High-Speed Rail (HSR) - Toronto/Pearson/Kitchener/London

[danbrotherston]

Aside from the Chinese who are miles ahead of everyone, the next eight countries ranked by operational length are functioning democracies. Number 9, Turkey has a more autocratic government, and number 10, South Korea is debatable given the current political turmoil at the presidential level.

I'd look more about the railway built a fixed recent time period (say the last 20 years). Straight length also speaks about the history of the country, and also doesn't speak to the effectiveness of their governments in the more recent era.