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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 Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority, more commonly called MARTA, is the principal rapid transit system in the Atlanta metropolitan area (Georgia), and the ninth largest in the United States. MARTA operates a network of bus routes linked to a heavy rail rapid transit system consisting of 48 miles (77 km) of track with 38 train stations. As of 2006, the system has an average weekday ridership of 451,064 passengers. The MARTA acronym is pronounced as a single word, not as individual letters. MARTA is funded and operated by the City of Atlanta, Fulton County and DeKalb County. As a result the MARTA system only operates within the boundaries of Fulton County and DeKalb County, with additional limited bus service to Cobb County. MARTA is the largest United States transit agency not to receive state operational funding. The other three largest counties in the metro Atlanta area, Cobb, Gwinnett, and Clayton, have refused to join or fund MARTA and as a result all three have independent transit agencies which connect to MARTA. The continued refusal of neighboring counties to participate and the lack of state funding for operation of MARTA has limited the ability for a truly regional transportation system to be formed in Atlanta.

Recently selected: Rail transport in Puerto Rico - SR Class V - Philippine National Railways

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Islamic Republic of Iran Railways' locomotive number 60-980, an EMD GT26CW-2, hauls a freight train through the Gharanghu river canyon, between Mianeh and Maragheh, Iran, in October 2017.

Recently selected: Staatsspoorwegen passenger train on bridge - Erzbergbahn museum railway train - Garratt locomotive

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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 "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 2Electric train on Djursholmsbanan in Stockholm in the 1890s. (from Train)
Image 3A Victorian Railways R class steam locomotive in Australia (from Locomotive)
Image 4The ESS 3200 electric locomotive was introduced in 1925 in the Dutch East Indies, now Indonesia. (from Locomotive)
Image 5A 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 6Trains 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 7An interior of a Circle line S7 Stock in London (from Railroad car)
Image 8The New Orleans Streetcar System is the oldest in the world. (from Train)
Image 9A coach yard in Shanghai, China (from Rail yard)
Image 10Southern Railway (UK) 20002 was equipped with both a pantograph and contact shoes. (from Locomotive)
Image 11British Rail Mark 3 coach, an all-steel car from the 1970s (from Railroad car)
Image 12China operates an extensive high speed rail network. (from Train)
Image 13Yard for Amtrak equipment, located next to the Los Angeles River. The two tracks on the left are the mainline. (from Rail yard)
Image 14TGV Lacroix first class interior (from Train)
Image 15A Union Pacific freight train; high clearances enable double-stacked containers to be carried in well cars. (from Train)
Image 16Restored clerestory cars on display at the Mid-Continent Railway Museum in North Freedom, Wisconsin (from Railroad car)
Image 17Most derailments, such as this one in Switzerland, are minor and do not cause injuries or damage. (from Train)
Image 18A London Underground battery–electric locomotive used for hauling engineers' trains, at West Ham station (from Locomotive)
Image 19Werner von Siemens experimental DC electric train, 1879 (from Locomotive)
Image 20This 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 21Workington stabling point in 1981, with locomotives from Classes 25, 40 and 47 parked between duties. (from Rail yard)
Image 22Various types of railroad cars in a classification yard in the United States (from Train)
Image 23Inside a modern-day car from Finland (from Railroad car)
Image 24Garratt locomotives in Zimbabwe (from Train)
Image 25RegioCitadis light rail train in Zoetermeer (the Netherlands). (from Train)
Image 26A Tokyo Monorail train (from Train)
Image 27Schedule of train departure times in Indonesia stations (from Train)
Image 28The Union Pacific Big Boy locomotives represented the pinnacle of steam locomotive technology and power. (from Train)
Image 29The EMD FT set the stage for diesel locomotives to take over from steam. (from Train)
Image 30This 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 31A narrow-gauge battery–electric locomotive used for mining (from Locomotive)
Image 32Soviet RT-23 Molodets ICBM launch train, in the St Petersburg museum (from Railroad car)
Image 33Baltimore & Ohio electric engine, 1895 (from Locomotive)
Image 34The 1887 Daimler draisine (from Locomotive)
Image 35A Metropolitan line S8 Stock at Amersham in London (from Railroad car)
Image 36Armored train Hurban located in Zvolen, Slovakia (from Railroad car)
Image 37A narrow gauge train in Austria (from Train)
Image 38The first useful diesel locomotive (a diesel–electric) for long distances, the SŽD Eel2, 1924 in Kyiv (from Locomotive)
Image 39A preserved armored train (from Train)
Image 40US-style railroad truck (bogie) with journal bearings (from Train)
Image 41A freight car (boxcar type) for the South Australian Railways, 1926 (from Railroad car)
Image 42A British Rail Class 150 in the United Kingdom (from Railroad car)
Image 43Arrival of the Normandy Train, Gare Saint-Lazare, by Claude Monet, 1877, Art Institute of Chicago (from Train)
Image 44A gas turbine locomotive operated by the Union Pacific Railroad (from Train)
Image 45Typical American extended vision caboose (from Railroad car)
Image 46Stockton and Darlington special inaugural train 1825: six wagons of coal, directors coach, then people in wagons. (from Train)
Image 47The Japanese 0 Series Shinkansen pioneered high speed rail service (from Train)
Image 48An Indian locomotive class WDM-3A diesel locomotive in India (from Locomotive)
Image 49A number of maintenance vehicles at work on Metro-North Railroad (from Train)
Image 50A China Railways HXD1D electric locomotive in China (from Locomotive)