Crete has no railways today and it is barely known that numerous narrow gauge railway networks were constructed in the island during the first half of the 20th century. Mining sites, as well as port and military installations, were Decauville served (600 mm gauge). In the majority of cases, the length of the rails was short, measuring only a few hundred meters. Noteworthy networks were constructed at the Plakias lignite field, the mining site in the area of Ravdoucha, and the Commonwealth installations at Souda Bay, while the most significant was the 10-kilometer railway at Heraklion, the only one in Crete with a track gauge of 1,000 mm.

This paper aims to present the railway networks in Crete in terms of extant structures, assessing the present state of preservation, proposing a reconstruction of original rail routes, and discussing the later reuse of rail tracks. The methodological approach comprises research in written sources of archival data, old maps, aerial and historic photos, as well as survey in the field.