Best public-transport fiction

Description
Most of us spend a lot of time reading on public transport, but what about all those great stories in which buses, trains, ferries or metros play a role? From celestial omnibuses to Glaswegian busconductors...
1
Murder on the Orient Express
by Agatha Christie
20,804 members
474 reviews
4.1
4 Members
DaynaRT, aulsmith, cej1027, ahef1963
2
Night Train to Lisbon
by Pascal Mercier
3,392 members
108 reviews
3.8
3 Members
thorold, sneuper, Dilara86
3
The Polar Express
by Chris Van Allsburg
11,826 members
475 reviews
½ 4.3
2 Members
dara85, ahef1963
4
Exercises in Style
by Raymond Queneau
2,912 members
57 reviews
3.9
2 Members
thorold, Dilara86
Explanations
thorold: 99 bus-ride stories. Or the same bus-ride story 99 times?
5
London Transports
by Maeve Binchy
835 members
13 reviews
3.2
2 Members
lahochstetler, ahef1963
6
What Mrs. McGillicuddy Saw!
by Agatha Christie
5,426 members
121 reviews
3.8
2 Members
lahochstetler, ahef1963
7
The Reader
by Bernhard Schlink
14,616 members
412 reviews
½ 3.7
2 Members
thorold, norabelle414
Explanations
thorold: Main character is a tram conductor
8
Zoo Station
by David Downing
870 members
33 reviews
½ 3.7
2 Members
aulsmith, elkiedee
9
Strangers on a Train
by Patricia Highsmith
3,045 members
109 reviews
½ 3.7
2 Members
thorold, elkiedee
10
Raising Steam
by Terry Pratchett
4,263 members
131 reviews
3.8
2 Members
thorold, Dilara86
11
Stamboul Train
by Graham Greene
2,104 members
51 reviews
½ 3.5
2 Members
thorold, ahef1963
12
The Waste Lands
by Stephen King
16,024 members
219 reviews
4.1
Member
cthulhuslibrarian
13
Train Dreams
by Denis Johnson
2,234 members
130 reviews
3.9
Member
sneuper
14
Zazie in the Metro
by Raymond Queneau
1,895 members
35 reviews
½ 3.7
Member
thorold
Explanations
thorold: Actually this is mostly a story about not being able to ride on the Métro...
15
253
by Geoff Ryman
589 members
21 reviews
½ 3.5
Member
aulsmith
16
The Zigzag Kid
by David Grossman
426 members
3 reviews
½ 3.7
Member
SqueakyChu
17
My Ántonia
by Willa Cather
15,308 members
311 reviews
3.9
Member
dara85
18
The Train
by Georges Simenon
425 members
14 reviews
½ 3.6
Member
Dilara86
19
The Busconductor Hines
by James Kelman
247 members
7 reviews
½ 3.6
Member
thorold
20
The Roads Must Roll [short fiction]
by Robert A. Heinlein
68 members
2 reviews
½ 3.6
Member
aulsmith
21
Iron Council
by China Miéville
3,742 members
87 reviews
½ 3.6
Member
Dilara86
22
The Winds of Marble Arch and Other Stories
by Connie Willis
414 members
15 reviews
4
Member
aulsmith
23
Corto viaggio sentimentale
by Italo Svevo
107 members
1 review
½ 3.3
Member
sneuper
24
Crazy Paving
by Louise Doughty
40 members
1 review
2.8
Member
elkiedee
25
Small Pleasures
by Clare Chambers
800 members
35 reviews
3.9
Member
elkiedee
26
The Celestial Omnibus and Other Stories
by E. M. Forster
328 members
7 reviews
½ 3.7
Member
thorold
27
Neverwhere
by Neil Gaiman
26,711 members
633 reviews
4.1
Member
ahef1963
28
Railsea
by China Miéville
1,868 members
106 reviews
3.8
Member
Dilara86
29
The Golden Rule
by Amanda Craig
97 members
2 reviews
½ 3.5
Member
elkiedee
30
The Third Level [short story]
by Jack Finney
7 members
1 review
½ 3.6
Member
aulsmith
31
Je n'ai pas eu le temps de bavarder avec toi
by Brahim Metiba
3 members
3.8
Member
Dilara86
32
La Bête Humaine
by Émile Zola
1,872 members
27 reviews
4
Member
thorold
33
The Edge
by Dick Francis
1,759 members
21 reviews
3.9
Member
ahef1963
34
COLECTIVO, EL (Spanish Edition)
by Eugenia Almeida
23 members
3.8
Member
Dilara86
Explanations
Dilara86: Another novel about people waiting for public transport rather than taking it...
35
The Sleeping-car Murders
by Sébastien Japrisot
347 members
9 reviews
½ 3.5
Member
thorold
36
The Other City
by Michal Ajvaz
221 members
8 reviews
4.1
Member
Dilara86
Explanations
Dilara86: Tramway
37
L'orage rompu
by Jacqueline Harpman
20 members
3
Member
Dilara86
Explanations
Dilara86: Train
38
The Appointment
by Herta Müller
817 members
29 reviews
½ 3.4
Member
thorold
Explanations
thorold: Tramride to an appointment with the secret police
39
Closely Watched Trains
by Bohumil Hrabal
1,208 members
33 reviews
3.9
Member
thorold
Explanations
thorold: A small Czech station during WWII
40
Eastbound
by Maylis de Kerangal
340 members
23 reviews
4.1
Member
Dilara86
Explanations
Dilara86: Transsiberian
41
Fundbüro
by Siegfried Lenz
113 members
7 reviews
½ 3.3
Member
thorold
Explanations
thorold: Novella set in a railway lost-property office
42
Train de nuit avec suspects
by Yōko Tawada
23 members
3 reviews
3.8
Member
Dilara86
43
The Laughing Policeman
by Maj Sjöwall
2,003 members
66 reviews
3.9
Member
thorold
Explanations
thorold: Classic Swedish detective story that opens with a shooting on a bus.
44
The day lasts more than a hundred years
by Chingiz Aitmatov
654 members
15 reviews
4.1
Member
Dilara86
45
Tuer, ne pas tuer
by Tchinghiz Aïtmatov
1 member
½ 3.5
Member
Dilara86
46
The Dead Lake
by Hamid Ismailov
116 members
9 reviews
3.8
Member
Dilara86
47
The Wayward Bus
by John Steinbeck
2,408 members
46 reviews
3.8
Member
thorold
48
The White Steamship
by Tschingis Aitmatow
284 members
7 reviews
4.1
Member
Dilara86
49
Il tram di Natale
by Giosue Calaciura
16 members
1 review
½ 3.3
Member
Dilara86
50
The Girl on the Train
by Paula Hawkins
21,963 members
1,191 reviews
½ 3.6
51
Orphan Train
by Christina Baker Kline
7,133 members
475 reviews
4
52
The New Life
by Orhan Pamuk
1,221 members
20 reviews
½ 3.3
53
Moscow to the End of the Line
by Venedikt Erofeev
1,068 members
20 reviews
3.9
54
The Haunting of Tram Car 015
by P. Djèlí Clark
1,061 members
78 reviews
4
55
Trains and Lovers
by Alexander McCall Smith
596 members
34 reviews
½ 3.6
56
Flagman Thiel
by Gerhart Hauptmann
498 members
5 reviews
½ 3.6
57
Peaces
by Helen Oyeyemi
436 members
14 reviews
½ 3.3
58
Compartment No. 6
by Rosa Liksom
280 members
15 reviews
½ 3.4
59
Night of the Milky Way Railway
by Kenji Miyazawa
260 members
6 reviews
3.9
60
The Yellow Arrow (New Directions Paperbook)
by Viktor Pelevin
235 members
9 reviews
3.9
61
The Trolley
by Claude Simon
137 members
1 review
½ 3.3
62
Subway Story
by Julia Sarcone-Roach
108 members
7 reviews
4.1
63
Netzkarte
by Sten Nadolny
77 members
1 review
½ 3.6
64
The Zero Train
by Yuri Buida
71 members
5 reviews
½ 3.7
65
The Celestial Railroad [short fiction]
by Nathaniel Hawthorne
68 members
3.8
66
The Underground
by Hamid Ismailov
46 members
2 reviews
½ 3.3
67
Strangers on the 16:02
by Priya Basil
34 members
2 reviews
2.8
68
Der Himmel unter Berlin
by Jaroslav Rudis
32 members
1 review
½ 3.4
69
Il tunnel
by Friedrich Dürrenmatt
27 members
4
70
D-Zug dritter Klasse
by Irmgard Keun
20 members
½ 3.4
71
Die guten Tage: Roman
by Marko Dinic
13 members
1 review
4.1
72
U
by Timur Vermes
12 members
1 review
2.8