The Big Dictionary of Dreams

by Martha Clarke
Your future is going forward. Given that the train follows a fixed route, this dream suggests that you are receiving help and direction in your vital life. As a means of collective transportation, on the other hand, this image symbolizes the need to share projects, ideas, and thoughts. From it you can deduce the need to speak more often with your loved ones, fleeing from the isolation that threatens you. On the contrary, being the only occupant of the train is a sign of great timidness or ego.

If you miss a train, it indicates the frustrated hope for change or the desire to leave a real situation, but without a clear sense of direction. For Jung, the figure of public vehicles expresses that the dreamer has not found her own way yet, and that her behavior is the same as everyone else’s. According to Freud, dreams that imply movement represent sexual relations. In fact, Freud believed the train to be a phallic symbol.

In antiquity, dreaming of voyages presaged a change in fortune. This would be better if the destination were at the top of a hill or of a mountain. And if the voyage continued at large in a straight line, the good luck would appear very soon in your life.

The Bedside Dream Dictionary

by Silvana Amar
This dream symbol can be very complicated and its meaning is specific to the dreamer (as all dream symbols are).

If you normally take the train to work and it is a part of your daily experience, closer attention should be paid to the other details of the dream. Going on a train ride may be symbolic of your life’s journey.

If you are the engineer, you may be reassuring yourself in the dream state that you are in control of a specific situation or life in general.

The train could also be symbolic of your need to move on and to do things in an orderly and sequential manner. Freud said that the train is usually a phallic symbol and that a train going through a tunnel represents intercourse. Freud also said that there are other possibilities to this symbol.

For example if you missed the train in your dream, you may be fearful of missing important opportunities. Jung thought that the train ride represented the way a person moves and behaves just like everyone else and that you the dreamer may be striving for wholeness.

Dreamers Dictionary

by Garuda
Vision: In a man’s dream, a train is often a sign of fear—fear of having missed something.

The train you have missed in the dream is the equivalent of a missed opportunity in real life. Traveling in a train: you are advancing quickly in life. Watching a train leaving the station: a separation is unavoidable. Seeing a train: you will have to say goodbye to someone. Being on a train that goes through a tunnel: you are giving away one of your secrets. In a woman’s dream, a train is a sexual symbol, particularly if it is driving into a tunnel.

Depth Psychology: Riding in a train is symbolic of your life’s journey. You are changing your emotional bearings—don’t miss your connections! The lead engine symbolizes your vitality; the railroad cars your experiences and adventures: the tracks the values that guide you and give you direction.

The trip itself is a symbol of how your life will unfold.

See Train Station.