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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

First electric tram in Adelaide - on display at the St Kilda, South Australia tram museum January 2007

Trams in Adelaide are represented by a single tram line connecting the central business district of Adelaide, South Australia, to the seaside suburb of Glenelg, and two classes of electric trams built in 1929 and 2006. Until 1958 this line was part of a network spanning most of suburban Adelaide, with origins dating back to 1878. Adelaide operated with horse trams from 1878 to 1914, electric trams from 1909 to 1958 and has primarily relied on buses for public transport since. Early use of trams was for recreation rather than solely daily travel, with entire families and tourists being transported. Until the 1950s trams were used for family outings so much that the Municipal Tramways Trust (MTT) constructed Kensington Gardens and extended the Kensington line to attract customers. By 1945 the MTT was collecting fares for 95 million trips annually, representing 295 trips per head of population. After the Great Depression maintenance of the tramway system and the purchase of new trams suffered. Competition by private buses, the MTT's own bus fleet and the growth of private car ownership all took patrons from the tram network. By the 1950s, the tram network was losing money and being replaced by an electric and petrol bus fleet. Adelaide's tram history is preserved by a volunteer run museum and tramway at St Kilda, and the continuing use of 1929 H Class trams on the remaining Glenelg tram line.

Recently selected: Rugby railway station - Berlin Stadtbahn - EMD FT

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Selected image of the week

Railfans crowd around a train on the Nine Arch Bridge in Sri Lanka in May 2020.

Recently selected: COMSA iron ore train - Korail freight train - dumping the fire in South Africa

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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

February 4

1830 – The Camden and Amboy Railroad (locomotive pictured), the first railroad to be built in New Jersey, is chartered.
1934 – United Traction Company in Albany, New York, abandons the Albany-Troy and Albany-Cohoes streetcar lines, replacing the service with buses.
1908 – Great Western Railway's sole 4-6-2 steam locomotive, number 111 The Great Bear, makes its first run, becoming the first 4-6-2 locomotive to be operated in Great Britain.
1958 – Canada's Kellog Commission releases a report on the use of firemen as part of diesel locomotive crews.

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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 1A Tokyo Monorail train (from Train)
Image 2Armored train Hurban located in Zvolen, Slovakia (from Railroad car)
Image 3Baltimore & Ohio electric engine, 1895 (from Locomotive)
Image 4Schedule of train departure times in Indonesia stations (from Train)
Image 5Soviet RT-23 Molodets ICBM launch train, in the St Petersburg museum (from Railroad car)
Image 6The Japanese 0 Series Shinkansen pioneered high speed rail service. (from Train)
Image 7A Victorian Railways R class steam locomotive in Australia (from Locomotive)
Image 8Trains 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 9Pacific National diesel locomotives in Australia showing three body types, cab unit (front), hood unit (middle) and box cab (rear) (from Locomotive)
Image 10Variety of rolling stock in rail yard (from Rolling stock)
Image 11A prototype of a Ganz AC electric locomotive in Valtellina, Italy, 1901 (from Locomotive)
Image 12A Union Pacific freight train; high clearances enable double-stacked containers to be carried in well cars. (from Train)
Image 13Electric train on Djursholmsbanan in Stockholm in the 1890s. (from Train)
Image 14Bombardier ALP-45DP, at the Innotrans convention in Berlin (from Locomotive)
Image 15The EMD FT set the stage for diesel locomotives to take over from steam. (from Train)
Image 16A Metropolitan line S8 Stock at Amersham in London (from Railroad car)
Image 17An interior of a Circle line S7 Stock in London (from Railroad car)
Image 18This 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 19Various types of railroad cars in a classification yard in the United States (from Train)
Image 20This 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 21The first useful diesel locomotive (a diesel–electric) for long distances, the SŽD Eel2, 1924 in Kyiv (from Locomotive)
Image 22A China Railways HXD1D electric locomotive in China (from Locomotive)
Image 23A gas turbine locomotive operated by the Union Pacific Railroad (from Train)
Image 24Most derailments, such as this one in Switzerland, are minor and do not cause injuries or damage. (from Train)
Image 25Garratt locomotives in Zimbabwe (from Train)
Image 26The ESS 200 electric locomotive was introduced in 1925 in the Dutch East Indies, now Indonesia. (from Locomotive)
Image 27A coach yard in Shanghai, China (from Rail yard)
Image 28Arrival of the Normandy Train, Gare Saint-Lazare, by Claude Monet, 1877, Art Institute of Chicago (from Train)
Image 29Typical American extended vision caboose (from Railroad car)
Image 30A preserved armored train (from Train)
Image 31China operates an extensive high speed rail network. (from Train)
Image 32A narrow gauge train in Austria (from Train)
Image 33Stockton and Darlington special inaugural train 1825: six wagons of coal, directors coach, then people in wagons. (from Train)
Image 34A 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 35Inside a modern-day car from Finland (from Railroad car)
Image 36Yard for Amtrak equipment, located next to the Los Angeles River. The two tracks on the left are the mainline. (from Rail yard)
Image 37A number of maintenance vehicles at work on Metro-North Railroad (from Train)
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 39US-style railroad truck (bogie) with journal bearings (from Train)
Image 40The 1887 Daimler draisine (from Locomotive)
Image 41A London Underground battery–electric locomotive used for hauling engineers' trains, at West Ham station (from Locomotive)
Image 42The New Orleans Streetcar System is one of the oldest in the world. (from Train)
Image 43The Union Pacific Big Boy locomotives represented the pinnacle of steam locomotive technology and power. (from Train)
Image 44Second-class compartment of a China Railways CRH1A-A train (from Train)
Image 45A freight car (boxcar type) for the South Australian Railways, 1926 (from Railroad car)
Image 46Werner von Siemens experimental DC electric train, 1879 (from Locomotive)
Image 47A British Rail Class 150 in the United Kingdom (from Railroad car)
Image 48A narrow-gauge battery–electric locomotive used for mining (from Locomotive)
Image 49British Rail Mark 3 coach, an all-steel car from the 1970s (from Railroad car)
Image 50Workington stabling point in 1981, with locomotives from Classes 25, 40 and 47 parked between duties. (from Rail yard)
Image 51Škoda Artic light rail train near the cathedral in Tampere, Finland (from Train)
Image 52Southern Railway (UK) 20002 was equipped with both a pantograph and contact shoes. (from Locomotive)
Image 53Restored clerestory cars on display at the Mid-Continent Railway Museum in North Freedom, Wisconsin (from Railroad car)
Image 54A wooden toy train set from Swedish manufacturer Brio (from Train)