MISC | Ten Longest Continuous Rail Journeys on Earth.

[Yardmaster]

perhaps, in particular, my use of the word "continuous" has been misunderstood.

Let me put it this way ...

There exists, on this planet, two points between which it is possible to travel by rail, which are farther apart, as measured along the line travelled, than any other points between which you could likewise travel. "Travel by rail" means what you would normally expect, but you might get off one train and board another, provided you did not leave the station premises. Freight train, passenger train? I don't mind.

So ... I suspect the longest "continuous" journey is between somewhere in north-western Europe and somewhere in south-east Asia.

The western end of this 'longest continuous route" is perhaps in Scotland (at Thurso or Wick), maybe in Norway (at Narvik) or maybe in Spain or Portugal. This is a matter of measurement.

The eastern end is where? Vietnam? Singaore? Eventually.

There exist nine other pairs of points ...

There are other lengthy routes isolated from or partly connected to the above. In my country, Mt. Isa to Geraldton or Mt. Isa to Darwin is about as far as you can go. I've travelled over 3,600 km from here by rail; from Mt. Isa you can travel over 8,000 km. Sure, you'll have to change trains- and gauges- a few times.


Similar situations? North America, South America, Africa and South Asia.

[Trainman Dave]

Do you permit the use of Subway/Metro/Underground to cross larges cities such as Moscow, Paris or London?

[hix]

The western end of this 'longest continuous route" is perhaps in Scotland (at Thurso or Wick), maybe in Norway (at Narvik) or maybe in Spain or Portugal. This is a matter of measurement.

I think you cannot travel by train from Norway or Sweden to Finland. I'm not sure of this but I can imagin that in northern Scandinavia there's not much demand for passenger service anyway. I'm looking for detailed maps but perhaps local under-used lines will not be shown. Is there any Scandinavian who knows more?

On this map there's no railroad between Sweden and Finland. The blue line is a busline.



And I think between Finland and Russia there must be no railroads either. So I suppose we have to start in Scotland or in Iberia.

http://www.scantours.com/Maps/Scanra...candinavia.htm

[Coccodrillo]

http://bueker.net/trainspotting/maps...peninsulas.php

http://bueker.net/trainspotting/maps_finland.php

A railway link seems to exist, but only for freight trains.

Between Finland and Russia there are also passenger trains. Both use 1520/1524 mm gauge.

[hix]

Very cool site! You are right; it seems to be possible to travel from norway to China by rail.

[Coccodrillo]

It is possible.

Recently a freight service China-Russia-Europe has been created. I think there are 2 trains each month for testing purposes. Thus it is possible to go to Lisbon to somewhere in China changing gauge 3 times.

[Yardmaster]

Originally Posted by Coccodrillo

http://bueker.net/trainspotting/maps...peninsulas.php

http://bueker.net/trainspotting/maps_finland.php

A railway link seems to exist, but only for freight trains.

Between Finland and Russia there are also passenger trains. Both use 1520/1524 mm gauge.

My rail atlas certainly shows such a link. Whether it's still there, and whether there is any passenger service is another matter.

The line runs around the "top" of the Gulf of Bothnia, between Sweden & Finland. I've just had cataract surgery, been converted from short-sighted to long-sighted, and I'm hard pressed to read fine text at the moment ... but it runs fron Oulu to just north of Lu (?)lea ?

[Yardmaster]

Originally Posted by Trainman Dave

Do you permit the use of Subway/Metro/Underground to cross larges cities such as Moscow, Paris or London?

Certainly!

I'd assume such terminals are connected by surface rail, anyway.

[Coccodrillo]

Yes. From Oulu to Lautiosaari is electrified (25 kV 50 Hz), then to Haparanda without electrification. The line has commercial passenger service. Then, from Harapanda to Boden (north of Lulea) there is a freight-only diesel line. At Harapanda there is the "break-of-gauge". All railway lines in this region are single-track.

[Saigoneseguy]

I hope when the Vietnam-Cambodia-Thailand railways is completed, then the furthest destination could be SIngapore.

[Yardmaster]

So ... the question is ... which is further from Saigon/ Ho Chi Minh city by rail ...

1. Bodo, Norway?
2. Bergen, Norway?
3. Stavenger, Norway?
4. Thurso, Scotland?
5. Wick, Scotland?
6. Lisbon, Portugal?

(I'd hoped by now someone would hop in and tell me the exact distances!)

Second Prize:

Grootfontein Nambia to somewhere in Uganda?

Third Prize:

Near Cancun, Mexico, to somewhere in Canada (Halifax or on the Great Slave Lake).

Fourth Prize:

Patagonia to ... The Amazon?

Fifth Prize:

Mt. Isa (Queensland) to Darwin (or Geraldton)

[isaidso]

Wouldn't the trip from Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada be in there some where? That's a greater distance than the Atlantic Ocean is wide. It is one ticket on VIA Rail on 'The Ocean' to Montreal where you transfer to a different train destined for Toronto. There, transfer to 'the Canadian' which takes you all the way to the Pacific. It used to be possible to by-pass Toronto and travel directly west from Montreal, but this service called 'the Super Continental' was abolished in 1990. Very sad.

If we are talking continuous on the same train, then Toronto to Vancouver surely is still farther than the Namibia - Uganda trip. It is 4,452 km and takes 3 days and 3 nights to complete.

The second place winner seems really odd if you look at a map. Namibia and Uganda are fairly close to each other compared to Halifax - Vancouver, or Toronto - Vancouver. The only way it is possibly farther is if the train track detours all over southern Africa making the trip 5 times longer than it should be.

[invincible]

Mt Isa to Darwin is also a massive U-shaped trip, detouring via Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Alice Springs.

[isaidso]

That makes alot of sense for Australia. I imagine no one is going to do this trip unless they are sight seeing. How many kilometres is it? It may well be longer than the trip from Atlantic to Pacific in Canada. The Canadian rail journey is 6300 km.

[Yardmaster]

Originally Posted by invincible

Mt Isa to Darwin is also a massive U-shaped trip, detouring via Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Alice Springs.

No need to travel through Melbourne to make this trip!

[miamicanes]

Miami to Seattle would be more than 4,000 miles via Amtrak. In theory, it's only ~3660 miles by car, but due to the way the train would have to go (Miami to New York, New York to Chicago, Chicago to Seattle) would add at least another 500 miles... maybe more. Sadly, for what it would cost to make the trip with a private room ($1,400, ~3 day trip), you could fly from Miami to London, spend the weekend partying and staying at an expensive hotel, then fly from London to Seattle... and end up spending less money & beating the train by a few hours. But still, it would be a fairly cool trip. I'd love to at least do Chicago->San Francisco or Chicago -> Seattle someday.

[invincible]

Originally Posted by Yardmaster

No need to travel through Melbourne to make this trip!

It makes the detour longer :P

[redstone]

Originally Posted by Yardmaster

[LIST=1][*]Thurso (Scotland) to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) Vietnam ... at least 15,000 km
.

There's railway route between Singapore and Bangkok, Hatyai and Kanchanaburi

[jkjkjk]

Using europan train timatable system (include parts of asia) i get these:

Vila Real Santo Antonio
Faro(P)
Lisboa Oriente
Hendaye
Lille Europe
Bruxelles-Midi
Köln Hbf
Warszawa Wschodnia
Brest Central
Minsk(BY)

58 h. 58 min, 4600 km

Minsk(BY)
Nowoalekseewka
Taiga
Ulan-Ude Pass
Djida
Bejing

230 h. 52 min, 9714 km

chinese timetalbe as far i can understand:

Bejing
Kunming

38 h. 40 min 3163 km

form vietnamese timetable:

Bejing
Hanoi

39 h. 54 min 2967 km

Hanoi
Saigon

41h 1762 km

[himbaman]

there are, in fact, many trains on the line between Helsinki and Saint- Petersburg in Russia, and also between sweden and finland. you can see these lines if you zoom in on the maps here: http://www.map24.be

Originally Posted by hix

I think you cannot travel by train from Norway or Sweden to Finland. I'm not sure of this but I can imagin that in northern Scandinavia there's not much demand for passenger service anyway. I'm looking for detailed maps but perhaps local under-used lines will not be shown. Is there any Scandinavian who knows more?

On this map there's no railroad between Sweden and Finland. The blue line is a busline.



And I think between Finland and Russia there must be no railroads either. So I suppose we have to start in Scotland or in Iberia.

http://www.scantours.com/Maps/Scanra...candinavia.htm