Railroad network of selected countries 2021

The U.S. rail system stretched across almost 149,000 km in 2021, making it the largest rail network in the world. It is followed by the the Chinese rail network, which encompasses close to 110,000 rail kilometers. Railroads include railway routes that are open for public passenger and freight services and excludes dedicated private resource railways and parallel tracks. Rail infrastructure decline in the United StatesWhile the United States currently maintains the largest rail network globally, the length of the network has been declining for decades. In the early days of railroading, the country experienced a boom in building railway infrastructure. However, in recent decades the railroad industry has focused on consolidating and maintaining only the more profitable main lines. This has led to a closure of many smaller and especially branch lines. This trend is projected to continue, with the total network length predicted to fall to just under 130,000 kilometers by 2028. High-speed rail dominated by ChinaWhile the United States has the largest overall rail network, China boasts the largest highspeed rail network. In 2021 the country operated nearly 40,500 kilometers of highspeed rail lines. This made the Chinese network more than 11 times the size of its closest contender, Spain. Meanwhile the United States only operated 735 kilometers of high-speed rail lines.

美国铁路系统在2021年延伸近149,000公里，成为世界上最大的铁路网络。紧随其后的是中国的铁路网络，其铁路里程接近110,000公里。铁路包括对公众开放供客运和货运服务的铁路线路，不包括专用私人资源铁路和并行轨道。然而，尽管美国目前拥有全球最大的铁路网络，但其网络长度已数十年来持续减少。在铁路建设的初期，该国经历了基础设施建设的繁荣。然而，在最近几十年，铁路行业主要集中在整合和维护更为盈利的主干线路。这导致了许多较小尤其是分支线路的关闭。这一趋势预计将持续，预计到2028年，总网络长度将降至约130,000公里以下。中国拥有主导地位的高速铁路网络，尽管美国在整体铁路网络上位居首位，但中国在高速铁路网络上独占鳌头。到2021年，中国运营的高速铁路线路近40,500公里，其网络规模是西班牙最接近的竞争者的11倍之多。与此同时，美国仅运营了735公里的高速铁路线路。