The ratios of railway mileage to area and population in the table on page 19 may be compared with those of foreign countries for 1907 in the following statement:
Of the above total railway mileage for the whole world, no less than 332,360 miles, or nearly 56%, is operated in English speaking countries, the mileage of the United States alone being over 35% of the whole.
To the most casual student the disparity between the density of population to railway mileage in the United States and Europe of one to five, is as apparent as it is significant of our necessity for so much greater provision of transportation facilities per capita. If our per capita mileage were relatively the same as that of Europe, the United States would be set back to the transportation facilities of 1869, when the completion of the Union Pacific raised its total mileage to 47,254 miles. But even then it had a ratio of one mile of railway to 810 inhabitants, which was higher than Europe's ratio today.
Clearly there is nothing in the statistics of the railway mileage of the world to account for the epidemic of railway phobia that periodically convulses the people and legislatures of the United States of America.
Mileage of All Tracks in 1909.
Of almost equal importance to the mileage of American railways are the auxiliary tracks upon which the extent and efficiency of their public service so largely depends. As the next statement shows, these continue to increase more rapidly than the miles of line.
| Summary of Mileage of Single Track, Second Track, Third Track, Fourth Track and Yard Track and Sidings, in the United States, 1897 to 1909. | ||||||
| Year | Single Track | Second Track | Third Track | Fourth Track | Yard Track and Sidings | Total Mileage Operated (all tracks) |
| 1909 (94.4%) Bureau | 221,132 | 20,637 | 2,186 | 1,491 | 80,669 | 326,115 |
| 1908 Official | (a)230,494 | 20,209 | 2,081 | 1,409 | 79,452 | 333,646 |
| 1907 | 227,455 | 19,421 | 1,960 | 1,390 | 77,749 | 327,975 |
| 1906 | 222,340 | 17,396 | 1,766 | 1,279 | 73,760 | 317,083 |
| 1905 | 216,973 | 17,056 | 1,609 | 1,215 | 69,941 | 306,796 |
| 1904 | 212,243 | 15,824 | 1,467 | 1,046 | 66,492 | 297,073 |
| 1903 | 205,313 | 14,681 | 1,303 | 963 | 61,560 | 283,821 |
| 1902 | 200,154 | 13,720 | 1,204 | 895 | 58,220 | 274,195 |
| 1901 | 195,561 | 12,845 | 1,153 | 876 | 54,914 | 265,352 |
| 1900 | 192,556 | 12,151 | 1,094 | 829 | 52,153 | 258,784 |
| 1899 | 187,543 | 11,546 | 1,047 | 790 | 49,223 | 250,142 |
| 1898 | 184,648 | 11,293 | 1,009 | 793 | 47,589 | 245,333 |
| 1897 | 183,284 | 11,018 | 995 | 780 | 45,934 | 242,013 |
| (a) To the figures for 1908 should be added the 1,626 miles of main track and 2,085 of yard track and sidings of switching and terminal companies, excluded by the Official Statistician, raising the total of all tracks to 337,357. | ||||||
By adding the auxiliary trackage reported to this Bureau for 1909 to the 234,182 miles of operated line reported to the Interstate Commerce Commission for June 30 of that year, it appears that the total of all tracks on that date was upwards of 340,000 miles.