The highest railway network density was registered in Czechia, with 123.2 metres of railway lines per km². Other EU countries with high densities included Belgium (119.2 m/km²), Germany (109.5 m/km²) and Luxembourg (104.8 m/km²).
The lowest railway network densities were found in Greece (14.0 m/km²) and Finland (19.4 m/km²). Low densities were also recorded in Sweden (26.8 m/km²), Estonia (27.2 m/km²), Portugal (27.8 m/km²), Latvia (28.9 m/km²) and Ireland (29.8 m/km²).
Source datasets: rail_if_line_tr, reg_area3 and enpe_reg_area3
Eurostat also released data about high-speed railway lines but as we don’t have any, we’re not included. Spain, France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands and Denmark are the only EU countries with dedicated high-speed railway lines – though hopefully Rail Baltica will one day see Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania added to the roster.
Other data also recorded that 13.7% of Latvia’s railways lines have been electrified. While the proportion is low by European Union standards, it is nevertheless larger that in Estonia (12%) and Lithuania (7.9%). Additionally it is recorded at 20.1% of Latvia’s total length of railway lines has two or more tracks.
And finally, to address the headline above, there were 624 level crossings in Latvia in 2023 (down from 645 in 2022).
Electrified railway lines, 2023 (% of total length of railway lines) Source: Eurostat (rail_if_line_tr)
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