Rail transport statistics for five different countries in 2015

The table compares five nations regarding their rail transport usage and cargo capacity in 2015. Overall, China stood out as the most active country for rail passengers, whereas Canada focused significantly more on cargo transport than on passenger services.

China reported the highest number of people using rail transport at 34 million, followed by India with 21 million. In contrast, Canada had the lowest passenger usage, with only 0.9 million people. Regarding passenger kilometers per head of population, China again led the group with 2180 kilometers, followed by India at 1487. Malaysia and the UAE showed similar figures for this metric, at 870 and 880 kilometers respectively, while Canada remained the lowest at 90 kilometers.

In terms of cargo carried, Canada recorded the highest volume at 34.20 billion tons, despite its low passenger numbers. Malaysia followed with 29.2 billion tons, while China and the UAE transported 28.01 and 24.8 billion tons, respectively. India recorded the lowest cargo volume among the five nations, at 21.05 billion tons. Overall, the data highlights a clear disparity between passenger-heavy rail systems in Asia and the cargo-focused rail network in Canada.