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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

Linx AB was a railway company which operated inter-Scandinavian passenger trains between 2001 and 2004. Established as a joint venture between the Norwegian State Railways (NSB) and the Swedish state-owned SJ, Linx operated the routes from Oslo, Norway, to Stockholm, Sweden, and from Oslo via Gothenburg, Sweden, to Copenhagen, Denmark. Services were provided up to ten times per day. However, slow speeds caused by curvy infrastructure in Norway, combined with competition from low-cost airlines, caused the company to lose money, and eventually grounded operations. The services were taken over by NSB and SJ. The main rolling stock were eleven X2 electric multiple units, although it used Rc-hauled trains on the Gothenburg–Oslo service. The company was based in Gothenburg.

Recently selected: Kew Gardens–Union Turnpike - Kawasaki Heavy Industries C151 - Joseph Scelsi Intermodal Transportation Center

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Selected image of the week

A JR East 205-600 series 4-car EMU traverses the Nikkō Line in 2013.

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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 28

1830 – The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad uses Peter Cooper's Tom Thumb to push an open car carrying 18 passengers along 14 miles (22.5 km) of track. On the return trip, it raced a horse and carriage on a parallel track, a race which the horse won due to mechanical failure of the locomotive.
1864 – The United States Postal Service inaugurates the first railway post office (modern car pictured) route in the United States when Chicago Assistant Postmaster George B. Armstrong authorizes the route on the Chicago and North Western Railway between Chicago and Clinton, Iowa.
1866 – The Danville, Urbana, Bloomington and Pekin Railroad, in Illinois, is incorporated.
1897 – Construction begins on the Chinese Eastern and South Manchurian lines of the Trans-Siberian 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 coach yard in Shanghai, China (from Rail yard)
Image 2An Indian locomotive class WDM-3A diesel locomotive in India (from Locomotive)
Image 3A prototype of a Ganz AC electric locomotive in Valtellina, Italy, 1901 (from Locomotive)
Image 4A 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 5US-style railroad truck (bogie) with journal bearings (from Train)
Image 6China operates an extensive high speed rail network. (from Train)
Image 7The New Orleans Streetcar System is the oldest in the world. (from Train)
Image 8Arrival of the Normandy Train, Gare Saint-Lazare, by Claude Monet, 1877, Art Institute of Chicago (from Train)
Image 9The Japanese 0 Series Shinkansen pioneered high speed rail service (from Train)
Image 10A Union Pacific freight train; high clearances enable double-stacked containers to be carried in well cars. (from Train)
Image 11A freight car (boxcar type) for the South Australian Railways, 1926 (from Railroad car)
Image 12Workington stabling point in 1981, with locomotives from Classes 25, 40 and 47 parked between duties. (from Rail yard)
Image 13Various types of railroad cars in a classification yard in the United States (from Train)
Image 14Southern Railway (UK) 20002 was equipped with both a pantograph and contact shoes. (from Locomotive)
Image 15A narrow gauge train in Austria (from Train)
Image 16The ESS 3200 electric locomotive was introduced in 1925 in the Dutch East Indies, now Indonesia. (from Locomotive)
Image 17Restored clerestory cars on display at the Mid-Continent Railway Museum in North Freedom, Wisconsin (from Railroad car)
Image 18A narrow-gauge battery–electric locomotive used for mining (from Locomotive)
Image 19The Union Pacific Big Boy locomotives represented the pinnacle of steam locomotive technology and power. (from Train)
Image 20RegioCitadis light rail train in Zoetermeer (the Netherlands). (from Train)
Image 21Yard for Amtrak equipment, located next to the Los Angeles River. The two tracks on the left are the mainline. (from Rail yard)
Image 22TGV Lacroix first class interior (from Train)
Image 23Electric train on Djursholmsbanan in Stockholm in the 1890s. (from Train)
Image 24The EMD FT set the stage for diesel locomotives to take over from steam. (from Train)
Image 25The "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 26Werner von Siemens experimental DC electric train, 1879 (from Locomotive)
Image 27Baltimore & Ohio electric engine, 1895 (from Locomotive)
Image 28Bombardier ALP-45DP, at the Innotrans convention in Berlin (from Locomotive)
Image 29British Rail Mark 3 coach, an all-steel car from the 1970s (from Railroad car)
Image 30Inside a modern-day car from Finland (from Railroad car)
Image 31Typical American extended vision caboose (from Railroad car)
Image 32A Tokyo Monorail train (from Train)
Image 33Trains 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 34A London Underground battery–electric locomotive used for hauling engineers' trains, at West Ham station (from Locomotive)
Image 35A Metropolitan line S8 Stock at Amersham in London (from Railroad car)
Image 36Garratt locomotives in Zimbabwe (from Train)
Image 37A Victorian Railways R class steam locomotive in Australia (from Locomotive)
Image 38Most derailments, such as this one in Switzerland, are minor and do not cause injuries or damage. (from Train)
Image 39The first useful diesel locomotive (a diesel–electric) for long distances, the SŽD Eel2, 1924 in Kyiv (from Locomotive)
Image 40Stockton and Darlington special inaugural train 1825: six wagons of coal, directors coach, then people in wagons. (from Train)
Image 41A British Rail Class 150 in the United Kingdom (from Railroad car)
Image 42Soviet RT-23 Molodets ICBM launch train, in the St Petersburg museum (from Railroad car)
Image 43Schedule of train departure times in Indonesia stations (from Train)
Image 44A China Railways HXD1D electric locomotive in China (from Locomotive)
Image 45This 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 46The 1887 Daimler draisine (from Locomotive)
Image 47A preserved armored train (from Train)
Image 48This 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 49A gas turbine locomotive operated by the Union Pacific Railroad (from Train)
Image 50An interior of a Circle line S7 Stock in London (from Railroad car)