another posting here a few months ago was of the rail systems in Europe, and Germany had the most (a real web) and the poster said it was because railroads in Germany were government-built for their big iron industry and construction make work projects in the late 1800s

https://old.reddit.com/r/dataisbeautiful/comments/uxgrg2/oc_railroads_in_europe_where_would_you_like_to_go/