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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

London Necropolis railway station refers to two stations in Waterloo, London, England, which served successively as the London terminus of the London Necropolis Railway. The London Necropolis Railway was opened in 1854 as a reaction to severe overcrowding in London's existing graveyards and cemeteries. It aimed to use the recently-developed technology of the railway to move as many burials as possible to the newly-built Brookwood Cemetery in Brookwood, Surrey. This location was within easy traveling distance of London, but distant enough that the dead could not pose any risk to public hygiene. Although it had its own branch line into Brookwood Cemetery, most of the route of the London Necropolis Railway ran on the existing London and South Western Railway (LSWR). Consequently, a site was selected in Waterloo, near the LSWR's recently-opened London terminus at Waterloo Bridge station (now London Waterloo). The building was specifically designed for the use of mourners. It had many private waiting rooms, which could also be used to hold funeral services, and a hydraulic lift to raise coffins to platform level. In 1899 the location of the terminus was blocking the expansion of Waterloo station. After much negotiation, the LSWR reached agreement with the London Necropolis Company, the owners of the cemetery and the railway: in return for the existing site, the LSWR re-equipped the London Necropolis Railway and supplied it with a new station on Westminster Bridge Road. This new building was designed to contrast with other funeral directors' premises by being as attractive as possible. In 1902 the railway moved into the new building, and the earlier station was demolished. On 16 April 1941 the station was heavily damaged in an air raid. Much of the building was destroyed and the tracks to the station were rendered unusable. Although some funeral trains continued to run from nearby Waterloo station, the London terminus was never used again. Following the end of the war the London Necropolis Company decided that reopening the London Necropolis Railway was not financially worthwhile, and the surviving part of the station building was sold as office space. This remnant remains intact, and relatively unaltered since its opening.

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Patrick Stirling's 4-2-2 G Class "Single" No. 544 pulls a rake of Great Northern Railway six-wheeled coaches. This locomotive features a dome boiler, a later modification added by H.A. Ivatt.

Recently selected: Solkan bridge - BNSF Railway freight train - Berlin S-Bahn Christmas 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 6

1884 – Harold Stirling Vanderbilt, heir to Cornelius Vanderbilt and president of the New York Central Railroad system, is born (d. 1970).
1942 – The first political deportees train leaves Compiègne station in France to the Auschwitz concentration camp (pictured).
1978 – A plastic bag of dirty linen carelessly placed against the electric heater in the vestibule of a sleeping car traveling between Penzance and London Paddington, England, causes the Taunton sleeping car fire.
2000 – Amtrak introduces its new corporate logo to replace a logo that has been nicknamed by some as the "pointless arrow". The new logo was designed with a "shape and suggestion of movement [to] convey the comfort and uniqueness of the rail experience."

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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 1Southern Railway (UK) 20002 was equipped with both a pantograph and contact shoes. (from Locomotive)
Image 2A narrow-gauge battery–electric locomotive used for mining (from Locomotive)
Image 3A China Railways HXD1D electric locomotive in China (from Locomotive)
Image 4A prototype of a Ganz AC electric locomotive in Valtellina, Italy, 1901 (from Locomotive)
Image 5An interior of a Circle line S7 Stock in London (from Railroad car)
Image 6The New Orleans Streetcar System is the oldest in the world. (from Train)
Image 7The Japanese 0 Series Shinkansen pioneered high speed rail service (from Train)
Image 8Electric train on Djursholmsbanan in Stockholm in the 1890s. (from Train)
Image 9A gas turbine locomotive operated by the Union Pacific Railroad (from Train)
Image 10Most derailments, such as this one in Switzerland, are minor and do not cause injuries or damage. (from Train)
Image 11A 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 12US-style railroad truck (bogie) with journal bearings (from Train)
Image 13A Metropolitan line S8 Stock at Amersham in London (from Railroad car)
Image 14An Indian locomotive class WDM-3A diesel locomotive in India (from Locomotive)
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 16Inside a modern-day car from Finland (from Railroad car)
Image 17A wooden toy train set from Swedish manufacturer Brio (from Train)
Image 18Bombardier ALP-45DP, at the Innotrans convention in Berlin (from Locomotive)
Image 19A London Underground battery–electric locomotive used for hauling engineers' trains, at West Ham station (from Locomotive)
Image 20A number of maintenance vehicles at work on Metro-North Railroad (from Train)
Image 21The ESS 3200 electric locomotive was introduced in 1925 in the Dutch East Indies, now Indonesia. (from Locomotive)
Image 22Trains 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 23British Rail Mark 3 coach, an all-steel car from the 1970s (from Railroad car)
Image 24The Union Pacific Big Boy locomotives represented the pinnacle of steam locomotive technology and power. (from Train)
Image 25Restored clerestory cars on display at the Mid-Continent Railway Museum in North Freedom, Wisconsin (from Railroad car)
Image 26The EMD FT set the stage for diesel locomotives to take over from steam. (from Train)
Image 27Stockton and Darlington special inaugural train 1825: six wagons of coal, directors coach, then people in wagons. (from Train)
Image 28A Victorian Railways R class steam locomotive in Australia (from Locomotive)
Image 29Arrival of the Normandy Train, Gare Saint-Lazare, by Claude Monet, 1877, Art Institute of Chicago (from Train)
Image 30This 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 31China operates an extensive high speed rail network. (from Train)
Image 32The 1887 Daimler draisine (from Locomotive)
Image 33This 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 34Werner von Siemens experimental DC electric train, 1879 (from Locomotive)
Image 35A preserved armored train (from Train)
Image 36A British Rail Class 150 in the United Kingdom (from Railroad car)
Image 37Baltimore & Ohio electric engine, 1895 (from Locomotive)
Image 38The "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 39Workington stabling point in 1981, with locomotives from Classes 25, 40 and 47 parked between duties. (from Rail yard)
Image 40RegioCitadis light rail train in Zoetermeer (the Netherlands). (from Train)
Image 41A Tokyo Monorail train (from Train)
Image 42Garratt locomotives in Zimbabwe (from Train)
Image 43Typical American extended vision caboose (from Railroad car)
Image 44A Union Pacific freight train; high clearances enable double-stacked containers to be carried in well cars. (from Train)
Image 45Schedule of train departure times in Indonesia stations (from Train)
Image 46A narrow gauge train in Austria (from Train)
Image 47A freight car (boxcar type) for the South Australian Railways, 1926 (from Railroad car)
Image 48Various types of railroad cars in a classification yard in the United States (from Train)
Image 49Armored train Hurban located in Zvolen, Slovakia (from Railroad car)
Image 50The first useful diesel locomotive (a diesel–electric) for long distances, the SŽD Eel2, 1924 in Kyiv (from Locomotive)
Image 51TGV Lacroix first class interior (from Train)
Image 52Soviet RT-23 Molodets ICBM launch train, in the St Petersburg museum (from Railroad car)
Image 53A coach yard in Shanghai, China (from Rail yard)