History Main / ThrillerOnTheExpress

The OrientExpress is a popular choice for the location, but the Moscow-Warsaw-Berlin-Paris "Ost-West Express" with its very distinctive green and yellow carriages plus Soviet crest is good for a ColdWar story.

* ''LightNovel/{{Baccano}}'''s "The Grand Punk Railroad" plotline has several criminal plans [[CollidingCriminalConspiracies clashing at each other]], most of which occurs--wait for it--on the transcontinental express train, ''The Flying Pussyfoot''.

* ''Series/{{CSI}}'': "73 Seconds" is this trope in miniature, as the team investigate a murder that took play on a tram moving between two casinos; with the entire journey taking [[TitleDrop 73 seconds]], so the killer had to be in the car.

* The game ''Videogame/ChaseTheExpress''/ ''CovertOpsNuclearDawn'' is sort of a clunky ''VideoGame/MetalGear'' FollowTheLeader set on a trans-European train that will launch a nuke when it reaches its destination - although unusually for this type of story, there are a few stages that take place on a different train running adjacent to the main one.

* ''VisualNovel/TheMurderOfSonicTheHedgehog'' takes place on a high-speed train where Amy is hosting a murder mystery birthday party. Sonic ends up being the murder victim, but the player character suspects legitimate foul play at hand, so he teams up with Tails to explore the train and interrogate the suspects.

* ''TabeltopGame/{{TORG}}'' had part of its "Relics of Power" adventure take place on a train. Sadly this setting was abandoned when the adventure was remade for the rereleased version, ''Eternity''.

* Like so much else, ''VideoGame/BoxxyQuestTheGatheringStorm'' has fun with this. In Chapter 6, the heroes are excited for a luxury train trip, since it means taking a break from their quest, only for them to stumble over a murder victim the ''instant they climb aboard''. Anonymous tries to bail out, and even after Catie guilt trips him into staying to help solve the mystery, he never stops acting really annoyed by the whole thing.

* Chapter 6 of ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor'' is a BreatherLevel that largely takes place on the luxuriant Excess Express. You get roped into solving a mystery that follows this formula during the three-day trip, and, except for a brief rest stop at an abandoned station, is totally devoid of actual fighting until the [[TraintopBattle Traintop Boss Battle]] on the last day. It also averts the lack of security normally present in these stories--the train staff refuses to let Mario into restricted areas, let alone outside the train. The boss battle is on the traintop because [[spoiler:the boss had already captured everyone on the train except the conductor, leaving an unobstructed path out]].

* Subverted in the Literature/SherlockHolmes story "The Bruce-Partington Plans", where a dead body is found near a subway line but the carriages have already been redistributed, meaning there's no hope of finding clues to the murder. [[spoiler:The victim was killed in a trainside apartment [[ VehicleRoofBodyDisposal and then placed on top of the train.]]]]

* The anime adaption of ''Franchise/AceAttorney'' features a new case written specifically for the anime that wasn’t in the game, and the whole case takes place on a train

* The ''Comicbook/SinCity'' short story "Wrong Track" features a man who thinks he has gotten lucky by finding a lover on a train. [[spoiler: It turns out, she is an assassin who snaps his neck and throws him off the train.]]

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureVentoAureo'': Chapters 47-60 of the manga, and episodes 14-16 of the anime, feature Bucciarati's team fighting the hitmen Pesci and Prosciutto on a train, where Bucciarati and Mista alone are able to protect the rest of the group from the La Squadra members. This story arc also introduces the character Coco Jumbo, whose abilities are frequently used for the rest of Vento Aureo.

* ''Manga/DetectiveConan'' has more than one case settled on a train. Also, an important arc called "Mystery Train".

* The ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'' episode "Mystery Train" plays it straight for the most part. [[spoiler:...but then subverts it at the last minute, by making the whole thing an elaborate birthday prank[=/=]staged mystery put together by Jake for Finn's birthday.]]

* Subverted in the Literature/SherlockHolmes story "The Bruce-Partington Plans", where a dead body is found near a subway line but the carriages have already been redistributed, meaning there's no hope of finding clues to the murder. [[spoiler:The victim was killed in a trainside apartment and then placed on top of the train.]]

** The WesternAnimation/DaffyDuck short ''Boston Quackie'' takes place on board 'Le Cloak and Dagger Express'.

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* The ''WesternAnimation/MrMagoo'' cartoon "Magoo's Express", where he ends up in possession of an experimental explosive [[ExplosiveCigar shaped like a cigar]] and is targeted by Eastern Bloc spies.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheDickTracyShow'': "The Casbah Express" is a train originating in Paris that is carrying a shipment of gold. Joe Jitsu is assigned to guard the gold from Sketch Paree and the Mole who covet the gold shipment.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}'' played around with this in "Murmur on the Ornery Express" with all the main characters (except the Carmichaels) going on a scenic train ride to a historic tourist town for Boris and Minka's second honeymoon, complete with a 1930s-style streamlined steam locomotive pulling the train. But as everyone else boards, a tall dark stranger in a ConspicuousTrenchcoat disguise boards the train as well, and then things begin to go wrong when after passing through a tunnel, Minka's diamond necklace is stolen, and Angelica's Cynthia doll and Chuckie's "Wawa" teddy bear are both presumably stolen as well, and Tommy and Chuckie suspect the stranger (whom they call the "Shadow Guy") of the crime. Eventually, it's found that [[spoiler: Lulu's ex-boyfriend Dwayne had stolen the necklace, the tall dark stranger is really Jonathan who snuck on board to make sure Charlotte's work could get done faster, and Cynthia ended up under a seat in the babies' compartment after Angelica accidentally grabbed "Wawa" in the dark, thinking it was Cynthia.]]
* ''WesternAnimation/AMissMallardMystery'': The episode "Express Train to Trouble" is set on the Nile Express, and involves the disappearance of a passenger after an Ancient Egyptian artifact is brought on board.
* The ''WesternAnimation/ThunderbirdsAreGo'' episode "Heist Society". On an underwater hyper loop train, Lady Penelope and Parker are escorting Professor Moffat to a rendezvous with the Global Defence Force in Iceland in order to safely deliver a particle born from the Supreme Hadron Collider disaster - Centurium 21. However, the Hood is keen to get his hands on the particle and plots an elaborate robbery in order to steal it for himself. Thunderbirds 1, 2, and 4 are soon dispatched to not only rescue the trapped train and its passengers, but also attempt to foil the Hood's plan.