World record for railway lines in the world

Here are a few interesting facts about the world's railway lines, from the highest, deepest, to the longest in the world, crossing two continents.

The United States has the largest rail network in the world with a total length of 250,000km.

Switzerland's Glacier Express is the slowest high-speed train in the world, taking up to 8 hours to complete a distance of 291 km. That's because the route of this train will pass through beautiful scenery from the highest point of the journey, the Oberalp Pass, to the Landwasser Viaduct railway bridge, which is 65m high and plunges straight down a tunnel going through the mountains. . This full-day journey passes through 91 tunnels and 291 bridges.

The steepest railway in the world is also located in Switzerland. Clinging to the mountainside, this train passes through tunnels carved into the mountain, creating a breathtaking sight.

Crossing two continents, the exciting route from Porto in Portugal to Singapore is the longest you can travel by train alone. This distance is about 16,000 km long and takes 12 days to complete.

The longest direct railway in the world is the Trans-Siberian Railway from Moscow to Vladivostok. This route covers a distance of 9,289 km with 8 time zones and takes 166 hours to complete. This train has 142 stops, passing through 87 cities and towns.

The Gotthard Base Iron Tunnel in Switzerland is not only the longest but also the deepest railway tunnel in the world with a length of 57km and a maximum depth of 2,450m.

The Middleton Railway is the oldest railway in the world still in operation. Founded in 1758, the Middleton Railway in Leeds, England is a heritage railway today but it was originally opened mainly to transport coal. In 1812, it was the first commercial railway to successfully use steam locomotives. Passengers only started in 1969.

Shinjuku Station in Tokyo, Japan is the busiest station in the world with more than 3.6 million passengers passing through every day (before the Covid-19 pandemic). This station has 200 exits and is made up of 5 smaller terminals. Europe's busiest station is Gare du Nord in Paris, France, serving 214 million passengers a year while Penn station in New York City is North America's busiest, with thousands of people passing through every 90 second.

The Qinghai-Tibet Railway is the highest railway in the world. The highest point of this railway line and also the highest point in the world that a train can reach is Tanggula Pass, at 5,071m above sea level.

There are more than 20 countries in the world that do not have a railway network, such as the island nations of Tonga or the smallest countries in the world like San Marino, or some countries such as Oman, Qatar and Kuwait. Countries like Malta and Cyprus used to have railways but were closed due to financial incompetence. Iceland also does not have a public rail system mainly due to its harsh climate.