Portal:Trains

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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 East Link Extension is a future light rail line serving the Eastside region of the Seattle metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Washington. It will be part of Sound Transit's Link light rail system, running 14 miles (23 km) from west to east and serving 10 stations in Downtown Seattle, Mercer Island, Bellevue, and Redmond. East Link is scheduled to open in 2023 as part of the Blue Line, which will continue into the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel and share stations with the Red Line. A 3.7-mile-long (6.0 km) extension to Downtown Redmond with two additional stations is scheduled to open in 2024. The line will use part of the Interstate 90 floating bridge, constructed in 1989 with the intent to convert its express lanes to light rail. The proposed alignment of the East Link project was debated by the Bellevue city council in the early 2010s, with members split on two different routes south of downtown Bellevue; city funding for the downtown segment's tunnel was also debated and ultimately included in the final agreement. The alignment was finalized in 2013, after more than two years of debate, and delayed the beginning of construction to 2016 and the completion of the project from 2021 to 2023. The line will be the first railway constructed on a floating bridge and is expected to carry 50,000 daily riders by 2030.

Recently selected: British Rail Class 700 - Blackfriars station - Auburn station (Sound Transit)

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Selected image of the week

A westbound TCDD passenger train, pulled by doubleheaded DE24000 class diesel locomotives, crosses Bridge 98 near Türkmentepe in 2015.

Recently selected: East African Railways 54 class locomotive - KTZ passenger train - Gotthard Base Tunnel

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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

August 3

1877 – William Butler Ogden (pictured), president of the Chicago and North Western Railway, dies (b. 1805).
1919 – Samuel W. Fordyce, president of St. Louis, Arkansas and Texas Railway 1886-1889, St. Louis Southwestern Railway 1890-1898, Kansas City Southern Railway 1900, dies (b. 1840).
1994 – Amtrak's Lake Shore Limited passenger train derails near Batavia, New York, while traveling at 75 mph (120.7 km/h), injuring 125 of the train's passengers and crew members.

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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 1A 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 2A number of maintenance vehicles at work on Metro-North Railroad (from Train)
Image 3China operates an extensive high speed rail network. (from Train)
Image 4The first useful diesel locomotive (a diesel–electric) for long distances, the SŽD Eel2, 1924 in Kyiv (from Locomotive)
Image 5A prototype of a Ganz AC electric locomotive in Valtellina, Italy, 1901 (from Locomotive)
Image 6Yard for Amtrak equipment, located next to the Los Angeles River. The two tracks on the left are the mainline. (from Rail yard)
Image 7Bombardier ALP-45DP, at the Innotrans convention in Berlin (from Locomotive)
Image 8A British Rail Class 150 in the United Kingdom (from Railroad car)
Image 9US-style railroad truck (bogie) with journal bearings (from Train)
Image 10A preserved armored train (from Train)
Image 11Schedule of train departure times in Indonesia stations (from Train)
Image 12The 1887 Daimler draisine (from Locomotive)
Image 13Restored clerestory cars on display at the Mid-Continent Railway Museum in North Freedom, Wisconsin (from Railroad car)
Image 14A Victorian Railways R class steam locomotive in Australia (from Locomotive)
Image 15Typical American extended vision caboose (from Railroad car)
Image 16A wooden toy train set from Swedish manufacturer Brio (from Train)
Image 17The "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 18Southern Railway (UK) 20002 was equipped with both a pantograph and contact shoes. (from Locomotive)
Image 19A narrow gauge train in Austria (from Train)
Image 20Soviet RT-23 Molodets ICBM launch train, in the St Petersburg museum (from Railroad car)
Image 21The EMD FT set the stage for diesel locomotives to take over from steam. (from Train)
Image 22This 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 23A Union Pacific freight train; high clearances enable double-stacked containers to be carried in well cars. (from Train)
Image 24A freight car (boxcar type) for the South Australian Railways, 1926 (from Railroad car)
Image 25Werner von Siemens experimental DC electric train, 1879 (from Locomotive)
Image 26Most derailments, such as this one in Switzerland, are minor and do not cause injuries or damage. (from Train)
Image 27This 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 28An Indian locomotive class WDM-3A diesel locomotive in India (from Locomotive)
Image 29A China Railways HXD1D electric locomotive in China (from Locomotive)
Image 30Garratt locomotives in Zimbabwe (from Train)
Image 31Baltimore & Ohio electric engine, 1895 (from Locomotive)
Image 32A coach yard in Shanghai, China (from Rail yard)
Image 33Electric train on Djursholmsbanan in Stockholm in the 1890s. (from Train)
Image 34An interior of a Circle line S7 Stock in London (from Railroad car)
Image 35RegioCitadis light rail train in Zoetermeer (the Netherlands). (from Train)
Image 36Inside a modern-day car from Finland (from Railroad car)
Image 37Arrival of the Normandy Train, Gare Saint-Lazare, by Claude Monet, 1877, Art Institute of Chicago (from Train)
Image 38Workington stabling point in 1981, with locomotives from Classes 25, 40 and 47 parked between duties. (from Rail yard)
Image 39The Union Pacific Big Boy locomotives represented the pinnacle of steam locomotive technology and power. (from Train)
Image 40Various types of railroad cars in a classification yard in the United States (from Train)
Image 41Stockton and Darlington special inaugural train 1825: six wagons of coal, directors coach, then people in wagons. (from Train)
Image 42Armored train Hurban located in Zvolen, Slovakia (from Railroad car)
Image 43The ESS 3200 electric locomotive was introduced in 1925 in the Dutch East Indies, now Indonesia. (from Locomotive)
Image 44Trains 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 45TGV Lacroix first class interior (from Train)
Image 46A Tokyo Monorail train (from Train)
Image 47The New Orleans Streetcar System is the oldest in the world. (from Train)
Image 48A gas turbine locomotive operated by the Union Pacific Railroad (from Train)
Image 49The Japanese 0 Series Shinkansen pioneered high speed rail service (from Train)
Image 50British Rail Mark 3 coach, an all-steel car from the 1970s (from Railroad car)