The line graph compares four developed countries, including China, the USA, Russia, and India in terms of railway track length, which is measured in thousands of kilometers (tkm) from 1980 to 2010, with five-year intervals.
In general, the usage of railway track in the USA and Russia experienced a gradual decrease, while the reverse was true for China and India. The most striking feature of the graph is China, which began the lowest and outstripped India, thereby occupying the middle ground for the rest of the period shown.
In the initial phase, the length of the USA railway track was the highest at about 250 tkm in 1980, and then this figure steadily decreased, hitting a low of 230 tkm. Despite the fall in railway track length in the USA, it remained ahead of others. In contrast, the figure for Russia also followed a similar trajectory, albeit at lower rates. It started at around 150 tkm in 1980, after which it experienced a modest decrease, ending the period at roughly 130 tkm.
The remaining two figures – China and India – bucked this trend. At the beginning of the period, the length of the railway track in China was the lowest at below 30 tkm. From this point onward, the corresponding figure exhibited a marked increase, surpassing India and reaching just under 100 tkm by the end of the timeframe. Turning to India, the length of the railway track stood at slightly below 50 tkm in 1980, before plateauing with China in 1990. Over the ensuing years, this figure increased steadily to approximately 70 tkm by the end of the period.