Abstract: Railway heritage is a complex industrial heritage with many important values. The activation and utilization of railway heritage in Western countries began in the United Kingdom in the 1970s, and has since been widespread in Europe and the United States. They have accumulated a lot of experience and many successful cases. The activation and utilization of railway heritage is mainly reflected in the functional replacement of railway station buildings, the transformation and utilization of railway facilities and the regional renewal of the heritage network. Compared with western countries, China started late in this field and has many problems. It should learn from foreign experience to achieve scientific and rational conservation and utilization.