In 2003 2.2 trillion kilometres were travelled by train passengers. Of this total a fifth were in India, a fifth were in China, and a tenth were in Japan.
The world average for the number of kilometres travelled by people per year by train is 358 kilometres each. The unevenness of the real distribution of kilometres travelled is highlighted by the fact that 64 territories (out of 200) do not have a rail system. At the other extreme, an average of 1876 kilometres are travelled by train each year by every person who lives in Japan.