Far Off
The longest direct train journey in the world runs from Moscow to Pyongyang: 10,267 km in eight days, without changing carriage. The Trans-Siberian from Moscow to Vladivostok, 9,289 km, sits just behind it and is the longest ride an ordinary traveller can actually book.
| # | Route | Distance | Time | Zones | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Moscow – Pyongyang | 10,267 km | 8 days | 7 h | Twice a month |
| 2 | Moscow – Vladivostok (Rossiya) | 9,289 km | 144 h | 7 h | Running |
| 3 | Moscow – Beijing via Manchuria (Vostok) | 8,986 km | 145 h | 5 h | Suspended since 2020 |
| 4 | Moscow – Beijing via Mongolia (K3/K4) | 7,826 km | 131 h 31 | 5 h | Suspended since 2020 |
| 5 | Guangzhou – Lhasa (Z264) | 4,980 km | 53 h 30 | 0 h | Running |
| 6 | Toronto – Vancouver (The Canadian) | 4,466 km | 97 h | 3 h | Running |
| 7 | Chicago – Los Angeles (Texas Eagle) | 4,390 km | 65 h 20 | 2 h | Three days a week |
| 8 | Shanghai – Lhasa (Z164) | 4,373 km | 45 h | 0 h | Running |
| 9 | Sydney – Perth (Indian Pacific) | 4,352 km | 70 h | 2 h 30 | Running |
| 10 | Dibrugarh – Kanniyakumari (Vivek Express) | 4,154 km | 74 h 35 | 0 h | Running |
The ranking below counts direct services only: one train, one ticket, no changes. Allow connections and the numbers get far bigger, and the answer changes completely. Both readings are covered further down.
1. Moscow to Pyongyang, 10,267 km
North Korean carriages are attached to Russian Trans-Siberian services as far as Ussuriysk, then branch off towards the Tumangang border crossing and run down to Pyongyang. Eight days end to end, with two departures a month, on the 3rd and the 17th. The route calls at Khabarovsk, Chita, Irkutsk, Krasnoyarsk, Novosibirsk, Omsk and Yekaterinburg.
Detail. The service stopped in 2020 when North Korea sealed its borders, and only resumed in June 2025. It is the one entry here that is effectively closed to Western travellers: you need a North Korean visa, and seats are not sold on the open market. The eastern end of the route sits seven hours ahead of Moscow.
2. Moscow to Vladivostok, 9,289 km
This is the Trans-Siberian proper, worked by the Rossiya, train 001/002. Allow 144 hours, a clean six days, across eight time zones and two continents. Station stops rarely run beyond twenty minutes.
Detail. Every departure and arrival time on the route, from end to end, is posted in Moscow time. A passenger stepping off at Irkutsk at “3 in the morning” is actually walking into mid-morning daylight. Seven hours quietly disappear from the clock without ever showing up on the board. The Trans-Siberian Railway article on Wikipedia has the section-by-section breakdown.
3. Moscow to Beijing via Manchuria, 8,986 km
The Vostok, trains 019/020, followed the Trans-Siberian for roughly two thirds of its run before turning south at Zabaykalsk to enter China at Manzhouli. Around 145 hours westbound to eastbound.
Detail. The service has been suspended since February 2020 and the Zabaykalsk to Manzhouli crossing remains shut to passenger trains, with no restart announced. A determined traveller can still stitch the trip together in three pieces: a Russian domestic train to Zabaykalsk, a bus over the border, then a Chinese train to Beijing. That is no longer a direct service.
4. Moscow to Beijing via Mongolia, 7,826 km
The Trans-Mongolian K3/K4 leaves the Trans-Siberian at Ulan-Ude, drops down through Ulaanbaatar and crosses the Gobi. The K3 takes 131 hours 31 minutes, the K4 129 hours 50 minutes the other way.
Detail. Also suspended since 2020, with the suspension extended after the invasion of Ukraine. Empty test runs with refurbished 25G stock took place in early 2025, but no commercial service has returned. The Irkutsk to Ulaanbaatar and Ulaanbaatar to Beijing legs both run separately, so the trip can be rebuilt on two tickets.
5. Guangzhou to Lhasa, 4,980 km
Train Z264 leaves Guangzhou daily and reaches Lhasa in about 53 hours 30 minutes. It is the longest domestic service in China, and it climbs above 5,000 metres on the Tibetan plateau.
Detail. The carriages are pressurised and fed supplementary oxygen from Golmud onwards. It also posts the highest average speed in this list, close to 93 km/h sustained over five thousand kilometres, against 65 km/h for the Trans-Siberian. Because the whole of China runs on a single clock, nobody on board ever adjusts a watch.
6. Toronto to Vancouver, 4,466 km
The Canadian, run by VIA Rail, averages 97 hours westbound and 92 hours eastbound. It crosses Ontario, the Prairies and the Rockies, with two or three departures a week depending on the season.
Detail. Delays are built into the trip: Canadian National freight has priority on the track, and arriving into Vancouver ten to fifteen hours late is unremarkable. The published time is a floor, not a forecast. Three hours separate the two terminals, over four zones.
7. Chicago to Los Angeles, 4,390 km
Amtrak’s longest ride, 2,728 miles in 65 hours 20 minutes. The Texas Eagle runs daily from Chicago to San Antonio, but only the Sunday, Tuesday and Friday cars are joined to the Sunset Limited to carry on to Los Angeles.
Detail. On the other four days the trip terminates at San Antonio, which makes this record as much a matter of the calendar as of mileage. The route follows the Mississippi, runs the length of Texas and then crosses the Sonoran Desert. Two hours separate departure from arrival.
8. Shanghai to Lhasa, 4,373 km
The Z164 leaves Shanghai station each evening and pulls into Lhasa on the afternoon two days later, in a little under 45 hours. Measured against distance it is the fastest entry in this list, averaging roughly 97 km/h.
Detail. It shares its final stretch, Xining to Lhasa, with the Guangzhou train. That is the highest regularly worked railway on Earth, topping out at the Tanggula Pass at 5,072 metres. No clock change anywhere on the route.
9. Sydney to Perth, 4,352 km
The Indian Pacific crosses Australia ocean to ocean in around 70 hours, once or twice a week depending on the season. The name comes from the two oceans it links.
Detail. It contains the longest dead-straight stretch of railway anywhere: 478 km without a single curve across the Nullarbor Plain. As a demonstration of scale it is the best thing in this list, and it overlaps neatly with the longest straight line on Earth. Perth runs two and a half hours behind Sydney.
10. Dibrugarh to Kanniyakumari, 4,154 km
The Vivek Express, trains 22503/22504, links India’s far north-east to its southern tip in 74 hours 35 minutes, with 57 intermediate stops. It is the longest run on the Indian network by both distance and duration.
Detail. It was launched in 2013 for the 150th anniversary of Swami Vivekananda’s birth, hence the name. Most workings are made up largely of sleeper class, with no premium air-conditioned accommodation, which makes it by far the cheapest entry here. India keeps a single time zone from end to end.
Direct service or stitched-together route: two different answers
Allow connections and the picture changes entirely. The longest continuous rail itinerary on Earth runs from Lagos in southern Portugal to Singapore: roughly 18,755 km, thirteen countries, around twenty separate trains and tickets, and about three weeks. It only became possible in 2021, when the China to Laos line opened.
Nobody has ever ridden the whole thing, and today nobody can. No international trains connect western Europe to Russia or Belarus any more, and both Moscow to Beijing services are suspended. Rail writer Mark Smith, better known as Seat 61, tracks which legs still exist. The record lives on a map, not in a timetable.
Distance and time zones are not the same problem
The top four entries here cross five to seven hours of clock change. The Chinese and Indian routes cross none at all: China spans more than 5,200 km east to west on a single legal time, and India does the same. A Guangzhou to Lhasa passenger covers 5,000 km without touching a watch.
The Trans-Siberian takes that logic further by posting every time on the route in Moscow time, across eight zones. That is a practical matter rather than a curiosity: by the third day the number on the board and the sun outside the window have nothing to do with each other.
What the train actually costs you in time
Moscow and Vladivostok are about 6,400 km apart in a straight line, against 9,289 km of track. The flight takes roughly nine hours. The train takes six days. That is a ratio of about one to sixteen.
The gap between great-circle distance and rail distance is the real lesson in this ranking. Track bends around mountains, borders and seas, while an aircraft follows a great-circle arc. That gap is exactly why distances are so hard to judge by eye, and it is the same bias behind the 10 longest flights in the world.
Mirror piece: the 10 shortest flights in the world. Going further: the longest straight line on Earth, the 10 longest flights in the world and the most isolated cities in the world.
Frequently asked questions
What is the longest train journey in the world in 2026?
Moscow to Pyongyang, 10,267 km covered in eight days. It is a direct service, worked by North Korean carriages attached to Russian Trans-Siberian trains, with two departures a month. It resumed in June 2025 after five years off. If you limit the question to journeys genuinely open to international travellers, the answer becomes Moscow to Vladivostok, 9,289 km.
How long does the Trans-Siberian take from Moscow to Vladivostok?
About 144 hours, a full six days, on the Rossiya, train 001/002. It covers 9,289 km at a shade under 65 km/h including stops. Slower workings with more station calls can run past seven days. Every time shown on the route is Moscow time, across eight zones crossed.
Does the Moscow to Beijing train still run?
No. Both direct services have been suspended since February 2020: the Trans-Mongolian K3/K4 via Ulaanbaatar and the Vostok 019/020 via Manchuria. The suspension was extended after the invasion of Ukraine, and the Zabaykalsk to Manzhouli crossing remains closed to passenger trains. Empty test runs took place in early 2025 with no commercial restart.
Can you travel from Portugal to Singapore by train?
On paper, yes: roughly 18,755 km, thirteen countries, around twenty connections and about three weeks. In practice, no. There are no longer any international trains between western Europe and Russia or Belarus, and both Moscow to Beijing services are stopped. Nobody has completed the full route.
What is the longest train journey with no time zone change?
Guangzhou to Lhasa, 4,980 km in 53 hours 30 minutes, entirely inside China. The country stretches more than 5,000 km east to west but keeps a single legal time, Beijing time. Shanghai to Lhasa, 4,373 km, is in the same position, as is India’s Vivek Express over 4,154 km.