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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 Central London Railway (CLR), also known as the Twopenny Tube, was a railway company established in 1889 to construct a deep-level underground "tube" railway in London. Funding for construction was obtained in 1895 through a syndicate of financiers and work took place from 1896 to 1900. When opened in 1900, the CLR served 13 stations and ran completely underground in a pair of tunnels for 9.14 kilometres (5.68 mi) between its western terminus at Shepherd's Bush and its eastern terminus at the Bank of England, with a depot and power station to the north of the western terminus. After a rejected proposal to turn the line into a loop, it was extended at the western end to Wood Lane in 1908 and at the eastern end to Liverpool Street station in 1912. In 1920, it was extended along a Great Western Railway line to Ealing to serve a total distance of 17.57 kilometres (10.92 mi). After initially making good returns for investors, the CLR suffered a decline in passenger numbers due to increased competition from other underground railway lines and new motorised buses, leading in 1913 to its take-over by the Underground Electric Railways Company of London (UERL), operator of the majority of London's underground railways. In 1933 the CLR was taken into public ownership along with the UERL. Today, the CLR's tunnels and stations form the central section of the London Underground's Central line.

Recently selected: Mountain Railways of India - Roseville Avenue (NJT station) - Gullfisk

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Selected image of the week

The narrow gauge railway at Višegrad, in present day Bosnia and Herzegovina, was still powered by steam locomotives as late as 1970 as seen in this photograph.

Recently selected: Hallerbach and Wiedtal viaducts - Pelion railway - GO Transit train

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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

July 16

A modern diesel powered rack train at the Pike's Peak summit station

1877 – Railroad workers on strike in Martinsburg, West Virginia, derail and loot a train; United States President Rutherford B. Hayes calls in Federal troops to break the strike.
1939 – The world's first diesel-powered rack locomotive enters service on the Manitou and Pike's Peak Railway (pictured).
1983 – The route of Amtrak's California Zephyr is shifted off the Union Pacific Railroad in Wyoming to the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad.
1999 – Indian Railways' Grand Trunk Express on its way to Delhi collides with derailed freight cars near Mathura, India; 17 people die and 200 more are injured in the accident.

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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 freight car (boxcar type) for the South Australian Railways, 1926 (from Railroad car)
Image 2China operates an extensive high speed rail network. (from Train)
Image 3A Victorian Railways R class steam locomotive in Australia (from Locomotive)
Image 4This 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 5Soviet RT-23 Molodets ICBM launch train, in the St Petersburg museum (from Railroad car)
Image 6A wooden toy train set from Swedish manufacturer Brio (from Train)
Image 7An interior of a Circle line S7 Stock in London (from Railroad car)
Image 8Stockton and Darlington special inaugural train 1825: six wagons of coal, directors coach, then people in wagons. (from Train)
Image 9Trains 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 10A narrow gauge train in Austria (from Train)
Image 11A Metropolitan line S8 Stock at Amersham in London (from Railroad car)
Image 12A London Underground battery–electric locomotive used for hauling engineers' trains, at West Ham station (from Locomotive)
Image 13Electric train on Djursholmsbanan in Stockholm in the 1890s. (from Train)
Image 14Arrival of the Normandy Train, Gare Saint-Lazare, by Claude Monet, 1877, Art Institute of Chicago (from Train)
Image 15Yard for Amtrak equipment, located next to the Los Angeles River. The two tracks on the left are the mainline. (from Rail yard)
Image 16A preserved armored train (from Train)
Image 17A prototype of a Ganz AC electric locomotive in Valtellina, Italy, 1901 (from Locomotive)
Image 18A 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 19Restored clerestory cars on display at the Mid-Continent Railway Museum in North Freedom, Wisconsin (from Railroad car)
Image 20Baltimore & Ohio electric engine, 1895 (from Locomotive)
Image 21The New Orleans Streetcar System is the oldest in the world. (from Train)
Image 22An Indian locomotive class WDM-3A diesel locomotive in India (from Locomotive)
Image 23Schedule of train departure times in Indonesia stations (from Train)
Image 24A Tokyo Monorail train (from Train)
Image 25The first useful diesel locomotive (a diesel–electric) for long distances, the SŽD Eel2, 1924 in Kyiv (from Locomotive)
Image 26A British Rail Class 150 in the United Kingdom (from Railroad car)
Image 27US-style railroad truck (bogie) with journal bearings (from Train)
Image 28The Japanese 0 Series Shinkansen pioneered high speed rail service (from Train)
Image 29Armored train Hurban located in Zvolen, Slovakia (from Railroad car)
Image 30Typical American extended vision caboose (from Railroad car)
Image 31Various types of railroad cars in a classification yard in the United States (from Train)
Image 32Most derailments, such as this one in Switzerland, are minor and do not cause injuries or damage. (from Train)
Image 33A narrow-gauge battery–electric locomotive used for mining (from Locomotive)
Image 34A Union Pacific freight train; high clearances enable double-stacked containers to be carried in well cars. (from Train)
Image 35The Union Pacific Big Boy locomotives represented the pinnacle of steam locomotive technology and power. (from Train)
Image 36Inside a modern-day car from Finland (from Railroad car)
Image 37British Rail Mark 3 coach, an all-steel car from the 1970s (from Railroad car)
Image 38A coach yard in Shanghai, China (from Rail yard)
Image 39Workington stabling point in 1981, with locomotives from Classes 25, 40 and 47 parked between duties. (from Rail yard)
Image 40A China Railways HXD1D electric locomotive in China (from Locomotive)
Image 41Garratt locomotives in Zimbabwe (from Train)
Image 42Bombardier ALP-45DP, at the Innotrans convention in Berlin (from Locomotive)
Image 43TGV Lacroix first class interior (from Train)
Image 44RegioCitadis light rail train in Zoetermeer (the Netherlands). (from Train)
Image 45The ESS 3200 electric locomotive was introduced in 1925 in the Dutch East Indies, now Indonesia. (from Locomotive)
Image 46A gas turbine locomotive operated by the Union Pacific Railroad (from Train)
Image 47The EMD FT set the stage for diesel locomotives to take over from steam. (from Train)
Image 48Southern Railway (UK) 20002 was equipped with both a pantograph and contact shoes. (from Locomotive)
Image 49Werner von Siemens experimental DC electric train, 1879 (from Locomotive)
Image 50The "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)