RAIL GLOBE

Rail Globe presents a world of railroads and stations—nothing else—showing the interconnectedness of one of the most enduring forms of modern transportation. Today, rail is perhaps more important than ever, offering a less carbon-intensive and more efficient form of travel, especially when compared to cars, trucks, and planes. But not all rail is created equal. By reducing the world to its rail, spatial patterns, and inequalities are revealed. These, combined with the stories below, provide examples of how rail relates to our broader social conditions for better or for worse. Rail is important to the future of the planet, but it must be done right.

Explore the map to see how rail is spread across the globe.

Rail and Labor

People are essential to railroads, and therefore to have good rail, it is necessary to have good people who are well compensated. The widespread practice of devolution and privitization of many national railways is a threat to worker power. Historically, across the globe, rail unions have been powerful members of the labor movement, particularly in the United States, India, and the United Kingdom. More recently, rail labor unions have bravely undertaken large actions to improve rail safety and their working conditions. In January, 2026, Spain's largest train driver's union called a three-day strike in response to recent high speed derailments, demanding the implementation of stricter rail safety measures. More recently, five unions representing commuter rail on Long Island, struck to demand wage increases to keep up with the pace of inflation.

An Integrated Timetable

Switzerland is known for having one of the most comprehensive and reliable passenger rail systems in the world. The reliability of Swiss rail is due to the integrated national timetable, which governs across transit modalities. Train schedules are standardized, and also integrated with other forms of transit, such as buses or trams. The timetable is managed by an independent government agency independent of transit providers. Switzerland's railroad success is also enabled by geography: the nation is small, dense, and mountainous, meaning where rail can be built is heavily limited.

Read more about the Swiss integrated timetable: Jokteur

Tren Maya

Categorized as an environmental catastrophe, the construction of the Tren Maya railway represents how railroads can negatively impact local environments and the people that live in them, sacrificed at the interests of global capital. Tren Maya was pitched by the Mexican government in 2018 as a method of drawing more tourists to the area. However, locals righly feared the railroad would open up region to resource extraction and land privitization—threatening Indigenous livelihoods and communal land ownership practices. The volume of tourists projected to use Tren Maya would overwhelm local infrastructure at the expense of the local population. The railroad itself was constructed through portions of a biosphere reserve, prompting the deforestation of over 2 million trees.

Read more about Tren Maya: EJAtlas

Electrification

The electrification of railways is essential for their decarbonization, and is far more efficient than the use of diesel. Electrification is not new technology, and has been widely utilized in several large railway networks. For example, India's massive rail network is over 99% electrified, and the country has been electrifying its rail since the early 20th century. Conversely, of the 220,044 km of the the United States railway network is less than 1% electrified.

Read more about the electrification of Indian rail: EJAtlas

Errata

The United States and Australia both have sparse passenger rail service but are used widely for freight transport.

China has greatly expanded its regional and high-speed rail networks over the past 30 years.

Narrow gauge rail is used to transport peat in Ireland.

The railway network of Argentina peaked in the 1950s, and since then has been rocked by massive closures and the prioritization of a road transport.

What this map shows: Global passenger rail stops and global railways, which include passenger, freight, narrow-gauge, and disused railways.

These data were collected from OpenStreetMap, a crowd-sourced source of global map data. As such, they are not comprehensive, though for the purposes of the map provide a general portrait of global rail. There are also some oddities and inconsistencies, and that add flavor. For example, peat railroads can be seen in Ireland. More information can be found in the how this map was made section of the site.

What this map does not show: Currently, the map excludes light rail, streetcars, metro systems, and other forms of local transit. These may be added in the future.