The 8 Longest Trains In The World

For many years, train travel has been a reliable means of getting around cities, within states, between countries, and even transporting commodities. This is due to the fact that railway transportation is safe, quick, and adapts to changing circumstances. 

One of the numerous advantages of a train is that it can usually transport a large number of passengers; this implies that trains are usually long. A train’s length can be measured in wagons (for bulk goods like coal and iron ore) or meters (for normal freight). 

The list of the world’s longest trains, as well as everything you need to know about them, will be discussed in this article.

1. BHT Billion Trains (Australia)

BHT Billion is a worldwide mining corporation based in Australia that specializes in the extraction of petroleum and metals.

The company owns a long railway with 268 carriages and a total weight of 43,000 tons that can transport 24,200 tons from the mines. 

Two SD70Ace locomotives are in the train’s head, with two more remote-controlled locomotives in the middle acting as assistants. 

Previously, the firm operated trains with 336 cars and a length of 9,843 feet. This train has the capacity to transport 44,400 tons of iron ore.

With 682 cars, BHT’s longest record-breaking train was 23,950 feet long. This world-record-breaking train originally carried 82,000 metric tons of cargo, making it the world’s heaviest.

2. Union Pacific Trains (US) 

The Union Pacific Railroad is the largest railroad system in the United States, with over 32,000 lines and 8,500 locomotives operating in over 23 states. It is one of the world’s most powerful corporations. 

One of its longest trains drew 296 container cars in 2010. This train is towed by nine diesel-electric engines that are dispersed throughout the 18,000-foot train. About 618 double-stacked containers were transported aboard the train.

3. Sishen-Saldanha Railway Trains (South Africa)

The Sishen-Saldanha railway line in South Africa is Africa’s longest ore export route. With trains that are 13,451 feet long, this export line features some of Africa’s longest trains.

This 535-mile ore export route connects the mines surrounding Shishen with the port of Saldanha Bay in the Western Cape.

4. Daqin Railway Trains (China)

This is the longest carrying railway line in North China, and it is located in China.

Daqin is named after Datong and Qinhuangdao, the two terminal cities. The Daqin railway trains, which have roughly 210 wagons and a length of 10,499 feet, are China’s longest iron ore trains.

These trains transport coal from Datong, the mining capital, to Qinhuangdao.

5. Carajas Railway Trains (Brazil)

Carajas railway trains are one of Brazil’s longest bulk trains, owned by Vale, a Brazilian multinational firm that engages in metal mining.

It runs for 892 kilometers, connecting the world’s largest open-pit iron ore mine at Carajás, southern Pará, to the Ponta da Madeira Port in So Luis, Maranhao. Each year, it transports 120 million tons of ore and 350,000 passengers. 

Approximately 35 trains run on the lines at the same time, including one of the world’s longest trains in regular service, with 330 cars and a length of 9843 feet.

6. The Iron trains of Mauritania 

They are among the world’s longest trains, traveling hundreds of kilometers into the Sahara desert to supply iron ore. 

Mauritania’s iron trains are among the world’s longest, measuring close to 8202 feet (2.5 kilometers).

Their voyage spans 652 kilometers from Zouerat, the country’s largest town in the north, noted for its iron ore mining industry, to the port city of Nouadhibou in the west.

The journey, which passes through the Sahara desert, can take as little as 16 hours if the train is empty, or as long as 20 hours if the cars are full.

7. Rio Tinto Trains (Australia)

Rio Tinto’s rail network, which serves 15 mines, is the largest privately-owned rail network in Australia. 

Rio Tinto made history on June 14, 2019, when it completed the shift to fully automated operation of its 1500-kilometer railway in Western Australia’s Pilbara area, becoming the world’s first heavy-haul railway to do so. 

AutoHaul, dubbed the “world’s largest robot” by Rio Tinto, is capable of running up to 50 automated and unmanned trains at any time.

Two to three locomotives are required for each 240-wagon, 7864-foot-long consist, which transports more than 29, 000 tonnes of iron ore from the company’s 16 mines to the ports of Dampier and Cape Lambert on an average 800-kilometer, 40-hour journey

8. The Ghan

The Ghan is an Australian experiential tourist passenger train that runs along the Adelaide–Darwin rail route between Adelaide, Alice Springs, and Darwin.

Journey Beyond Rail Expeditions operates the train, which has a scheduled trip time of 53 hours 15 minutes, including longer stops for travelers to participate in off-train experiences (1,851 mi). One of the world’s great passenger trains, the Ghan, has been described. 

The complete train pulls an average of 26 steel carriages, but it formerly carried 99 carriages totaling around 3,934 feet in length.

The name of the service is an abbreviation of its previous moniker, The Afghan Express. One of its crews is said to have given it the moniker in 1923.

Some speculate that the train’s name is a nod to Afghan camel drivers who arrived in Australia in the late 1800s to assist British colonists in finding a means to get around.