Trains FAQ
74 questions players ask · Updated Nov 13, 2026 · Full rulebook
How to Play
All Aboard! (Setup)
On A Player's Turn
Playing A Card
- Do you still get a card's coin if you skip its effect?
- If you apply a card's effects, must you apply all of them, including the Waste?
- Can you bank rail-laying points from several cards and spend them later in the turn?
- Do you take Waste when you play a Lay Rails card but place no rail?
- How many rails or stations does a card let you place?
Terms
- Must new track connect to your existing track?
- Can you place a second rail token in a space where you already have one?
- What does it cost to build where other players already have rail, and how many Waste do you take?
- How much does it cost to lay track into a city that already has stations or other players' tokens?
- Do the buildings printed on a city change the cost of building there?
- Do you need your own track in a city to place a station there?
- Must you place a station before laying track in a city?
- Does a city with more towers score differently from a one-tower city?
- Can more than one player lay rail on a remote location?
- Can you buy Waste cards?
Rail-Laying Cards
- Does a cost-cancelling card like Steel Bridge, Tunnel or Subway Excavation also remove the Waste?
- Do Tunnel, Steel Bridge or Viaduct waive the extra cost for other players' rail tokens?
- Does Subway Excavation waive the money cost for other players' rail tokens?
- Does Subway Excavation remove the cost of building in a Remote Location?
- What does Collaboration waive when you build on another player's track?
- Does a Tunnel or Steel Bridge's discount cover the rail that card lays itself, whatever order its effects are printed in?
- Does a Tunnel or Subway Excavation discount cover later rail-laying cards that turn?
- Can you play Viaduct and Collaboration in one turn and get both discounts on the same rail?
- Can you play Steel Bridge or Tunnel without a basic Lay Rails card, and lay them on any space?
The Cards
- Can Stationmaster's Office copy a card in your play area, or only one in your hand?
- Can Stationmaster's Office copy Holiday Timetable, and does that trash both cards for 6 coins?
- Which train cards also count as Action cards, so Stationmaster's Office can copy them?
- How much money does Amusement Park give when you play it?
- Does Amusement Park copy a train's bonus coins, such as a Freight Train's Waste return?
- Do several Freight Trains each get the bonus for returning Waste?
- How much is a Bullet Train worth when you have Normal Trains in play?
- Can Conductor's Station discard itself, or be played twice in one turn?
- If Maintenance Factory gains a card identical to the one you revealed, can you use the revealed card this turn?
- Do you score Tourist Train's 1 VP as well as taking its money?
- Can you use Station Crew's Draw or Gain Coin option if you have no Waste to return?
- Do Ironworks coins from several rail cards add up, and does it pay if you lay no rail?
- Can Waste from your hand be discarded for Mail Train's coins?
- Where do cards discarded for Mail Train go, and can one card count for two Mail Trains?
- Does playing a Station Expansion card cost money to place its station?
Reduce & Reuse – How to Get Rid of Waste
Clean Up
Winning the Game
- Do Gold VP cards do anything when played or while in hand?
- What ends the game, and when does it end?
- Do all players get the same number of turns when the game ends?
- Do you score victory points during the game or only at the end?
- How do rail tokens score at game end?
- Do you score station points when you build a station and again at game end?
- Who scores a city's station bonus?
- How are ties for the most victory points broken?
Trains: Coastal TidesExpansion
- How many station markers can go on a field space under Ruralization?
- How many VP does Scenic Route give when you lay rail?
- How much money do several Novelty Trains earn when played in one turn?
- How does Streetcar's star work when you have already gained a star this turn?
- If a Productivity card is still in front of you, do you draw its card when you pass on your next turn?
- Does Corporate Rate's discount last the whole turn, and do several Corporate Rates stack?
- Can Coastal Tides cards be mixed with the base-game cards in one game?
- Does Coastal Tides add any new general rules?
- Does Banker's discard apply to cards in your play area, or only to your hand?
- How much money does Multi-Unit Train give?
- Can Union Contract draw a card without playing a Station or taking a Waste?
- Does Maglev Train's 'when you gain this card' wording cover cards you get without buying them?