Railways, passengers carried in North America
North America: Railways, passengers carried was 536 million passenger-km in 2021. ▲ Rising
Railways, passengers carried in North America, 1995–2021
Source: Railisa Database (UIC), International Union of Railways (UIC). Measured in million passenger-km.
Analysis
In 2021, railways, passengers carried in North America stood at 536 million passenger-km. That is the lowest value across all 27 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 91.6% on the previous year and down 96.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, railways, passengers carried in North America peaked at 18,860 million passenger-km in 2014 and was at its lowest, 536 million passenger-km, in 2021.
North America ranks 20th of 25 groups on this measure, in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 27 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 12,129 million passenger-km | 11,638 million passenger-km | 12,704 million passenger-km | 5 |
| 2000s | 14,321 million passenger-km | 13,003 million passenger-km | 16,859 million passenger-km | 10 |
| 2010s | 17,754 million passenger-km | 16,638 million passenger-km | 18,860 million passenger-km | 10 |
| 2020s | 3,440 million passenger-km | 536 million passenger-km | 6,344 million passenger-km | 2 |
Countries ranked near North America
- 17 United States 12,460 million passenger-km compare
- 18 Iran 11,231 million passenger-km compare
- 19 Netherlands 10,900 million passenger-km compare
- 20 Ukraine 10,696 million passenger-km compare
- 21 Türkiye 10,683 million passenger-km compare
- 22 Bangladesh 10,040 million passenger-km compare
- 23 Australia 9,328 million passenger-km compare
More infrastructure data for North America
- Mobile cellular subscriptions 434.00 million (2025)
- Mobile cellular subscriptions 112 per 100 people (2025)
- Fixed telephone subscriptions 89.00 million (2025)
- Fixed telephone subscriptions 23 per 100 people (2025)
- Fixed telephone subscriptions, per capita 0.2321 units per person (2025)
- Fixed telephone subscriptions, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Fixed telephone subscriptions, annual growth rate -4.3 % change on previous year (2025)
- Fixed telephone subscriptions, gaps filled 89.00 million (2025)
- Mobile cellular subscriptions, per capita 1.13 units per person (2025)
- Mobile cellular subscriptions, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is railways, passengers carried in North America?
- Railways, passengers carried in North America was 536 million passenger-km in 2021, according to Railisa Database (UIC), International Union of Railways (UIC).
- What is the highest railways, passengers carried recorded in North America?
- The highest recorded value was 18,860 million passenger-km in 2014.
- What is the lowest railways, passengers carried recorded in North America?
- The lowest recorded value was 536 million passenger-km in 2021.
- How does North America rank for railways, passengers carried?
- North America ranks 20th out of 25 groups with data for 2021.
- Is railways, passengers carried rising or falling in North America?
- Over the last ten years it is down 96.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this North America data come from?
- The figures come from Railisa Database (UIC), International Union of Railways (UIC), published as part of Railways, passengers carried (million passenger-km). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 27 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Passengers carried by railway are the number of passengers transported by rail multiplied by kilometers traveled.