A money train is one or more

railcar A railcar (not to be confused with the generic term railroad car or railway car) is a self-propelled railway vehicle designed to transport passengers. The term "railcar" is usually used in reference to a train consisting of a single coa ...

s used to collect cash fare revenue from stations on a subway system and return it to a central location for processing. This train was typically used to carry money bags guarded by transit police to deter robberies. On the

New York City Subway The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system in New York City serving the New York City boroughs, boroughs of Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx. It is owned by the government of New York City and leased to the New York City Tr ...

, a "money train" was first mentioned in 1905, a year after the system opened. Their trains were converted from subway cars that have been removed from passenger service. This has since been discontinued, with the last service running in January 2006. Two of the cars are preserved by the New York Transit Museum in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

. The use of a train was necessary because of difficulties in getting to and from stations using over-street transport, and because, since the subway reaches every station, the rail system itself can be used to collect money from ticket machines. The 1995 American

crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definiti ...

thriller film '' Money Train'' depicts a robbery of such a train. Singapore's Mass Rapid Transit system introduced a money train (cash train) where a specially modified Driving Trailer car is coupled to a regular 3 car C151 train when the system was commissioned in 1987. Used to transfer cash trolleys from stations to a counting facility at Bishan Depot, the increased use of stored value tickets resulted in the train being decommissioned in 2007. The

Washington Metro The Washington Metro, often abbreviated as the Metro and formally the Metrorail, is a rapid transit system serving the Washington metropolitan area of the United States. It is administered by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority ...

system continues to use money trains as of August 2024. The

Light Rail Light rail (or light rail transit, abbreviated to LRT) is a form of passenger urban rail transit that uses rolling stock derived from tram technology National Conference of the Transportation Research Board while also having some features from ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

uses money trains, which are regular passenger trains taken out of service, to collect fares from the ticket vending machines.

Pay car

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, the reverse procedure occurred with the

New South Wales Government Railways New South Wales Government Railways (NSWGR) was an agency of the Government of New South Wales that administered rail transport in the colony, and then the state, of New South Wales, Australia, between 1855 and 1932. History The NSWGR built ...

fleet of pay buses. A small self-powered railcar, they were used to deliver pay packets containing cash to employees at remote railway stations, as well as maintenance gangs working on the tracks. This operation remained in service until the 1980s when it was supplanted by electronic payments.

References

Fare collection systems New York City Subway fare payment Trains {{NYC-transport-stub