Sri Lanka: Rail lines (total route-km)

Key figures

Since 1995 it is up 4.76% from 1,491 in 1995 (0.19% a year on average, compounded). The World Bank has no value for 11 of the years in between; the chart leaves those gaps open rather than joining across them.

What the numbers say

In 2019, Sri Lanka's rail lines (total route-km) did not change 0% on 2018 (from 1,562 to 1,562).

Across the 9 yearly changes before that (1996 to 2018), the average change was +0.8% and a typical year strayed about 3.2% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.2 standard deviations below that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 9.2% in 2013 and the biggest yearly fall was 1.9% in 1999. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2011 to 2019 the straight-line trend is upward, about 62.05 a year. A straight line explains 82% of the movement over 8 observed years.

Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.

Closest to Sri Lanka in the 2019 ranking

• Pakistan — 1st of 6: 7,791
• Indonesia — 2nd of 6: 5,483
• Bangladesh — 3rd of 6: 2,877
• Bosnia and Herzegovina — 5th of 6: 1,018
• Montenegro — 6th of 6: 250

What this measures

The total length of rail line in the country operated for passenger transport, goods transport, or both.

Limitations: Data for transport sectors are not always internationally comparable. Unlike for demographic statistics, national income accounts, and international trade data, the collection of infrastructure data has not been "internationalized". The data from UIC is based on voluntary reporting by railway companies, and can show drastic increases or decreases for some of the years due to lack of reporting by some of the companies in that country.

All 14 values

Rail lines (total route-km) in nearby economies

• Bangladesh — 2,877 (2019)
• India — 68,103 (2021)

More infrastructure data for Sri Lanka

• Fixed telephone subscriptions — 1.58 million (2024)
• Fixed telephone subscriptions (per 100 people) — 6.85 (2024)
• Air transport, registered carrier departures worldwide — 24,228 (2023)
• Air transport, freight (million ton-km) — 278.5 (2023)
• Air transport, passengers carried — 3.87 million (2023)
• Mobile cellular subscriptions — 30.62 million (2024)
• Mobile cellular subscriptions (per 100 people) — 132.55 (2024)
• Industrial design applications, nonresident, by count — 42 (2024)
• Industrial design applications, resident, by count — 171 (2024)

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Questions people ask

What is Sri Lanka's rail lines (total route-km)?

1,562 in 2019, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1995?

It is up 4.76% from 1,491 in 1995 (0.19% a year on average, compounded). The highest value was 1,567 in 2015 and the lowest 1,148 in 2012.

Is the latest change in rail lines (total route-km) unusual for Sri Lanka?

In 2019, Sri Lanka's rail lines (total route-km) did not change 0% on 2018 (from 1,562 to 1,562). Across the 9 yearly changes before that (1996 to 2018), the average change was +0.8% and a typical year strayed about 3.2% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.2 standard deviations below that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

Where does this data come from?

The World Bank's World Development Indicators, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Railisa Database, International Union of Railways (UIC), uri: https://uic-stats.uic.org/.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator IS.RRS.TOTL.KM, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Railisa Database, International Union of Railways (UIC), uri: https://uic-stats.uic.org/ Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.

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