List of The Railway Series and Thomas & Friends characters lists and describes the characters that have appeared in the British children's books The Railway Series, in the television adaptation of the books Thomas & Friends (which ran from 1984 to 2021), or in other media in the franchise based on the television series.
The Railway Series is a series of 42 books written by Wilbert Awdry and his son Christopher Awdry. Wilbert wrote the first 26 books from 1945 to 1972 beginning with The Three Railway Engines, while Christopher wrote the remaining 16 books from 1983 to 2011, concluding with Thomas and His Friends.
Unless otherwise stated the technical notes come from Wilbert Awdry's notes when he was developing the characters and setting for his stories. These notes are cited in his publication The Island of Sodor: Its People, History, and Railways.