Section 4: Gameplay
On each turn, the active player performs exactly one of three actions: draw Train Car cards, claim one route, or draw Destination Tickets. After the action is complete, play passes clockwise.
Action A: Draw Train Car Cards
A player normally draws two Train Car cards, one at a time. For each draw, the player may take one of the five face-up cards or draw the top card blindly from the face-down deck.
- Whenever a face-up card is taken, immediately replace it from the deck before the player makes the second draw.
- If a face-up Locomotive is selected as the first draw, it is the player’s only card for that turn.
- A face-up Locomotive cannot be selected as the second draw.
- A Locomotive drawn blindly from the deck counts as an ordinary draw, so the player may still take a second card.
- If fewer than two cards are available in both the deck and display combined, the player draws only what is available.
Whenever three or more cards in the five-card display are Locomotives, discard the entire display and reveal five new cards. If the remaining deck does not contain enough cards to make a full display, reveal as many as possible.
When the face-down deck runs out, thoroughly shuffle the Train Car discard pile to form a new deck. If the deck and discard pile are both empty because cards are being held by players, no Train Car cards can be drawn until cards are spent and discarded.
Action B: Claim a Route
To claim an unoccupied route, play a set of Train Car cards equal to the route’s length. For a colored route, every regular card must match the route color. Locomotives may replace any number of the required cards.
Gray routes may be claimed using a set of any one regular color, together with any Locomotives. Different regular colors cannot be mixed in the same payment. A gray route of length four, for example, could be claimed with four blue cards, or with three blue cards and one Locomotive.
After paying, discard the cards face up and place one of your train cars on every space of the route. Move your scoring marker immediately according to the route-scoring table. A player may claim only one route per turn and may claim a route even if it does not connect to that player’s existing network.
A route cannot be claimed if the player lacks enough train cars to fill every space. Players cannot partially claim a route, cooperate on its cost, or place more cars later to complete it.
Double Routes
- In a four- or five-player game, both parallel routes may be claimed, but they must belong to different players.
- In a two- or three-player game, only one route in each double-route pair may be claimed. Once one side is occupied, the parallel side is closed to everyone.
- A single player may never claim both sides of the same double route, regardless of player count.
Action C: Draw Destination Tickets
Draw the top three Destination Tickets. If fewer than three remain, draw all remaining tickets. Examine them privately and keep at least one. A player may keep two or all three if desired.
Return rejected tickets to the bottom of the Destination Ticket deck. Tickets kept during the game remain in that player’s possession until final scoring and can never be discarded later.
Triggering the Final Round
When a player ends a turn with two or fewer train cars remaining, the final round begins. Every player, including the player who triggered the ending, receives one final turn. The game ends after the triggering player completes that final turn.
The final round begins only after the triggering turn is fully resolved. Having two or fewer trains during a turn does not matter if the player finishes that turn with more than two, although ordinary play provides no normal way to regain placed trains.