The country with Europe's biggest train network - 6,000 stations and 25k miles of railway

Railways are the lifeline of a nation and have played an indispensible role in humanity's propserity and growth for three centuries. They are the arteries through which goods, people and ideas flow - often over vast and arid landscapes.

They shape economies, crisscross countries and connect cultures and societies. Nowhere is this more evident than in Europe.

In a list of countries with the biggest railway network, at least two in the top 10 are in Europe. At the top of that global list is the . The US has 137,000 miles of railway, according to data provided by the International Union of Railways.

The country's network is made up of a complex system of private and public railroads. It has the seven largest railraods, known Class I railroads, operating over 90per cent of the country's freight rail network.

is in distant second place with 93,000m, of which 66pc are electrified. This is much higher than America's total, which hovers at a meagre 0.92pc with just over 1,200m being electrified.

According to , China has the fastest growing railway network in the world, with over 6,200m of new track laid each year. Russia has the third largest railway network in the world with a total length of 65,000m. This vast country has the longest railway network in the world, with trains running an impressive distance of 5,500m from Moscow to Vladivostok.

In fourth place is India with 57,000m. India has the world's largest passenger railway network, carrying over 23 million passengers each day. In fifth is Canada with 31,000m and the longest railway network in North America - Vancouver to Halifax - which is a distance of over 3,700m.

In sixth place is Germany, which has Europe's largest railway network. Germany has 25,000m of railway and has the densest network in Europe with more than 6,000 train stations.

According to the International Union of Railways, Europe's second latest network is in France, which has a total length of 18,000m. The European country has the densest railway network in Western Europe, with over 30,000 train stations.

France ranks 10th in the world when it comes to the total length of its railway. Ahead of them is Argentina in seveth place, followed by Australia and Brazil.