From Kishore Kumar posing as a Half Ticket running riot to Raj and Simran's super filmi reunion in Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, train journeys in Hindi movies have formed the backdrop for both romance and comedy.
But it's the action scenes where the railgaadi's daredevil attributes lie.
And Bollywood is more than happy to play it up to the hilt.
Kill claims it is India's most violent movie ever, when a commando goes on a 'great train rampage' to rescue his girlfriend from a group of deadly bandits, resulting in a bloodbath of unprecedented proportions.
Its ingeniously packaged mix of guts and gore has straightaway found its place in the history of train-themed action.
Sukanya Verma lists 10 Hindi movies that boast of memorable rail-sized adventures.
Sholay, 1975
Ramesh Sippy's Sholay opens and ends with the sight of a train but it's the grandly filmed attack of the dakus where Jai and Veeru show off their heroism in the face of danger and win Thakur's trust for a lifetime.
The sequence's vast scale and reckless momentum makes it one for the ages like the rest of the movie.
The Burning Train, 1980
Though B R Chopra's work of ambition wasn't a great big success when it came out, The Burning Train has found its spot among classics since then.
Considering the entire premise revolves around a super-fast train trying to survive a ticking bomb and imminent crash, there's no dearth of thrills and derring-do.
Roop Ki Rani Choron Ka Raja, 1993
Roop Ki Rani Choron Ka Raja may have bombed at the box office but folks will remember Producer Boney Kapoor leaving no stone unturned to make it a bonafide biggie.
One of its genuinely awe-inspiring moments involves a harnessed Anil Kapoor dangling from a helicopter to align himself against a moving goods train as part of his elaborate heist plans.
Kachche Dhaage, 1999
Stepbrothers on the run reconcile while on the move but not before dodging bullets and cops, hot on their trail, in a bid to get on board a speedily moving train on the tracks.
Pulsating action and Ajay Devgn and Saif Ali Khan's chalk and cheese chemistry continue to be two of the best things about Milan Luthria's breakout direction.
Gadar: Ek Prem Katha, 2001
Hot-headed Sunny Deol destroys everything in sight when provoked by the padosi mulk in the Partition-themed action of Gadar.
Among its many action scenes highlighting the brawny star's brute force, it's his nerve-wracking escape from the entire armed forces of Pakistan atop a steam train with family in tow that enjoys a special place in action buffs' memories.
Khakee, 2004
One of Bollywood's best action movies from the 2000s, Rajkumar Santoshi's multi-starrer led by Amitabh Bachchan, Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgn, Aishwarya Rai and Tusshar Kapoor as cops and crooks engaged in a game of cat and mouse is brimming with volatile intensity.
Devgn's surprise attack on AB and his team of khakee-clad men at the station as they scamper to get on board is yet another instance of its action-packed grit.
Dhoom 2, 2006
Who can forget the sight of Hrithik Roshan atop a train running past the Namibia desert before he gets busy slipping in Her Majesty's getup and sneaking off with her crown much to the dismay of her clueless security?
Wolf whistles, galore.
Ra.One, 2011
One of the snazziest bits in Ra.One happens inside the Mumbai local when a briefly possessed Kareena Kapoor gets behind its steering with disaster on her mind.
The field is left open for SRK's robotic avatar to save the day with his superhuman agility as he jumps between compartments and races across roofs.
Pathaan, 2023
Anyone who has watched Pathaan on the big screen will remember the euphoria surrounding the exact moment Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan share screen space against some remote train route in Russia fanning their Karan Arjun era nostalgia.
A swashbuckling Tiger coming to a captured Pathaan's rescue as they fend off a battery of villains will always be worth the price of admission.
Joram, 2023
Where most Bollywood action scenes inside a train are marked by heroics, the one from Joram is rooted in desperation.
Manoj Bajpayee's poignant portrayal as a father of an infant on the run from shady politicians in the city comes down to a harrowing chase within the compartments that's as pitiful as it is unnerving to witness.
