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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

H 220 leads the Albury Express out of Melbourne, past the signalbox at Essendon, circa 1949

The history of rail transport in Australia dates almost to the decade of the first commercial railways in the world. Following the British model, Australians generally assumed in the 1850s that railways would be built by the private sector. Private companies attempted to build railways in the colonies (states after Federation in 1901) of New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia. The first line opened in South Australia in 1854 as a horse-drawn line, while the first steam-powered line opened in Victoria a little later in 1854. It was soon established that the private railways were not financially viable, and the building of rail networks was taken over by colonial governments. This also enabled railways to be developed to promote development, even if not apparently viable in strictly financial terms. The railway systems spread from the colonial capitals, except in cases where geography dictated a choice of an alternate port. The colonial railways were built to three different gauges, which became a problem once lines of different systems met at Albury, New South Wales, in 1881 and Wallangarra, Queensland, in 1888. In the 20th century, the lines between major cities were converted to standard gauge and electrified suburban networks were built in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth. In the second half of the 20th century, many rural branch lines were closed to passengers or altogether in all states. On the other hand, long heavy-haul railways were built to transport iron ore in Western Australia and coal in Queensland to ports.

Recently selected: SD26 - Trams in Adelaide - Rugby railway station

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Selected image of the week

SBB Class A 3/5 express steam locomotive number 705 pulls a train consisting of matching coaches near Rolle in November 2008 as part of the 150-year anniversary jubilee celebration of the Lausanne–Geneva railway.

Recently selected: freight cars at Euromaint Rail - train on the Nine Arch Bridge, Sri Lanka - COMSA iron ore 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

November 15

1899 – The New York Central railroad leases the Boston and Albany Railroad.
1919 – The "golden spike" is driven (pictured) and construction of the San Diego and Arizona Railway is completed at a cost of $18 million.
1982 – The Jōetsu Shinkansen opens for service between Tokyo and Niigata.
2001 – Two Canadian National Railway trains collide head-on in Andersonville, Michigan (northwest of Detroit).

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Train News

Santa Fe No. 2926 at Albuquerque, New Mexico
July 24, 2021 – Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe No. 2926, a 4-8-4 steam locomotive built by Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1944, moves under its own power for the first time since Christmas Eve of 1953, after nearly twenty-two years of being rebuilt by volunteers. The locomotive will be put into mainline excursion service. (NMSL&RHS, Trains Magazine on Facebook)
Big Boy No. 4012 at Steamtown National Historic Site
May 5, 2021 – Steamtown National Historic Site completes thorough cosmetic overhaul on Union Pacific 4-8-8-4 Big Boy No. 4012, which is moved back on static display before National Train Day. (NEPA Scene)
The derailed Taroko Express trainset, as seen from outside the entrance to the tunnel
April 2, 2021 – 2021 Hualien train derailment – A Taroko Express train operated by the Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) derails at the north entrance of Qingshui Tunnel in Heren Section, Xiulin Township, Hualien County, Taiwan, killing 49 people and injuring at least 200 others. North of Hualien City a construction truck had fallen down a slope onto the tracks. The eight-carriage train derailed after colliding with the truck, and then came to a rest in the tunnel, with severe damage and many casualties. (Bloomberg, CNN, CNA, New York Times, Financial Times)

The preserved C&O 1309 at the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum in October 2009

December 31, 2020 – Following a complete restoration, Chesapeake and Ohio 1309, a 2-6-6-2 Mallet locomotive built by Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1949, the last steam locomotive built by Baldwin for the North American market, is operated under its own power for test runs. When returned to service on the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad, it will be the largest steam locomotive in regular scheduled service in the United States and take 2-8-0 No. 734’s place as the largest active steam locomotive in the state of Maryland. (Trains.com Newswire)

An Avelia Liberty train on a test run in Delaware in May 2020

September 28, 2020 – Amtrak operates a test run using one of the 28 new Avelia Liberty trains manufactured by Alstom along the full length of the Northeast Corridor to Boston South Station. Previous test runs had occurred from Washington, D.C., only as far north as New Jersey and Delaware. Barring any problems, the trains are expected to enter regular service on the route in 2021. (Universal Hub)

Berryessa/North San José station on the first day of service

June 13, 2020 – The Bay Area Rapid Transit Silicon Valley BART extension opened its stations in Milpitas and North San Jose. (San Jose Spotlight, SF Gate)

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General images

The following are images from various train-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1The "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 2Workington stabling point in 1981, with locomotives from Classes 25, 40 and 47 parked between duties. (from Rail yard)
Image 3A Metropolitan line S8 Stock at Amersham in London (from Railroad car)
Image 4Southern Railway (UK) 20002 was equipped with both pantograph and contact shoes. (from Locomotive)
Image 5Armored train Hurban located in Zvolen, Slovakia (from Railroad car)
Image 6A London Underground battery–electric locomotive at West Ham station used for hauling engineers' trains (from Locomotive)
Image 7Baltimore & Ohio electric engine, 1895 (from Locomotive)
Image 8Arrival of the Normandy Train, Gare Saint-Lazare, by Claude Monet, 1877, Art Institute of Chicago (from Train)
Image 9The EMD FT set the stage for diesel locomotives to take over from steam. (from Train)
Image 10British Rail Mark 3 coach, an all-steel car from the 1970s (from Railroad car)
Image 11A preserved armored train (from Train)
Image 12A Victorian Railways R class steam locomotive in Australia (from Locomotive)
Image 13Yard for Amtrak equipment, located next to the Los Angeles River. The two tracks on the left are the mainline. (from Rail yard)
Image 14The Union Pacific Big Boy locomotives represented the pinnacle of steam locomotive technology and power. (from Train)
Image 15A number of maintenance vehicles at work on Metro-North Railroad (from Train)
Image 16Stockton and Darlington special inaugural train 1825: six wagons of coal, directors coach, then people in wagons. (from Train)
Image 17A Union Pacific freight train; high clearances enable double-stacked containers to be carried in well cars. (from Train)
Image 18A coach yard in Shanghai, China (from Rail yard)
Image 19Bombardier ALP-45DP at the Innotrans convention in Berlin (from Locomotive)
Image 20World's first useful diesel locomotive (a diesel–electric locomotive) for long distances SŽD Eel2, 1924 in Kyiv (from Locomotive)
Image 21The New Orleans Streetcar System is one of the oldest in the world. (from Train)
Image 22A narrow-gauge battery–electric locomotive used for mining (from Locomotive)
Image 23A Tokyo Monorail train (from Train)
Image 24This 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 25Variety of rolling stock in rail yard (from Rolling stock)
Image 26Pacific National diesel locomotives in Australia showing three body types, cab unit (front), hood unit (middle) and box cab (rear) (from Locomotive)
Image 27Soviet RT-23 Molodets ICBM launch train, in the St Petersburg museum (from Railroad car)
Image 28Second-class compartment of a China Railways CRH1A-A train (from Train)
Image 29A gas turbine locomotive operated by the Union Pacific Railroad (from Train)
Image 30Typical American extended vision caboose (from Railroad car)
Image 31A narrow gauge train in Austria (from Train)
Image 32An interior of a Circle line S7 Stock in London (from Railroad car)
Image 33This 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 34The 1887 Daimler draisine (from Locomotive)
Image 35China operates an extensive high speed rail network. (from Train)
Image 36Various types of railroad cars in a classification yard in the United States (from Train)
Image 37Garratt locomotives in Zimbabwe (from Train)
Image 38Trains 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 39A 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 40A British Rail Class 150 in the United Kingdom (from Railroad car)
Image 41Restored clerestory cars on display at the Mid-Continent Railway Museum in North Freedom, Wisconsin (from Railroad car)
Image 42Škoda Artic light rail train near the cathedral in Tampere, Finland (from Train)
Image 43US-style railroad truck (bogie) with journal bearings (from Train)
Image 44A wooden toy train set from Swedish manufacturer Brio (from Train)
Image 45A China Railways HXD1D electric locomotive in China (from Locomotive)
Image 46Werner von Siemens experimental DC electric train, 1879 (from Locomotive)
Image 47Inside a modern-day car from Finland (from Railroad car)
Image 48Most derailments, such as this one in Switzerland, are minor and do not cause injuries or damage. (from Train)
Image 49A prototype of a Ganz AC electric locomotive in Valtellina, Italy, 1901 (from Locomotive)
Image 50Electric train on Djursholmsbanan in Stockholm in the 1890s. (from Train)
Image 51The Japanese 0 Series Shinkansen pioneered high speed rail service. (from Train)
Image 52A freight car (boxcar type) for the South Australian Railways, 1926 (from Railroad car)