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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

Westminster is a London Underground station in the City of Westminster. It is served by the Circle, District and Jubilee lines. On the Circle and District lines, the station is between St. James's Park and Embankment and, on the Jubilee line it is between Green Park and Waterloo. It is in Travelcard Zone 1. The station is located at the corner of Bridge Street and Victoria Embankment and is close to the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Parliament Square, Whitehall, Westminster Bridge and the London Eye. Also close by are Downing Street, the Cenotaph, Westminster Millennium Pier, the Treasury, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Supreme Court. The station is in two parts: sub-surface platforms opened in 1868 by the Metropolitan District Railway (MDR) as part of the company's first section of the Inner Circle route and deep level platforms opened in 1999 as part of the Jubilee line extension from Green Park to Stratford. A variety of underground and mainline services have operated over the sub-surface tracks, but the original station was completely rebuilt in conjunction with the construction of the deep level platforms and Portcullis House which sits above the station.

Recently selected: SmarTrip - Pennsylvanian (train) - Nationaltheatret Station

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Selected image of the week

One of the Southwestern Railways' signals around Fastiv I station in the Ukraine shows a stop aspect on a December morning in 2010.

Recently selected: TCDD E8000 class - TGM at Sidi Bou Said - Steam locomotives at Changhua roundhouse

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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

October 3

1839 – The first railway line in Italy, 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) long between Naples and Portici, opens.
1873 – Grand Trunk Railway begins converting its track between Stratford, Ontario, and Montreal from 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) (broad gauge) to 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) (standard gauge); the conversion is completed within 24 hours.
2001 – Canadian Pacific Corporation divests itself of its five major subsidiaries, spinning off Canadian Pacific Railway (pictured) as an independent company.
2004 – The Southwestern Railroad in New Mexico leases the Carlsbad Subdivision, 183 miles (295 km) of track between Clovis and Carlsbad, from the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway.

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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 narrow-gauge battery–electric locomotive used for mining (from Locomotive)
Image 2An interior of a Circle line S7 Stock in London (from Railroad car)
Image 3A narrow gauge train in Austria (from Train)
Image 4Arrival of the Normandy Train, Gare Saint-Lazare, by Claude Monet, 1877, Art Institute of Chicago (from Train)
Image 5The New Orleans Streetcar System is the oldest in the world. (from Train)
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 7RegioCitadis light rail train in Zoetermeer (the Netherlands). (from Train)
Image 8The ESS 3200 electric locomotive was introduced in 1925 in the Dutch East Indies, now Indonesia. (from Locomotive)
Image 9A 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 10The EMD FT set the stage for diesel locomotives to take over from steam. (from Train)
Image 11Most derailments, such as this one in Switzerland, are minor and do not cause injuries or damage. (from Train)
Image 12British Rail Mark 3 coach, an all-steel car from the 1970s (from Railroad car)
Image 13The Union Pacific Big Boy locomotives represented the pinnacle of steam locomotive technology and power. (from Train)
Image 14The 1887 Daimler draisine (from Locomotive)
Image 15Stockton and Darlington special inaugural train 1825: six wagons of coal, directors coach, then people in wagons. (from Train)
Image 16A China Railways HXD1D electric locomotive in China (from Locomotive)
Image 17Baltimore & Ohio electric engine, 1895 (from Locomotive)
Image 18A Victorian Railways R class steam locomotive in Australia (from Locomotive)
Image 19Electric train on Djursholmsbanan in Stockholm in the 1890s. (from Train)
Image 20A British Rail Class 150 in the United Kingdom (from Railroad car)
Image 21A prototype of a Ganz AC electric locomotive in Valtellina, Italy, 1901 (from Locomotive)
Image 22A Tokyo Monorail train (from Train)
Image 23The Japanese 0 Series Shinkansen pioneered high speed rail service (from Train)
Image 24TGV Lacroix first class interior (from Train)
Image 25Yard for Amtrak equipment, located next to the Los Angeles River. The two tracks on the left are the mainline. (from Rail yard)
Image 26This 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 27A coach yard in Shanghai, China (from Rail yard)
Image 28Inside a modern-day car from Finland (from Railroad car)
Image 29The first useful diesel locomotive (a diesel–electric) for long distances, the SŽD Eel2, 1924 in Kyiv (from Locomotive)
Image 30Garratt locomotives in Zimbabwe (from Train)
Image 31Various types of railroad cars in a classification yard in the United States (from Train)
Image 32Restored clerestory cars on display at the Mid-Continent Railway Museum in North Freedom, Wisconsin (from Railroad car)
Image 33Southern Railway (UK) 20002 was equipped with both a pantograph and contact shoes. (from Locomotive)
Image 34Soviet RT-23 Molodets ICBM launch train, in the St Petersburg museum (from Railroad car)
Image 35A Union Pacific freight train; high clearances enable double-stacked containers to be carried in well cars. (from Train)
Image 36A London Underground battery–electric locomotive used for hauling engineers' trains, at West Ham station (from Locomotive)
Image 37A Metropolitan line S8 Stock at Amersham in London (from Railroad car)
Image 38A wooden toy train set from Swedish manufacturer Brio (from Train)
Image 39The "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 40This 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 41An Indian locomotive class WDM-3A diesel locomotive in India (from Locomotive)
Image 42A gas turbine locomotive operated by the Union Pacific Railroad (from Train)
Image 43Bombardier ALP-45DP, at the Innotrans convention in Berlin (from Locomotive)
Image 44China operates an extensive high speed rail network. (from Train)
Image 45Werner von Siemens experimental DC electric train, 1879 (from Locomotive)
Image 46Schedule of train departure times in Indonesia stations (from Train)
Image 47Armored train Hurban located in Zvolen, Slovakia (from Railroad car)
Image 48A preserved armored train (from Train)
Image 49Typical American extended vision caboose (from Railroad car)
Image 50A freight car (boxcar type) for the South Australian Railways, 1926 (from Railroad car)