The first railway in what was then County of Dahomey was opened in 1906 between the Port of Cotonou and Ouidah, 45km. with metre gauge. The railway was constructed in stages to reach Parakou 437km from Cotonou by 1936. Railway to Parakou was the only trackage, until the reopening of the short stretch from Cotonou to the Capital City of Porto Novo, in 1999.

Benin Railway has a total of 578 km (359 mi) of single track, 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 3/8 in). Benin Railway share railway trackage with adjacent countries, as Niger possesses no railways, and Nigeria, Togo and Burkina Faso, do have railway networks,but no connecting services. In 2006, an Indian proposal appeared, which aims to link the railways of Benin with Niger and Burkina Faso. Benin will be a participant in the AfricaRail project.

In 2005, a extension of the line was proposed, from its northern terminus of Parakou to Dosso in Niger and from there to Niamey, Niger's largest city. To date, nothing concrete has emerged from this proposal, although in 2010 a further study was initiated for a shorter version of this line, reaching as far as Dosso.

The Bermuda Railway was a 21.7-mile (34.9 km) common carrier line that operated in Bermudabetween October 31, 1931 – May 1, 1948. In its 17 years of existence, the railway provided frequent passenger and freight service from St. George to Somerset and Sandys Parish.

Construction and maintenance proved to be exceedingly costly, as the Bermuda Railway was built along a coastal route , extensive trestles and bridgework were necessary. Ten percent of the railway was elevated on 33 separate structures of timber or steel construction spanning the ocean which made rot and corrosion a significant problem. Introduction of private automobiles to the island after World War II, did ultimately doom the railway.

The Ferrocarril de Antofagasta a Bolivia was first railway in Boliva, opening in 1894 from Antofagasta, Chile to Oruro, Boliva 480km.

The passenger services are reliable and the Andina system are of high quality. The Andina has cross border connections with Argentina and Chile, and connections with Peru by ferry across Lake Titicaca. The connection with Argentina is only by freightand two the connections with Chile, one is freight only, the other passengers and freight. The Oriental system has freight only connections with Argentina and Brazil.

Bosnia Railway opened in 1878, (1435mm) gauge line between Banja Luka to Prijedor constructed following the opening of the 96km line Srpski Brod to Doboj, by the Ottoman Empire. Subsequent a narrow 760mm gauge Austro-Hungarian Empire construction, the network peak by the end of the First World War. Many of the narrow gauged tracks were converted to standard (1435mm) gauge during the reconstruction of the then Yugoslavia following the Second World War, and the remaining narrow gauge lines were closed.

The present day network has international connections with Croatia and Serbia.

The Bechuanaland Railway opened in 1897 between Mafeking to Bulawayo, a 780km railway of which 650km in the territory of Botswana. The railway was built to connect the British colony of Cape Province with the then new protectorate of Rhodesia.

The railway remains, the only line ever built in the country. However, in 2005, a proposal emerged for a new line to link Botswana Railways directly with those of Zambia.

The original Mafikeng-Bulawayo line continues service, although its importance as a through freight route has declined with the opening of more direct routes between South Africa and Zimbabwe.

Passenger service, jointly operated with Zimbabwe Railways, operates 3 times a week between Francistown and Bulawayo in Zimbabwe. Luxury cruise train service the international connection en route from South Africa to the Victoria Falls.

The 1500km Trans Kalahari Railway is planned to run from Lobatse to Walvis Bay in Namibia; while a separate 1100km railway will run from Serule via Zimbabwe to a new port in the Matutuine district of Mozambique.

In 1845 the Brazilian Railway was opened between Fragoso/Magé near Rio de Janeiro to Praia da Estrela at Guanabara Bay, a totalof 14.5km. The 1600mm was chosen gauge standard by Brazil's ruling country, Portugal.

The Minas Gerais Mining Railways, were conytructed with 760mm gauge and many lines survives as tourist railway. The Amapá State Railway was constructed to 1440mm gauge. New railways are being constructed with (1435mm) gauge for urban light rail projects. Proposals for new high speed rails and the possibility of converting some or all of the 1600mm gauge rails is being studied. The 1600mm gauge networks are intact are being rehabilitated, and some new lines constructed.

Privatisation of the national railway network are now predominantly freight only and passenger services operate mainly in urban areas along with a few long distance railway services. Major cities have metro systems or under construction. Traditional tramway systems have with a few exceptions disappeared, however new light rail systems are under construction.

International railway connections with Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay are closed. At Uruguiana in Rio Grande do Sul, an intermodal container facility allows frieght traffic to Brazil and Argentina.

The State railway company was formed in 1885, thereafter the Bulgaria Railway opened on 7th November, 1866, from Varna to Rousse, built with 1435mm gauge.

The first railway "Abidjan-Niger Railway" in Haute Volta of French West Africa opened in 1934, with the arrival at Bobo-Dioulasso of the metre gauge railway from Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire. The line was extended in stages to Ouagadougou, which it reached in 1954.

The two countries gained independence in 1960, the railway was jointly administered by the two governments. In 1994, the entire railway was awarded to a private operator, Sitarail. The line from Abidjan to Ouagadougou (about 517km of which lies in Burkina Faso) remains the only operational line in the country.

The British Colony Railway of Lower Burma opened 163 miles (262 km) railway services in 1877 between Rangoon to Prome. British Colony Railway development a network of almost 2000 miles (3200 km) in Lower and Upper Burma and the Burma Mines Railway, a 2 ft (610 mm) gauge mineral railway some 50 miles (80 km)in Namtu opened in 1906.

The Japanese invasion of Second World War caused considerable damage to the British Colony Railway network. Reconstruction instituted during the warcreated the infamous, "Thailand Burma Railway using the labour of "Allied Prisoners of War", many of whom lost their lives.

During Allies Forces retaking the country left 1085km of trackage remained operational. The costly "Death Railway" of Thailand was permanently closed, but the remainder of the Burmese Railway network was rebuilt. In the 1970s further construction of new lines and by 2000 a railway network of some 5000km was reported.

A study has recently been completed for a new 690km standard (1435mm) gauge line to link the Capital City of Bujumbura, with Kigali, Rwanda and Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania.