Rail in and From China

choi

(1) Chinese Iron Marches On Russia. Strategy Page, Mar 11, 2013.
http://strategypage.com/htmw/htlog/articles/20130311.aspx
("China is offering to build new railroads into Central Asia")

Quote: "While the Chinese railroad system is only third in size (behind the US and Russia) it is first in traffic worldwide. A booming economy and lack of highways have created a demand in China for a more efficient rail system.

My comment:
(a) I knew the rail traffic in China is hectic around Chinese New Year. But I did not know that in the rest of the year, China's rail system is also congested.
(b) However, China may not be "first" in rail traffic. Absolutely it IS first in freight rail, but not so in passenger rail. Combined? No statistics. See

Rail usage statistics by country
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rail_usage_statistics_by_country
("according to the International Union of Railways")

Even Taiwan are in a couple of world rankings.
(c) In the previous Wiki page, several times "UIC" are cited as the source.

International Union of Railways
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Union_of_Railways
(born in 1922; "The UIC (French: Union Internationale des Chemins de fer), or International Union of Railways, is an international rail transport industry body" based in Paris)

French:
* Chemin (noun masculine): "path, road"
* fer (noun masculine): "iron"
(d) Please take notice rails in China and  in Russia have different track gauges.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Track_gauge
(section 5 Dominant gauges: atlas)

Taiwan always goes with Japan (in both ordinary rail and high-speed, which have different gauges). And Mongolia with Russia.