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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 Abbey Line (or St Albans Abbey Branch Line) is a railway line from Watford Junction to St Albans Abbey. The 6.5-mile (10.5 km) route passes through town and countryside in the county of Hertfordshire, just outside the boundaries of the London fare zones. Its northern terminus in St Albans Abbey is located in the south of the city, around 1.2 kilometres (0.75 mi) away from the larger St Albans City railway station on the Thameslink line. The Abbey Line is a semi-rural line and, due to its single-track operation, service frequencies are limited. The service is sometimes referred to locally as the Abbey Flyer.

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Selected image of the week

An Ishiyamadera-bound train approaches Hamaōtsu Station on the Keihan Ishiyama Sakamoto Line in Japan in 2007.

Recently selected: Israel Railways freight train - Hjørring station - Trams in Prague

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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

September 20

1820 – Alfred Belpaire (pictured), inventor of the Belpaire firebox used on steam locomotives, is born (d. 1893).
1853 – Indianapolis's Union Station, the first union station in the United States, opens.
1873 – In order to contain the Panic of 1873, brought on by the failure of Jay Cooke & Company in financing the Northern Pacific Railway, the New York Stock Exchange halts all trading and closes for ten days.
1997 – RaiLink Southern Ontario begins operations on the former Canadian National Railway Hagersville subdivision between Nanticoke and Brantford.

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