Which country is the smallest in the world to have a railway network?

Vatican City is the smallest country in the world to have a railway network.

The Vatican railway is extremely short, measuring about 852 metres within the city-state. It connects to Italy’s railway system through a dedicated branch and passes through the Vatican railway gate near the southern wall. The line was built after the Lateran Treaty of 1929 established Vatican City as an independent state.

The railway is not a conventional passenger network. It has mainly served ceremonial, freight and occasional special trains. Pope John XXIII inaugurated the Vatican railway station in 1960, decades after construction of the connection began.

Monaco, San Marino and Liechtenstein are also European microstates associated with rail travel, but none has a railway network entirely within its territory in the same way. Vatican City’s line is notable less for length than for its symbolic connection between the world’s smallest state and Italy’s national railway system.