or operating at reduced capacity)
- narrow gauge:
- 602 km 0.914-m gauge
Guatemala
- total:
- 1,019 km (102 km privately owned)
- narrow gauge:
- 1,019 km 0.914-m gauge (single track)
Nicaragua
- total:
- 376 km; note - majority of system is nonoperational
- standard gauge:
- 3 km 1.435-m gauge line at Puerto Cabezas; note - does not connect with mainline
- narrow gauge:
- 373 km 1.067-m gauge
Puerto Rico
- total:
- 96 km rural narrow-gauge system for hauling sugarcane; note - no passenger railroads
Saint Kitts And Nevis now Saint Kitts and Nevis
- total:
- 58 km on Saint Kitts for sugarcane
- narrow gauge:
- 58 km 0.760-m gauge
Trinidad And Tobago now Trinidad and Tobago
note: minimal agricultural railroad system near San Fernando
Europe
46 entriesAlbania
- total:
- 543 km line connecting Podgorica (Serbia and Montenegro) and Shkoder completed August 1986
- standard gauge:
- 509 km 1.435-m gauge
- narrow gauge:
- 34 km 0.950-m gauge (1990)
Austria
- total:
- 5,624 km
- standard gauge:
- 5,269 km 1.435-m gauge (3,162 km electrified)
- narrow gauge:
- 355 km 1.000-m and 0.760-m gauge (84 km electrified) (1994)
Belarus
- total:
- 5,570 km in common carrier service; does not include industrial lines
- broad gauge:
- 5,570 km 1.520-m gauge (1990)
Belgium
- total:
- 3,410 km (2,362 km electrified; 2,563 km double track)
- standard gauge:
- 3,410 km 1.435-m gauge (1994)
Bosnia And Herzegovina now Bosnia and Herzegovina
- total:
- 1,021 km (electrified 795 km)
- standard gauge:
- 1,021 km 1.435-m gauge (1994)
Bulgaria
- total:
- 4,294 km
- standard gauge:
- 4,049 km 1.435-m gauge (2,650 km electrified; 917 double track)
- other:
- 245 km NA-m gauge (1994)
Croatia
- total:
- 2,699 km
- standard gauge:
- 2,699 km 1.435-m gauge (963 km electrified)
note: disrupted by territorial dispute (1994)
Czech Republic now Czechia
- total:
- 9,434 km (include 1.520-m broad, 1.435-m standard, and several narrow gauges) (1988)
Denmark
- total:
- 2,838 km (494 km privately owned and operated)
- standard gauge:
- 2,838 km 1.435-m gauge (440 km electrified; 760 km double track) (1994)
Estonia
- total:
- 1,030 km common carrier lines only; does not include dedicated industrial lines
- broad gauge:
- 1,030 km 1.520-m gauge (1990)
Finland
- total:
- 5,864 km
- broad gauge:
- 5,864 km 1.524-m gauge (1,710 km electrified; 480 km multiple track)
France
- total:
- 34,074 km
- standard gauge:
- 33,975 km 1.435-m gauge (5,850 km electrified; 12,132 km double or multiple track)
- other:
- 99 km various gauges including 1.000-m (privately owned and operated) (1994)
Germany
- total:
- 43,457 km
- standard gauge:
- 43,190 km (electrified 16,694 km)
- narrow gauge:
- 267 km (1994)
Greece
- total:
- 2,503 km
- standard gauge:
- 1,565 km 1.435-m gauge (36 km electrified; 100 km double track)
- narrow gauge:
- 887 km 1,000-m gauge;
- 22 km 0.750-m gauge;
- 29 km 0.600-m gauge
Holy See (vatican City) now Holy See (Vatican City)
- total:
- 862 meters; note - connects to Italy's network at Rome's Saint Peter's station
- narrow gauge:
- 862 meters 1.435-m gauge
Hungary
- total:
- 7,785 km
- broad gauge:
- 35 km 1.520-m gauge
- standard gauge:
- 7,574 km 1.435-m gauge (2,277 km electrified; 1,236 km double track)
- narrow gauge:
- 176 km mostly 0.760-m gauge (1994)
Italy
- total:
- 19,503 km
- standard gauge:
- 18,230 km 1.435-m gauge (10,499 km electrified; 2,112 km privately owned)
- narrow gauge:
- 1,273 km 0.950-m to 1.000-m gauge (224 km electrified; 1,273 km privately owned)
Liechtenstein
- total:
- 18.5 km; note - owned, operated, and included in statistics of Austrian Federal Railways
- standard gauge:
- 18.5 km 1.435-m gauge (electrified)
Luxembourg
- total:
- 271 km
- standard gauge:
- 271 km 1.435-m gauge (243 km electrified; 178 km double track) (1994)
Moldova
- total:
- 1,150 km in common carrier service; does not include industrial lines
- broad gauge:
- 1,150 km 1.520-m gauge (1990)
Netherlands
- total:
- 2,757 km
- standard gauge:
- 2,757 km km 1.435-m gauge (1,991 km electrified; 1,800 km double track) (1994)
Macedonia, The Former Yugoslav Republic Of now North Macedonia
- total:
- 922 km
- standard gauge:
- 922 km 1.435-m gauge (1994)
Norway
- total:
- 4,026 km
- standard gauge:
- 4,026 km 1.435-m gauge (2,422 km electrified; 96 km double track) (1994)
Poland
- total:
- 25,528 km
- broad gauge:
- 659 km 1.520-m gauge
- standard gauge:
- 23,014 km 1.435-m gauge (11,496 km electrified; 8,978 km double track)
- narrow gauge:
- 1,855 km various gauges including 1.000-m, 0.785-m, 0.750-m, and 0.600-m (1994)
Portugal
- total:
- 3,068 km
- broad gauge:
- 2,761 km 1.668-m gauge (439 km electrified; 426 km double track)
- narrow gauge:
- 307 km 1.000-m gauge
Romania
- total:
- 11,365 km
- broad gauge:
- 45 km 1.524-m gauge
- standard gauge:
- 10,893 km 1.435-m gauge (3,723 km electrified; 3,060 km double track)
- narrow gauge:
- 427 km 0.760-m gauge (1994)
Serbia And Montenegro now Serbia and Montenegro
- total:
- 3,960 km
- standard gauge:
- 3,960 km 1.435-m gauge (partially electrified) (1992)
Slovakia
- total:
- 3,660 km (electrified 635 km)
- broad gauge:
- 102 km 1.520-m gauge
- standard gauge:
- 3,511 km 1.435-m gauge
- narrow gauge:
- 47 km (35 km 1,000-m gauge; 12 km 0.750-m gauge) (1994)
Spain
- total:
- 14,400 km
- broad gauge:
- 12,111 km 1.668-m gauge (6,404 km electrified; 2,295 km double track)
- standard gauge:
- 515 km 1.435-m gauge (515 km electrified)
- narrow gauge:
- 1,774 km (privately owned: 1,727 km 1.000-m gauge, 560 km electrified; 28 km 0.914-m gauge, 28 km electrified; government
- owned:
- 19 km 1.000-m gauge, all electrified)
Sweden
- total:
- 12,000 km (includes 953 km of privately owned railways)
- standard gauge:
- 10,742 km 1.435-m gauge (7,502 km electrified and 1,152 km double track); 8 km 1.435-m gauge (electrified; privately owned)
- narrow gauge:
- 61 km 0.891-m gauge (electrified; privately owned)
- other:
- 1,189 km NA-m gauge (1994)
Switzerland
- total:
- 5,763 km (1,432 km double track)
- standard gauge:
- 3,533 km 1.435-m gauge (99% electrified; 560 km nongovernment owned)
- narrow gauge:
- 1,094 km 1.000-m gauge (99% electrified; 1,020 km nongovernment owned)
- other:
- 1,136 km NA-m gauge (1994)
United Kingdom
- total:
- 16,888 km; note - several additional small standard-gauge and narrow-gauge lines are privately owned and operated
- broad gauge:
- 330 km 1.600-m gauge (190 km double track)
- standard gauge:
- 16,558 km 1.435-m gauge (4,950 km electrified; 12,591 km double or multiple track)
Middle East
17 entriesIran
- total:
- 4,850 km;
- note - 480 km under construction from Bafq to Bandar-e 'Abbas;
- segment from Bafq to Sirjan has been completed and is operational;
- section from Sirjan to Bandar-e 'Abbas still under construction
- broad gauge:
- 90 km 1.676-m gauge
- narrow gauge:
- 4,760 km 1.432-m gauge
North America
5 entriesCanada
- total:
- 78,148 km; note - there are two major transcontinental freight
- railway systems:
- Canadian National (government owned) and Canadian Pacific Railway; passenger service provided by VIA (government operated)
- standard gauge:
- 78,148 km 1.435-m gauge (185 km electrified) (1994)
United States
- total:
- 240,000 km mainline routes (nongovernment owned)
- standard gauge:
- 240,000 km 1.435-m gauge (1989)
Oceania
28 entriesAustralia
- total:
- 40,478 km (1,130 km electrified; 183 km dual gauge)
- broad gauge:
- 7,970 km 1.600-m gauge
- standard gauge:
- 16,201 km 1.435-m gauge
- narrow gauge:
- 16,307 km 1.067-m gauge
Fiji
- total:
- 644 km; note - belongs to the government owned Fiji Sugar Corporation
- narrow gauge:
- 644 km 0.610-m gauge
Nauru
- total:
- 3.9 km; note - used to haul phosphates from the center of the island to processing facilities on the southwest coast
New Zealand
- total:
- 4,716 km
- narrow gauge:
- 4,716 km 1.067-m gauge (113 km electrified; 274 km double track)
South America
14 entriesArgentina
- total:
- 34,572 km
- broad gauge:
- NA km 1.676-m gauge
- standard gauge:
- NA km 1.435-m
- narrow gauge:
- 400 km 0.750-m gauge; NA km 1.000-m gauge (209 km electrified)
Brazil
- total:
- 30,612 km (1992)
- broad gauge:
- 5,369 km 1.600-m gauge (1,108 km electrified)
- standard gauge:
- 194 km 1.440-m gauge
- narrow gauge:
- 24,739 km 1.000-m gauge (112 km electrified); 13 km 0.760-m gauge
- dual gauge:
- 310 km 1.600-m/1.000-m gauge (78 km electrified)
Chile
- total:
- 7,766 km
- broad gauge:
- 3,974 km 1.676-m gauge (1,865 km electrified)
- standard gauge:
- 150 km 1.435-m gauge
- narrow gauge:
- 3,642 km 1.000-m gauge (80 km electrified)
Colombia
- total:
- 3,386 km
- standard gauge:
- 150 km 1.435-m gauge
- narrow gauge:
- 3,236 km 0.914-m gauge (2,611 km in use)
Paraguay
- total:
- 970 km
- standard gauge:
- 440 km 1.435-m gauge
- narrow gauge:
- 60 km 1.000-m gauge
- other:
- 470 km various gauges (privately owned)
Suriname
- total:
- 166 km (single track)
- standard gauge:
- 80 km 1.435-m gauge
- narrow gauge:
- 86 km 1.000-m gauge
Venezuela
- total:
- 542 km (363 km single track; 179 km privately owned)
- standard gauge:
- 542 km 1.435-m gauge
Southeast Asia
15 entriesBurma now Burma (Myanmar)
- total:
- 3,991 km (3,878 km common carrier lines, 113 km industrial lines)
- standard gauge:
- 3,878 km 1.435-m gauge
- other:
- 113 km NA-m gauge
Indonesia
- total:
- 6,964 km
- narrow gauge:
- 6,389 km 1.067-m gauge (101 km electrified; 101 km double track);
- 497 km 0.750-m gauge;
- 78 km 0.600-m gauge
Malaysia
- total:
- 1,801 km (Peninsular Malaysia 1,665 km; Sabah 136 km; Sarawak 0 km)
- narrow gauge:
- 1,801 km 1.000-m gauge (Peninsular Malaysia 1,665 km; Sabah 136 km)
Philippines
- total:
- 800 km (est.); note - including about 390 km in Luzon
- narrow gauge:
- 800 km 1.067-m gauge
Taiwan
- total:
- 4,600 km; note - 1,075 km in common carrier service and about 3,525 km is dedicated to industrial use
- narrow gauge:
- 4,600 km 1.067-m
Vietnam
- total:
- 3,059 km (including 224 km not restored to service after war damage)
- standard gauge:
- 151 km 1.435-m gauge
- narrow gauge:
- 2,454 km 1.000-m gauge
- other gauge:
- 230 km NA-m dual gauge (three rails)
Cite this page
Central Intelligence Agency. The World Factbook 1995, “Railways”, all entries. Archived by The Factbook, thefactbook.org/fields/railways/1995.