Length of railway lines in use in Europe in 2021, by country

Among European countries, Germany had the longest rail network in use in 2021, with 39,799 kilometers. The German railway network could nearly wrap around the circumference of the planet. France ranked second and was followed by Ukraine, with 27,057 and 19,790 kilometers of railway lines respectively.

Environmental Impact

Do these network lengths translate into a significant environmental impact? As of 2021, the railway sector constituted only about 0.4 percent of the carbon dioxide emissions from the whole transportation sector in the European Union (EU-27), while road transportation accounted for more than three quarters of transport emissions. Further, the carbon dioxide emissions observed due to EU railways has been steadily decreasing over the period from 1990 to 2021.

Does a larger network mean more passengers?

Looking at the leading passenger operators in Europe based on passenger-kilometers may shine more light on whether a larger network means more demand. In 2021, France recorded about 79.5 billion passenger-kilometers compared to Germany which saw nearly 70 percent of that, about 57.5 billion passenger-kilometers. This is even though Germany has more railway length in use than France.