Best Train Simulation Games for PC

Lay tracks, build companies, and provide an economy in these train sim games

Updated on November 15, 2019

Train sims bring the world of model trains to your desktop. These games allow you to manage railroad systems and sit in the engineer's seat.

Whether you're business minded and want to expand a railroad empire, are fascinated by train technology and development, or love the classic era of the railway boom, these train sims are packed with action and offer a variety of play strategies to match your style.

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Sid Meier's Railroads!

Time to get to work putting together railroad systems and getting them connected to run efficiently. Laying down a track and making sure goods and transported with ease is your main job.

The introduction at the beginning of Sid Meier's Railroads! gives it a low learning curve, making it great for new players to the genre.

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Chris Sawyer's Locomotion

Based on Transport Tycoon, the goal is to build a transportation system between cities to thwart competitors who want to take away your business.

Transportation isn't limited to just trains; it includes buses, ships, trams, and other methods. It's your job to build roads, bridges, and tracks to make money as you make your way through the 20th century.

The graphics are a bit outdated in this train sim, but the upside is that the gameplay is addictive.

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Railroad Pioneer

You're the owner of a railroad company in the 1800s in this train sim game. You must lay the tracks to connect cities together to trade goods and allow people to travel.

Along the way, you'll learn the difficulties of those times in the railroad business, and even explore famous train routes in the West.

There are 10 story-based, historically accurate campaigns you can play, plus different game modes, landscape settings, expandable industries, and professions to explore.

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Railway Empire

Create your own rail network in 1830s United States during the railroad boom.

Buy railway stations, or build your own, and purchase trains from over 40 detailed types. Build your infrastructure, including factories and maintenance buildings, develop new technologies — there are more than 300 available — to improve efficiency and service, provide tourist attractions to keep your company ahead of the competition, and keep it running on time by hiring and managing a workforce.

Railway Empire takes you through five different eras of railroad innovations and features industrial espionage and sabotage as ways to keep your empire ahead of the pack.

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Microsoft Train Simulator

Microsoft Train Simulator gives you the opportunity to be in the engineer's seat for over nine trains. You can even make your own routes and activities.

Train Simulator was released in 2001 and was a great game for its time, but still offers a fun and challenging experience.

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Railroad Tycoon 3

In the Railroad Tycoon 3 train sim game, you're provided with goals that have to be completed in a certain way, with the idea being to construct famous historical railroads.

There are 25 scenarios to play through, and you're given a world editor that allows you to modify landscapes. You get your choice from dozens of locomotives like bullets and steams.

You'll need to secure enough capital to build your own railway company, but once you have it up and running, you can take a step back to fully appreciate your creation using the game's full 3D layout.

While Railroad Tycoon 3 is a good game, the economic system is far from perfect.

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Trainz Simulator 12

Trainz is a long-running series of railroad simulator games, and this version opens up gameplay to include other players from around the world.

You can operate railroad networks with friends in the multiplayer game, design and build your own railroads with the editing tool, plus find and use hundreds of thousands of assets created by other players.

And, of course, you can feel the thrill of controlling your own powerful locomotive as you drive through cities, towns, and the countryside.

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