The era of collection, analysis and use of vast volumes of data also known as "Big Data" has dawned and has already made contributions to marketing, demand forecasting and creation of new business. Today there is a reflection on how Big Data can play a role in planning transport and administering and maintaining railways, in the hope that it will improve railway management and convenience to rail users. This report looks at the prospects of using big data in the railways and discusses studies on handling large quantities of data.