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In rail transport, a train is a vehicle or (more frequently) a string of vehicles capable of being moved along a continuous line of rails or other guideway for the purpose of conveying freight or passengers between points on a predetermined route. The train may be hauled or propelled by one or more vehicles designed exclusively for that purpose (locomotives) or may be driven by a number of motors incorporated in all or several of the vehicles (multiple units).

As of 2018^[update], there are approximately 1,052,000 kilometres (654,000 mi) of railway track in use worldwide. (World Bank (via Archive.org))

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Selected article of the week

Auburn is a train station in the city of Auburn, Washington, United States, served by Sounder commuter rail. It is located southwest of downtown Auburn and consists of two train platforms, a bus station, a parking garage, a public plaza, and a pedestrian bridge. The station has 633 parking spaces and is also served by Sound Transit Express, King County Metro, and Pierce Transit buses. Auburn station opened in 2000 and was built on the site of a former Northern Pacific Railway station that was demolished in 1979. The parking garage and pedestrian bridge opened in 2003, and a second parking garage is planned to be built by 2023.

Recently selected: Broadway Junction (New York City Subway) - Amtrak paint schemes - Edmonds station

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Selected image of the week

As the construction for the Gotthard Base Tunnel neared completion in 2016, Swiss Federal Railways ran special Gottardino trains into the tunnel to show it to the public. This view is out the control cab at the Sedrun emergency stop platform in the eastern tube.

Recently selected: City of San Francisco inauguration - Holiday Rapid Kamakura - Aqaba Railway

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Did you know...

...that the opening ceremonies of the Galway to Clifden railway were very sparsely attended because the event date was a strict church holiday and was reserved for attending church services?
...that following heavy damage to the Galveston Island Trolley track and cars from Hurricane Ike in 2008, substitute service with replica buses was operated until service resumed in October 2021?
...that although the former Santa Fe Railway's Galesburg station was demolished after regular passenger service to the station ended in 1996, the site is still used if derailments cause trains to use the Chillicothe Subdivision instead of the Mendota Subdivision?
...that the Fuzhou–Xiamen railway, which opened in 2010, was so heavily used that it reached capacity in 2015, spurring construction on the parallel Fuzhou–Xiamen high-speed railway for CRH passenger train services?

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Selected anniversaries

September 26

1837 – Allen Manvel, president of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway 1889–1893, is born (d. 1893).
1884 – John W. Garrett (pictured), president of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad beginning in 1858, dies (b. 1820).
1884 – Canadian Pacific Railway leases the St. Lawrence and Ottawa Railway.
2005 – Commuter rail service in Greece between Athens and Corinth is officially inaugurated by the Hellenic Railways Organisation (OSE).

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Train News

April 30, 2026 – American railroad companies Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern amend their plan for a merger. The plan involves connecting existing networks as well as adding new routes. (Railway-News)
April 30, 2026 – German company Siemens Mobility signs a 200-train contract with Swiss Federal Railways. The contract, which was awarded in November 2025, was until recently contested by Siemens’ competitor Stadler. (Railway Gazette)
April 26, 2026 – 2026 Bekasi train crash – The train Argo Bromo Anggrek collides with a Commuterline train near Jakarta, Indonesia. The crash left 16 people dead, all from the rear car of the Commuterline, and an additional 91 people injured. This happened after a separate train collided with a taxi earlier that day. (BBC, Reuters )

April 26, 2026 – In Mexico, tracks are opened for Tren Felipe Ángeles, a rail link that connects Felipe Ángeles International Airport with Mexico City. (Railway Gazette)

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General images

The following are images from various train-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1The 1887 Daimler draisine (from Locomotive)
Image 2Werner von Siemens experimental DC electric train, 1879 (from Locomotive)
Image 3Electric train on Djursholmsbanan in Stockholm in the 1890s. (from Train)
Image 4Arrival of the Normandy Train, Gare Saint-Lazare, by Claude Monet, 1877, Art Institute of Chicago (from Train)
Image 5The ESS 3200 electric locomotive was introduced in 1925 in the Dutch East Indies, now Indonesia. (from Locomotive)
Image 6A wooden toy train set from Swedish manufacturer Brio (from Train)
Image 7The EMD FT set the stage for diesel locomotives to take over from steam. (from Train)
Image 8Southern Railway (UK) 20002 was equipped with both a pantograph and contact shoes. (from Locomotive)
Image 9A London Underground battery–electric locomotive used for hauling engineers' trains, at West Ham station (from Locomotive)
Image 10Yard for Amtrak equipment, located next to the Los Angeles River. The two tracks on the left are the mainline. (from Rail yard)
Image 11A narrow-gauge battery–electric locomotive used for mining (from Locomotive)
Image 12A British Rail Class 150 in the United Kingdom (from Railroad car)
Image 13An Indian locomotive class WDM-3A diesel locomotive in India (from Locomotive)
Image 14Soviet RT-23 Molodets ICBM launch train, in the St Petersburg museum (from Railroad car)
Image 15Trains carrying hazardous materials display information identifying their cargo and hazards. This tank car carrying chlorine displays, among other markings, a U.S. DOT placard showing a UN number that identifies the hazardous substance. (from Train)
Image 16A China Railways HXD1D electric locomotive in China (from Locomotive)
Image 17RegioCitadis light rail train in Zoetermeer (the Netherlands). (from Train)
Image 18A gas turbine locomotive operated by the Union Pacific Railroad (from Train)
Image 19A number of maintenance vehicles at work on Metro-North Railroad (from Train)
Image 20The Union Pacific Big Boy locomotives represented the pinnacle of steam locomotive technology and power. (from Train)
Image 21A Victorian Railways R class steam locomotive in Australia (from Locomotive)
Image 22An interior of a Circle line S7 Stock in London (from Railroad car)
Image 23British Rail Mark 3 coach, an all-steel car from the 1970s (from Railroad car)
Image 24The "hump" of a hump yard. Railcars travel past retarders, which control their speed, and are directed onto tracks to be assembled into new trains. The control tower operates the retarders. (from Rail yard)
Image 25Bombardier ALP-45DP, at the Innotrans convention in Berlin (from Locomotive)
Image 26US-style railroad truck (bogie) with journal bearings (from Train)
Image 27Restored clerestory cars on display at the Mid-Continent Railway Museum in North Freedom, Wisconsin (from Railroad car)
Image 28Armored train Hurban located in Zvolen, Slovakia (from Railroad car)
Image 29Most derailments, such as this one in Switzerland, are minor and do not cause injuries or damage. (from Train)
Image 30Workington stabling point in 1981, with locomotives from Classes 25, 40 and 47 parked between duties. (from Rail yard)
Image 31The first useful diesel locomotive (a diesel–electric) for long distances, the SŽD Eel2, 1924 in Kyiv (from Locomotive)
Image 32The Japanese 0 Series Shinkansen pioneered high speed rail service (from Train)
Image 33A preserved armored train (from Train)
Image 34Baltimore & Ohio electric engine, 1895 (from Locomotive)
Image 35The New Orleans Streetcar System is the oldest in the world. (from Train)
Image 36Various types of railroad cars in a classification yard in the United States (from Train)
Image 37TGV Lacroix first class interior (from Train)
Image 38Typical American extended vision caboose (from Railroad car)
Image 39A large Amtrak and Metra coach yard just south of Chicago Union Station. About 25 percent of all rail traffic in the United States travels through the Chicago area. (from Rail yard)
Image 40A freight car (boxcar type) for the South Australian Railways, 1926 (from Railroad car)
Image 41Inside a modern-day car from Finland (from Railroad car)
Image 42Schedule of train departure times in Indonesia stations (from Train)
Image 43A Metropolitan line S8 Stock at Amersham in London (from Railroad car)
Image 44This GO Transit Bombardier BiLevel cab car includes a horn (top), a bell (top right), headlights (above the door), classification lights (red lights on side), and ditch lights (white lights on side). (from Train)
Image 45China operates an extensive high speed rail network. (from Train)
Image 46A coach yard in Shanghai, China (from Rail yard)
Image 47Garratt locomotives in Zimbabwe (from Train)
Image 48A prototype of a Ganz AC electric locomotive in Valtellina, Italy, 1901 (from Locomotive)
Image 49A Union Pacific freight train; high clearances enable double-stacked containers to be carried in well cars. (from Train)
Image 50A Tokyo Monorail train (from Train)