Portal:Trains

Portals → Technology → Transport → Trains

The Trains Portal

Image:

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))

Shortcuts

edit

Selected article of the week

The Blackpool tramway runs from Blackpool to Fleetwood on the Fylde Coast in Lancashire, England. It was the last surviving first-generation tramway in the United Kingdom until it was replaced by a fleet of modern Flexity 2 trams in 2012. However, today the traditional trams still provide a 'heritage service' on bank holiday weekends and during the summer, as well as operate on tours during the illuminations. In 2015 it was announced that the heritage service would run every weekend from March to November. The line dates back to 1885 and is one of the oldest electric tramways in the world. It is operated by Blackpool Transport (BTS), and runs for 11 miles (18 km) and carries 6,500,000 passengers each year. Excluding museums, it is one of only a few tramways in the world that uses double-deck trams, others including Hong Kong and Alexandria Tram in Egypt.

Recently selected: Bjørnsletta (station) - Berlin S-Bahn - Airport (Rodalies de Catalunya)

More selected articles - Candidates

edit

Selected image of the week

Passengers board and alight from several passenger trains at Vilnius railway station, Lithuania, in 2013.

Recently selected: VSOE in Liechtenstein - A Red Cross Train - Tripoli railway station

More selected pictures - Candidates

edit

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?

More did you know facts - Candidates

edit

Selected anniversaries

August 7

1865 – The Lawrence Railroad and Transportation Company, with tracks in Pennsylvania and Ohio, is reorganized as the Lawrence Railroad Company.
1905 – The Marion and Johnston City Railway, a predecessor of Missouri Pacific Railroad (1903 map pictured), is incorporated in Illinois.
1924 – Streetcars operate for the last time in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, to be replaced with buses.
1954 – The last streetcars operate on the Altoona and Logan Valley Electric Railway in Altoona, Pennsylvania.

Archive

edit

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)

Archive

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