Transport geography: the routes that exist
How things move is a better map of how the world is connected than the political one. A handful of straits and canals carry most of the world's trade, and closing any of them for a week is felt everywhere.
Roughly how long is the world's longest non-stop scheduled flight?
About 18 hours
Singapore to New York runs around 18 and a half hours over roughly 15,300 km. Aircraft range, not distance, is the binding constraint on longer routes.
Source: Singapore Airlines route data
How long is the world's shortest scheduled commercial flight?
Under two minutes
Westray to Papa Westray in Orkney covers about 2.7 km and is scheduled at around 90 seconds, sometimes less with a tailwind.
Source: Loganair timetable; Guinness World Records
How long does the Trans-Siberian Railway take end to end?
About seven days
Moscow to Vladivostok is about 9,300 km and takes roughly six to seven days, crossing eight time zones. It is the longest continuous railway line in the world.
Source: Russian Railways timetables
Which of these countries has no railway network at all?
Iceland
Iceland has never had a public railway. The population is small and dispersed, the terrain is volcanic and shifting, and roads plus coastal shipping have always been cheaper.
Source: Icelandic Road and Coastal Administration
Which city has the deepest metro station in the world?
Kyiv
Arsenalna sits about 105 m below ground, deep enough that the escalator ride takes around five minutes. The depth is a consequence of the hilly right bank of the Dnipro.
Source: Kyiv Metro technical documentation
Which is the world's highest railway?
The Qinghai-Tibet railway
It crosses the Tanggula Pass at about 5,072 m. Carriages are pressurised and supply oxygen, and much of the track is built on permafrost with cooling systems beneath it.
Source: China State Railway Group
Swindon's 'Magic Roundabout' consists of what?
Five mini-roundabouts around a sixth
Traffic can flow both clockwise and anticlockwise around the central ring. It looks alarming and has a good safety record, largely because nobody dares drive fast.
Source: Swindon Borough Council; UK Department for Transport
Which country has the most airports?
The US
The US has roughly 13,000 airfields when private and unpaved strips are counted, more than the next several countries combined. Brazil is second by most counts.
Source: CIA World Factbook airport counts
Why does the Panama Canal need locks at all?
Ships must be raised to a lake
Gatun Lake sits about 26 m up, so ships are lifted and lowered again. The two oceans differ in mean level by only about 20 cm, which is not the reason.
Source: Panama Canal Authority
What happens at the border between Thailand and Laos, where driving sides differ?
Traffic swaps sides
Thailand drives on the left and Laos on the right, so the Friendship Bridges include a crossover section where traffic changes sides under signals.
Source: Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge engineering documentation
What crosses the runway at Gibraltar's airport?
A public road
Winston Churchill Avenue, the main road to Spain, cuts straight across the runway. Barriers drop and traffic stops whenever an aircraft moves.
Source: Government of Gibraltar; UK Civil Aviation Authority