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Trains in Red Dead Redemption 2 mostly exist as a means for fast travel. However, there is at least one Challenge — Sharpshooter 3 — where you need to be riding a train. And, if you’re clever about it and know the schedule and routes, you can use trains as a free means of not-so-fast fast travel.
Lucky for you, we’re here to help. We put in a lot of time riding the rails to figure out the rail lines and timetables — which will be listed below.
Southern and Eastern Railway schedule
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The Southern and Eastern Railway makes a 16 in-game hour loop (about 30 minutes real-world time) around the outside edge of Ambarino, New Haven, and Lemoyne. It runs north along the east coast from Saint Denis through Van Horn Trading Post (without stopping) and on to Annesburg, then crosses east-to-west across Ambarino without stopping. It then continues southwest to Wallace Station and Riggs Station, then turns east to Rhodes, and finally back to Saint Denis.
The 16-hour loop means that the train won’t show up at those stations at the same time every day. One day it will be noon, the next will be 4 p.m., the next will be 8 p.m., then midnight, etc. That cycle will reset every seven in-game days.
Central Union Railroad schedule
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The Central Union Railroad line runs a very similar loop around Ambarino, New Hanover, and Lemoyne. It also runs north along the east coast from Saint Denis to Van Horn Trading Post and Annesburg, then crosses east-to-west across Ambarino without stopping. It then continues southwest to Wallace Station and Riggs Station. Instead of continuing east to Rhodes, though, the Central Union Railroad turns north to stop at Valentine and Emerald Station before continuing back down to Saint Denis.
Confusingly, the Central Union Railroad loop takes about 20 in-game hours to complete. That means that a train that departs at noon on one day will leave at 8 a.m., 4 a.m. and midnight. This pattern will reset every seven in-game days as well.
