Which is the longest route/train travel possible?

Which is the longest route/train travel possible?

12/20/2021 6:18:11 AM

Portugal – Singapore is now possible according to this reddit post.

From Portugal to Singapore by train

12/13/2016 7:28:11 PM

While the pair Lagos, Portugal and Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam might be the right one, it looks like above suggested route is a diversion. Originally I hoped to find a shorter route in the far south but this didn’t work out, but following the silk route one should be able to find a shorter route.

Unfortunately it is hard to give an optimal answer. It might be doable to find the fastest connection between these two cities (if you know which cities you will pass definitely), but it is harder to find the shortest such route in terms of distance.

I’ll here give an outline of the fastest journey along the silk road. This however is far from the shortest such route. Just note that it would be much shorter to go from France to Switzerland, Austria, Hungary and via Ukraine to Russia without going up to Moscow (but going via Voronezh to Samara).

  • Lagos
  • Tunes
  • Lisbon
  • Hendaye
  • Paris
  • Stuttgart
  • Berlin
  • Moscow
  • Astana
  • Urumqi
  • Chongqing
  • Nanning
  • Hanoi
  • Saigon

It should be clear that in Europe this is not short but fast. The main difference to above answer is going from Moscow to Astana and onwards to Urumqi and Nanning (via, for example Chongqing).

The trip lengths are (I just state them for the most important changes to the other answer):

  • Moscow-Astana: ~57 hours
  • Astana-Urumqi: ~42 hours
  • Urumqi-Chongqing: ~44 hours
  • Chongqing-Nanning: ~22 hours
  • Nanning-Hanoi: ~11 hours

Comparing just the time spent on trains (without times needed to change; I think a few of the trains involved in my answer don’t run daily, so figuring out this would add some more difficulty), with nsn’s answer it takes around 190 hours (not counting the subway ride in Beijing) to get from Moscow to Hanoi. Using my answer, one spends around 177 hours on trains from Moscow to Hanoi. I’m pretty sure though it will take more time to take this route since there are more changes involved.

Unfortunately I don’t know of any way to calculate the distance of this route, but I’m quite certain it is shorter.

12/13/2016 12:18:20 PM

One person has documented his train trip from West Hampstead (in London) to Central (in Hong Kong), which took him 22 days. He also discussed some of the practical difficulties he faced as he a seasoned traveller in the posts. (The first day can be found here.)

In terms of the Great Circle distance, it is about 1000 miles shorter than the journey related in the previous answer from Oporto to Saigon, so I concede it falls someway short of being the longest, but his story is entertaining enough to deserve a plug.

12/13/2016 3:34:48 PM

After a lot of googling I think I found the article:

http://basementgeographer.com/the-longest-train-ride-in-the-world/

From Portugal to Vietnam by train

According to the author the largest travel train possible stretches from Portugal to Vietnam. 17.000Km by train.

He even calculates the costs and time to spend on the journey, including exchanges:

  • Porto-Coimbra 1:05, US$17.33-$28.66
  • Coimbra layover 0:56
  • Coimbra-Hendaye 12:33, US$94.50-$308.97
  • Hendaye layover 0:51
  • Hendaye-Paris Montparnasse 5:54, US$117-$285
  • Paris Montparnasse-Paris Nord 0:55, US$2.27
  • Paris Nord layover 1:11
  • Paris Nord-Koln 3:14, US$46-$254
  • Koln layover 3:13
  • Koln-Warsaw 11:57, US$388-$568
  • Warsaw layover 2:40
  • Warsaw-Moscow 26:25 $216-$328
  • Moscow layover 18:25
  • Moscow-Beijing 136:29, $804-$1 131
  • Beijing subway transfer window 1:41, US$0.31
  • Beijing-Hanoi 55:25, US$320-$406
  • Hanoi layover 10:50
  • Hanoi-Ho Chi Minh City Saigon 33:10, US$50-$78

Unfortunatly the post is from 2011 so the prices might not be updated
The total journey would take around 14 days and cost around 2000 USD.

Update: It’s actually possible to make the trip 551 Km longer if instead of departing from Porto you depart from Lagos, south of Portugal. Source: http://fugas.publico.pt/Viagens/359032_sim-a-mais-longa-viagem-em-comboio-do-mundo-comeca-em-portugal?pagina=-1

Credit:stackoverflow.com‘

About me

Hello,My name is Aparna Patel,I’m a Travel Blogger and Photographer who travel the world full-time with my hubby.I like to share my travel experience.

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