6 Best Train Robbery and Railway Thriller Movies

By Vlad Zakh · June 4, 2026

A speeding train is a confined, thundering setting for heists and chases. The First Great Train Robbery has a Victorian gentleman thief planning to rob a moving gold train, Unstoppable has railway workers racing a runaway train, and Von Ryan’s Express has prisoners of war hijacking a train across Italy. Silver Streak, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and The Lady Vanishes round out the six.

Unstoppable (2010)

TMDB ★ 7.2

Two railway workers race to stop a runaway freight train from causing a catastrophic disaster.

Directed by Tony Scott · 1h 38m · Rated PG-13

Where to watch

Stream: YouTube TV · Rent or buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

The First Great Train Robbery (1978)

IMDb ★ 6.9 RT 79% Metacritic 68

A Victorian gentleman thief plans an elaborate heist of a moving train, based on a real robbery.

Directed by Michael Crichton · 1h 50m · Rated PG

1 win & 1 nomination

Where to watch

Rent or buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Silver Streak (1976)

TMDB ★ 6.7

A publishing executive witnesses a murder aboard a cross-country train and becomes the target of the killers.

Directed by Arthur Hiller · 1h 54m · Rated PG

Where to watch

Rent or buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Von Ryan's Express (1965)

TMDB ★ 7.2

Allied prisoners of war hijack a train to make a daring escape across occupied Italy.

Directed by Mark Robson · 1h 57m · Rated NR

Where to watch

Rent or buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)

TMDB ★ 7.7

Two legendary outlaws flee to Bolivia when a relentless posse makes robbing trains too dangerous at home.

Directed by George Roy Hill · 1h 51m · Rated PG

Where to watch

Stream: Philo, A&E Crime Central Apple TV channel · Rent or buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

The Lady Vanishes (1938)

TMDB ★ 7.5

A young woman aboard a European train insists a kindly governess has vanished, though no one else remembers her.

Directed by Alfred Hitchcock · 1h 36m · Rated NR

Where to watch

Stream: fuboTV, Philo, Criterion Channel, Fandor, Fandor Amazon Channel, HBO Max · Rent or buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Streaming availability data from JustWatch, via TMDB. Availability changes often, so check the service before you plan a movie night.

Vlad Zakh

Founder, Movieix

Founder of Movieix. He started the site because most recommendation pages felt like noise. Here, lists are sorted by who's in the film, where it's from and what mood you're in tonight.

6 Best Train Robbery and Railway Thriller Movies

Unstoppable (2010)

The First Great Train Robbery (1978)

Silver Streak (1976)

Von Ryan's Express (1965)

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)

The Lady Vanishes (1938)

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