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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

Trondheim Central Station (Norwegian: Trondheim sentralstasjon) or Trondheim S is the main railway station serving the city of Trondheim, Norway. Located at Brattøra in the north part of the city center, it is the terminus of the Dovre Line, running southwards, and the Nordland Line, which runs north. The railway is electrified south of the station but not north of it, so through trains must change locomotives at the station. Norges Statsbaner (NSB, the Norwegian State Railways) serves the station with express trains to Oslo and Bodø, regional trains to Røros and Östersund in Sweden, and the Trondheim Commuter Train. The Trondheim Bus Station located at the station serves all long-distance buses, and some city buses. Trondheim's first station, dating from 1864, was located at Kalvskinnet. In 1877 the current station was built to serve the Meråker Line to Sweden—since integrated into the Nordland Line. At the same time a connection was built between the two stations, and the central station took over as the main station serving Trondheim. In 1910 construction of a new station for the Dovre Line was started, finishing in 1922. From 1913 to 1968 the station was also the terminus for some services of the Trondheim Tramway.

Recently selected: Edgar Speyer - Niagara Falls Suspension Bridge - Grayrigg derailment

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Several trams in front of Nyugati Railway Station, Budapest, Hungary.

Budapest nyugati pályaudvar (Hungarian for Budapest Western Railway Station) is a railway station in the northern part of the old town of Budapest. It is one of the three main railway stations of Budapest (together with Keleti pályaudvar and Déli pályaudvar) and can be found in the 6th district. The station was planned by August de Serres, built by the Eiffel company and opened on October 28, 1877.

Recently selected: Track construction in Finland - Bridge near Eglisau, Switzerland - NSB EL13 class 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

October 6

1829 – The Rainhill Trials begin just outside Liverpool, England; five pioneering steam locomotives are entered in the trials.
1846 – George Westinghouse, American inventor who developed the Westinghouse air brake, is born (d. 1914).
1847 – Webb C. Ball, watchmaker who introduced the first truly reliable and accurate timepieces on American railroads, is born.
1853 – Thomas George Shaughnessy (pictured), president of Canadian Pacific Railway Limited 1899-1918, is born (d. 1923).

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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 New Orleans Streetcar System is the oldest in the world. (from Train)
Image 2Southern Railway (UK) 20002 was equipped with both a pantograph and contact shoes. (from Locomotive)
Image 3A narrow gauge train in Austria (from Train)
Image 4A coach yard in Shanghai, China (from Rail yard)
Image 5The Japanese 0 Series Shinkansen pioneered high speed rail service (from Train)
Image 6An Indian locomotive class WDM-3A diesel locomotive in India (from Locomotive)
Image 7A Victorian Railways R class steam locomotive in Australia (from Locomotive)
Image 8Most derailments, such as this one in Switzerland, are minor and do not cause injuries or damage. (from Train)
Image 9Various types of railroad cars in a classification yard in the United States (from Train)
Image 10A gas turbine locomotive operated by the Union Pacific Railroad (from Train)
Image 11A British Rail Class 150 in the United Kingdom (from Railroad car)
Image 12A 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 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 14A freight car (boxcar type) for the South Australian Railways, 1926 (from Railroad car)
Image 15Baltimore & Ohio electric engine, 1895 (from Locomotive)
Image 16The EMD FT set the stage for diesel locomotives to take over from steam. (from Train)
Image 17Arrival of the Normandy Train, Gare Saint-Lazare, by Claude Monet, 1877, Art Institute of Chicago (from Train)
Image 18TGV Lacroix first class interior (from Train)
Image 19An interior of a Circle line S7 Stock in London (from Railroad car)
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 21A Union Pacific freight train; high clearances enable double-stacked containers to be carried in well cars. (from Train)
Image 22A London Underground battery–electric locomotive used for hauling engineers' trains, at West Ham station (from Locomotive)
Image 23This 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 24Stockton and Darlington special inaugural train 1825: six wagons of coal, directors coach, then people in wagons. (from Train)
Image 25A prototype of a Ganz AC electric locomotive in Valtellina, Italy, 1901 (from Locomotive)
Image 26A Tokyo Monorail train (from Train)
Image 27Trains 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 28A Metropolitan line S8 Stock at Amersham in London (from Railroad car)
Image 29RegioCitadis light rail train in Zoetermeer (the Netherlands). (from Train)
Image 30Typical American extended vision caboose (from Railroad car)
Image 31The ESS 3200 electric locomotive was introduced in 1925 in the Dutch East Indies, now Indonesia. (from Locomotive)
Image 32The first useful diesel locomotive (a diesel–electric) for long distances, the SŽD Eel2, 1924 in Kyiv (from Locomotive)
Image 33A narrow-gauge battery–electric locomotive used for mining (from Locomotive)
Image 34A preserved armored train (from Train)
Image 35US-style railroad truck (bogie) with journal bearings (from Train)
Image 36Garratt locomotives in Zimbabwe (from Train)
Image 37Werner von Siemens experimental DC electric train, 1879 (from Locomotive)
Image 38The 1887 Daimler draisine (from Locomotive)
Image 39Workington stabling point in 1981, with locomotives from Classes 25, 40 and 47 parked between duties. (from Rail yard)
Image 40British Rail Mark 3 coach, an all-steel car from the 1970s (from Railroad car)
Image 41A wooden toy train set from Swedish manufacturer Brio (from Train)
Image 42Armored train Hurban located in Zvolen, Slovakia (from Railroad car)
Image 43Schedule of train departure times in Indonesia stations (from Train)
Image 44The Union Pacific Big Boy locomotives represented the pinnacle of steam locomotive technology and power. (from Train)
Image 45A number of maintenance vehicles at work on Metro-North Railroad (from Train)
Image 46Bombardier ALP-45DP, at the Innotrans convention in Berlin (from Locomotive)
Image 47Inside a modern-day car from Finland (from Railroad car)
Image 48Restored clerestory cars on display at the Mid-Continent Railway Museum in North Freedom, Wisconsin (from Railroad car)
Image 49China operates an extensive high speed rail network. (from Train)
Image 50Electric train on Djursholmsbanan in Stockholm in the 1890s. (from Train)