How to Play RailQ
The daily world train guessing game. Travel time, ridership, stops, operator, map. Five guesses to crack the route.
Play today's puzzle →The rules
One train route from somewhere in the world. Five guesses. Type the route name (TGV, Shinkansen, Eurostar, Acela, etc.) to submit. You start with the total travel time, and each wrong guess unlocks the next clue.
Reading the clues
- Travel time is your first and best filter. Two to three hours is a high-speed corridor (TGV, Shinkansen, AVE). Six to ten hours is a regional or scenic line. A full day or more is a transcontinental like the Indian Pacific or The Canadian.
- Ridership separates the giants from the niche. Tens of millions of riders a year means a flagship high-speed line. A few hundred thousand means a tourist or long-distance route.
- The operator is often the giveaway: SNCF means France, JR means Japan, Deutsche Bahn means Germany, Renfe means Spain, and Amtrak means the US.
- The map on the final clue usually seals it. The shape and location of the corridor point straight at the answer.
Strategy tips
- Start from travel time. It instantly tells you whether you are looking at a quick high-speed hop or a multi-day journey.
- Use the operator clue to lock the country, then pick among that country's famous lines. SNCF points to the TGV, JR to the Shinkansen, Renfe to the AVE.
- Flagship routes come up often. Guess the obvious one for a region (TGV, Shinkansen, Eurostar, Acela) before chasing obscure lines.
- The map is almost always decisive. A coastal hug, a mountain crossing, or a dead-straight desert line each point to a small set of routes.
FAQ
How do you play RailQ?
RailQ picks a real train route from somewhere in the world each day. You have five guesses to name it. You start with the total travel time, and each wrong guess unlocks another clue: annual ridership, number of stops, the operator, and finally a partial route map.
What clues does RailQ give?
In order: (1) total travel time, shown from the start, (2) annual ridership after your first miss, (3) number of stops, (4) the operator, which is the rail company such as SNCF, JR, Deutsche Bahn, or Amtrak, and (5) a partial map of the route. Each wrong guess unlocks the next.
Which trains are in the pool?
Famous railways from around the world: France's TGV, Italy's Frecciarossa, Germany's ICE, Spain's AVE, Japan's Shinkansen, Korea's KTX, the Eurostar, Morocco's Al Boraq, the Indian Pacific, and US Amtrak lines like the Empire Builder and Sunset Limited. Some days are flagship high-speed routes, some are scenic long-distance runs.
How do you win RailQ?
Type the route name. A correct guess wins. Wrong guesses narrow it down by revealing the next clue. The operator and the partial map are usually the tells.
When do new RailQ puzzles drop?
Midnight Eastern every day. Same puzzle worldwide.
Is RailQ free?
Yes. Free to play, no account required.
What's the best RailQ strategy?
Travel time narrows it instantly: a 2 to 3 hour trip is a high-speed hop like the TGV, Shinkansen, or AVE, while a 24-hour-plus run is a transcontinental like the Indian Pacific, The Canadian, or California Zephyr. Ridership separates the mega high-speed lines from niche routes, and the operator clue often hands you the country outright.