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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 CBH class is a class of diesel-electric freight locomotives designed and manufactured in the United States by MotivePower in Boise, Idaho, for Western Australian grain growers' co-operative CBH Group. The CBH class was ordered to haul grain trains on the open access rail network in the south of Western Australia. The trains, operated for CBH by Watco WA Rail under a long-term contract, link various CBH grain collection points in the wheatbelt with CBH terminal and port facilities in Albany, Geraldton and Kwinana. The 25 members of the CBH class are divided into three sub-classes, based on differences in power output, traction motors and track gauge

Recently selected: Cardiff Central railway station - Cape Town Railway & Dock 0-4-0T - Canton Viaduct

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A 2600 series car of the Chicago 'L' rapid transit system Red Line is temporarily rerouted to elevated tracks at Randolph station in November 2007. The rolling stock of the 'L' consists of 1,190 rail cars (all permanently coupled into 595 married pairs) dating from 1969 to 2011. With 594 active cars out of a total of 600 built, the 2600 series is by far the most abundant in the 'L' rolling stock.

Recently selected: train at Gare Nador Ville, Morocco - passenger train in Mongolia - trains at Mouans-Sartoux station

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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 2

Northern Pacific train station at Gardiner, Montana

1802 – William Norris, American steam locomotive builder and founder of Norris Locomotive Works, is born (d. 1867).
1864 – The Northern Pacific Railway (pictured) is chartered to build a northern transcontinental railroad in the United States.
1880 – The first revenue trains reach Leadville, Colorado, on the Denver, South Park and Pacific Railroad.
1954 – A first part of the Valenciennes-Thionville line in France is electrified, both for military and commercial reasons.

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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 1Schedule of train departure times in Indonesia stations (from Train)
Image 2Armored train Hurban located in Zvolen, Slovakia (from Railroad car)
Image 3An interior of a Circle line S7 Stock in London (from Railroad car)
Image 4A Union Pacific freight train; high clearances enable double-stacked containers to be carried in well cars. (from Train)
Image 5Typical American extended vision caboose (from Railroad car)
Image 6A London Underground battery–electric locomotive used for hauling engineers' trains, at West Ham station (from Locomotive)
Image 7Yard for Amtrak equipment, located next to the Los Angeles River. The two tracks on the left are the mainline. (from Rail yard)
Image 8A British Rail Class 150 in the United Kingdom (from Railroad car)
Image 9China operates an extensive high speed rail network. (from Train)
Image 10Restored clerestory cars on display at the Mid-Continent Railway Museum in North Freedom, Wisconsin (from Railroad car)
Image 11A prototype of a Ganz AC electric locomotive in Valtellina, Italy, 1901 (from Locomotive)
Image 12TGV Lacroix first class interior (from Train)
Image 13The first useful diesel locomotive (a diesel–electric) for long distances, the SŽD Eel2, 1924 in Kyiv (from Locomotive)
Image 14A narrow-gauge battery–electric locomotive used for mining (from Locomotive)
Image 15Trains 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 16This 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 17The New Orleans Streetcar System is the oldest in the world. (from Train)
Image 18A China Railways HXD1D electric locomotive in China (from Locomotive)
Image 19Bombardier ALP-45DP, at the Innotrans convention in Berlin (from Locomotive)
Image 20Werner von Siemens experimental DC electric train, 1879 (from Locomotive)
Image 21An Indian locomotive class WDM-3A diesel locomotive in India (from Locomotive)
Image 22The EMD FT set the stage for diesel locomotives to take over from steam. (from Train)
Image 23A number of maintenance vehicles at work on Metro-North Railroad (from Train)
Image 24A Tokyo Monorail train (from Train)
Image 25British Rail Mark 3 coach, an all-steel car from the 1970s (from Railroad car)
Image 26A gas turbine locomotive operated by the Union Pacific Railroad (from Train)
Image 27Baltimore & Ohio electric engine, 1895 (from Locomotive)
Image 28Southern Railway (UK) 20002 was equipped with both a pantograph and contact shoes. (from Locomotive)
Image 29A freight car (boxcar type) for the South Australian Railways, 1926 (from Railroad car)
Image 30Workington stabling point in 1981, with locomotives from Classes 25, 40 and 47 parked between duties. (from Rail yard)
Image 31Arrival of the Normandy Train, Gare Saint-Lazare, by Claude Monet, 1877, Art Institute of Chicago (from Train)
Image 32A Victorian Railways R class steam locomotive in Australia (from Locomotive)
Image 33Various types of railroad cars in a classification yard in the United States (from Train)
Image 34Soviet RT-23 Molodets ICBM launch train, in the St Petersburg museum (from Railroad car)
Image 35A wooden toy train set from Swedish manufacturer Brio (from Train)
Image 36Electric train on Djursholmsbanan in Stockholm in the 1890s. (from Train)
Image 37The Japanese 0 Series Shinkansen pioneered high speed rail service (from Train)
Image 38The ESS 3200 electric locomotive was introduced in 1925 in the Dutch East Indies, now Indonesia. (from Locomotive)
Image 39RegioCitadis light rail train in Zoetermeer (the Netherlands). (from Train)
Image 40A preserved armored train (from Train)
Image 41US-style railroad truck (bogie) with journal bearings (from Train)
Image 42The "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 43Stockton and Darlington special inaugural train 1825: six wagons of coal, directors coach, then people in wagons. (from Train)
Image 44A narrow gauge train in Austria (from Train)
Image 45The Union Pacific Big Boy locomotives represented the pinnacle of steam locomotive technology and power. (from Train)
Image 46This 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 47A 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 48Garratt locomotives in Zimbabwe (from Train)
Image 49A Metropolitan line S8 Stock at Amersham in London (from Railroad car)
Image 50Most derailments, such as this one in Switzerland, are minor and do not cause injuries or damage. (from Train)
Image 51The 1887 Daimler draisine (from Locomotive)
Image 52Inside a modern-day car from Finland (from Railroad car)
Image 53A coach yard in Shanghai, China (from Rail yard)