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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

The Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project, formally dubbed the Silver Line, is an extension of the Washington Metro rapid transit system, currently under construction with the goal of providing rapid transit service to Dulles International Airport and Tysons Corner. The line consists of 29 stations from Route 772 in Loudoun County, Virginia, to Stadium–Armory in Washington, D.C., United States. The current plan calls for stations in Loudoun, Fairfax, and Arlington counties in Virginia, and the District of Columbia. Eighteen stations will be shared with the Orange Line, including all thirteen shared between the Orange and Blue Lines from Rosslyn to Stadium–Armory. The line will be 23 miles (37 km) long and is estimated to cost up to $6.8 billion. In 2008, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) started building the new track in Fairfax and Loudoun counties in Virginia. The sections in Arlington, Virginia, and Washington, D.C., are to be shared with the Orange and Blue Lines, which were completed in the 1970s and 1980s. The line will open in two phases with 11.6 miles (18.7 km) of Phase I service to Reston, Virginia, to open in 2013 and an additional 11.5 miles (18.5 km) of Phase II service to the airport and Loudoun County in 2016. The Silver Line is the largest expansion project by route mileage since the inception of the Washington Metro in 1976.

Recently selected: Waddesdon Road railway station - VR Class Sm3 - Red Line (Washington Metro)

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Selected image of the week

A Tokyo Metro 05 series EMU traversing the Tōzai Line between Nishi-Kasai and Minami-Sunamachi stations in 2006.

Recently selected: Trams in Tunis - Rio Grande Zephyr - Gare de Langrune

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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

July 28

1862 – The first railway post office car (modern car pictured) in North America is operated over the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad; the mail is transferred to stagecoach in St. Joseph, Missouri, for the rest of the journey to California.
1982 – Fire destroys the Harrisonburg, Virginia, offices of the former Chesapeake Western Railway, which had been merged into the Norfolk and Western Railway in 1954.
1996 – The Talleyrand Terminal Railroad (a subsidiary of Genesee & Wyoming Inc.) begins operations in Jacksonville, Florida.
2005 – An explosion destroys a carriage of an express train near the town of Jaunpur, Uttar Pradesh, India, killing 13 people. See: 2005 Jaunpur train bombing.

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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 1This map of Cedar Hill Yard in Connecticut shows a variety of different facilities, including receiving yards, departure yards, classification yards, and a repair yard. (from Rail yard)
Image 2The EMD FT set the stage for diesel locomotives to take over from steam. (from Train)
Image 3A wooden toy train set from Swedish manufacturer Brio (from Train)
Image 4Typical American extended vision caboose (from Railroad car)
Image 5A Tokyo Monorail train (from Train)
Image 6The first useful diesel locomotive (a diesel–electric) for long distances, the SŽD Eel2, 1924 in Kyiv (from Locomotive)
Image 7China operates an extensive high speed rail network. (from Train)
Image 8A number of maintenance vehicles at work on Metro-North Railroad (from Train)
Image 9Inside a modern-day car from Finland (from Railroad car)
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 11Electric train on Djursholmsbanan in Stockholm in the 1890s. (from Train)
Image 12US-style railroad truck (bogie) with journal bearings (from Train)
Image 13The "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 14Armored train Hurban located in Zvolen, Slovakia (from Railroad car)
Image 15A coach yard in Shanghai, China (from Rail yard)
Image 16A preserved armored train (from Train)
Image 17The ESS 3200 electric locomotive was introduced in 1925 in the Dutch East Indies, now Indonesia. (from Locomotive)
Image 18A Union Pacific freight train; high clearances enable double-stacked containers to be carried in well cars. (from Train)
Image 19A Victorian Railways R class steam locomotive in Australia (from Locomotive)
Image 20An interior of a Circle line S7 Stock in London (from Railroad car)
Image 21TGV Lacroix first class interior (from Train)
Image 22Workington stabling point in 1981, with locomotives from Classes 25, 40 and 47 parked between duties. (from Rail yard)
Image 23A British Rail Class 150 in the United Kingdom (from Railroad car)
Image 24A Metropolitan line S8 Stock at Amersham in London (from Railroad car)
Image 25Garratt locomotives in Zimbabwe (from Train)
Image 26Trains 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 27Restored clerestory cars on display at the Mid-Continent Railway Museum in North Freedom, Wisconsin (from Railroad car)
Image 28Arrival of the Normandy Train, Gare Saint-Lazare, by Claude Monet, 1877, Art Institute of Chicago (from Train)
Image 29A narrow-gauge battery–electric locomotive used for mining (from Locomotive)
Image 30RegioCitadis light rail train in Zoetermeer (the Netherlands). (from Train)
Image 31Schedule of train departure times in Indonesia stations (from Train)
Image 32A London Underground battery–electric locomotive used for hauling engineers' trains, at West Ham station (from Locomotive)
Image 33A prototype of a Ganz AC electric locomotive in Valtellina, Italy, 1901 (from Locomotive)
Image 34A narrow gauge train in Austria (from Train)
Image 35Stockton and Darlington special inaugural train 1825: six wagons of coal, directors coach, then people in wagons. (from Train)
Image 36Soviet RT-23 Molodets ICBM launch train, in the St Petersburg museum (from Railroad car)
Image 37An Indian locomotive class WDM-3A diesel locomotive in India (from Locomotive)
Image 38British Rail Mark 3 coach, an all-steel car from the 1970s (from Railroad car)
Image 39The Japanese 0 Series Shinkansen pioneered high speed rail service (from Train)
Image 40The Union Pacific Big Boy locomotives represented the pinnacle of steam locomotive technology and power. (from Train)
Image 41A 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 42The New Orleans Streetcar System is the oldest in the world. (from Train)
Image 43Werner von Siemens experimental DC electric train, 1879 (from Locomotive)
Image 44A gas turbine locomotive operated by the Union Pacific Railroad (from Train)
Image 45A freight car (boxcar type) for the South Australian Railways, 1926 (from Railroad car)
Image 46Southern Railway (UK) 20002 was equipped with both a pantograph and contact shoes. (from Locomotive)
Image 47This GO train 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 48Bombardier ALP-45DP, at the Innotrans convention in Berlin (from Locomotive)
Image 49A China Railways HXD1D electric locomotive in China (from Locomotive)
Image 50Most derailments, such as this one in Switzerland, are minor and do not cause injuries or damage. (from Train)