So, You grab a coffee and get on the morning train to find yourself at your office desk an hour later. This is the everyday routine for millions of people across the world. But there are countries where this simply isn't possible – they have no trains!
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| Photo by Derek Story on Unsplash |
01. ICELAND:
If you ever decide to visit the land of fire and ice, geysers, volcanoes, elves, and horses with cute bangs (really?), don't expect to travel across the island in a train; there's no public railway network in the country. In fact, there were some attempts to build railways here in the early 1900s to connect Reykjavik, the capital city, to Selfoss, the largest town in South Iceland. But they decided roads would be sufficient. The more successful project was the railway within the City of ReykjavÃk, where two locomotives transported rocks from the quarry to the harbor. You can now see them at local museums. There was also a functioning farm railway at a dairy farm on the outskirts of ReykjavÃk in the 1930s. The train was used to carry goods around the property but was abandoned some years later. So, why doesn’t Iceland have railroads?
There are three reasons: the harsh climate, the small population, and their love of cars, which are the number one means of transportation in the country. Since there are more and more tourists coming to Iceland, the road from the airport is getting busier and busier. So an idea has been introduced to build a high-speed Lava Express connecting KeflavÃk International Airport and ReykjavÃk. It's still unclear if it'll get enough funding though.
02. BHUTAN:
Halfway across the world is the country that measures its “gross national happiness”, and whose temperatures are much higher than in Iceland. Still, there's no railway network in Bhutan. This time, it all boils down to money. If you look at a map of Bhutan, you'll see mostly mountains and hills. Building railways here would mean digging tunnels and constructing high bridges. That's one super-expensive project. Plus, the nearly 1 million people living in the country aren't evenly spread out, and most of them are constantly migrating. So the money invested in the construction and maintenance of the railroad wouldn't pay off. Just like in Iceland, there are plans to build a railway network connecting southern Bhutan to India, but funding is still an open question.
03. ANDORRA:
Andorra is a microstate located in the Pyrenees mountains between France and Spain. You'll have to arrive at one of the local ski resorts with all your gear by car or bus from neighboring countries. But don't let “micro” trick you into thinking its small size is to blame for its lack of railways. Even Vatican City, the smallest country in the world, has its railway, which is less than a mile long. In fact, Andorra and Bhutan have one thing in common – mountainous terrain. That's why there aren't, and never have been, railways here. In 2004, there was a plan to build an elevated cable metro system called 'Metro Aeri’, but it was never brought to life.
04. LIBYA:
Libya is one of the countries on the list that used to have a railway network but is now train-free. The first 250 miles of railways were built here by the Kingdom of Italy back in the early 1900s. By 1965, the lines had been taken to pieces. At the moment, a new railway line is being constructed to connect the largest cities of Ras Ajdir and Tripoli. But the process is slow because of funding issues.
05. CYPRUS:
If you ever visit Cyprus, make sure to stop by at the Railway Museum in the village of Evrychou. You’ll see models of the stations, wagons, photos, and other things that prove railways did exist here but are now just history. Fun fact: future Prime Minister, Winston Churchill himself, visited Cyprus and wrote that railway transport should be developed on the island. In 1915, the official opening ceremony of the 75-mile long track took place in Evrychou. But, there was basically no cargo traffic, so the line was shut down just a few years later. The same happened to other railway lines. Roads took over, and train stations were converted into police stations and other municipal buildings.
06. MALTA:
Here’s another island state in the Mediterranean, and another great vacation spot where you can take a boat trip, ride a double-decker bus, or rent a car – but won't find any trains. There used to be one railway line here from Valetta to Mdina, but it wasn't economically viable and shut down in 1931. You can find some remnants of it as you explore the island. Now, public buses in Malta are pretty crowded and the roads are busy, so a railway probably wouldn't hurt. The only thing is that building trains above the ground would create too much noise pollution, and Malta is densely populated, with one town flowing into the other. Building underground would be too expensive and not eco-friendly. I don't know about you, but all those beautiful islands make me want to go on vacation. Just wondering – do you prefer to stay somewhere closer to home or do you mind flying long hours to see some cool places far away? Let me know in the comments below.
07. KUWAIT:
Unlike many countries on the list where building a railway system would be simply too expensive, Kuwait doesn't seem to have the money problem. The nation is super rich in oil, and maybe it's that abundance that made cars so popular here. There've never been, and aren't currently, any railways here. But there are plans to build a 1,200-mile golf Railway to connect Kuwait to Oman, and a Metropolitan Rapid Transit System to help unload the busy streets.
08. SURINAME:
One of the smallest countries in South America, Suriname, has an interesting history when it comes to railways. During the gold rush, a lot of people came here in search of easy money. So, at the beginning of the 20th century, a single-track meter gauge rail-line called Lawa Railway was supposed to be built to make the goldfields more reachable. When it turned out they weren't as rich in gold as people were hoping, they stopped the construction of the line.
There are now plans to build a new line, but they still haven't started. There are more countries across the world where you won't currently be able to catch a train: Guinea-Bissau, Rwanda, Somalia, the Polynesian state of Tonga, and East Timor in Southeast Asia, just to name a few. In most cases, railway construction is just too expensive at the moment and most likely wouldn't be profitable, even if it were built. If you love trains and can't imagine living in a place without them, here's a treat for you – these countries have the largest rail networks in the world!
The USA has the longest total amount of rails– over 150,000 miles of tracks. About 80% are freight lines, and a lot of the railroads are operated by private companies. The national passenger network, Amtrak, has routes to over 500 destinations in 46 states.
China is number two in the world when it comes to railroad tracks. It has over 80,000 miles. Trains are the most popular and important means of transportation in the country. In 2018 alone, around 3 billion passengers and about as many tons of freight, traveled by trains that are operated by state-owned China Railway Corporation.
Russia, the world's largest country, comes third in railroad length, and its tracks run for over 50,000 miles. Russian Railways is the monopolist that carries around 1 billion passengers and tons of freight per year. Twelve principal lines connect Europe to Asia and the Far East. The most famous of them is the Trans-Siberian railway, which connects Moscow to Vladivostok, and is 5,700 miles long. That’s one epic journey! Hope all this train talk is keeping you on the right track. I couldn’t help myself.
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