Train Train Take Us Away. Take Us Away Far Away. To the Future We Will Go. Where It Leads No One Knows.
Selphie singing
Using Rail Transportation is the main method to travel across the world of Final Fantasy VIII, until the party obtain either the mobile Garden or Ragnarok. This particularly applies for moving between Balamb and the Galbadian Continent. The towns of Timber, Dollet, and Deling City are all accessible by rail, and the D-District Prison and Galbadia Garden are within a short walk from stations. There is also a connection between Timber and Esthar on the Horizon Bridge, going through Fisherman's Horizon, although this line is disused. Regardless of distance between stops, the charge for using the rail service is 3,000 gil.
Transport Use
Rail lines in Final Fantasy VIII.
Rail travel is used five times during the actual story. After graduation, the first SeeD mission is based in Timber, and the train is required to get there. During the course of the journey Squall, Zell and Selphie have a strange experience where they dream about Laguna, but they recover shortly before arrival. Their mission in Timber is train-based, which involves hijacking President Vinzer Deling's carriage by uncoupling the train cars around the target. After this, the party leave Timber by rail, heading towards the East Academy Station near Galbadia Garden. After the events in the Garden, the party travel to Deling City by train. The last use of the train is on disc 2, when the SeeD members travel back to Balamb to warn about the missiles fired at Balamb Garden. The player can continue to use the train system at any point within the game until disc 4.
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Transport Types
Forest Owls Base
The Forest Owls' base is a yellow train engine with a skull and crossbones print near the front. The inside of the train has a similar layout to most conventional engines with the back-most cabin being converted into a room for Rinoa Heartilly. The cabin on the lowest level is used as a meeting/planning room, with a table and a board. The other cabins remain the same as they had been designed (control cabin and boarding cabins).
Intercontinental Train Transports
With a blue and grey color scheme these trains are the primary type seen racing around the globe as civilian transports pulling groups of passenger carriages along. Powered by a turbine mechanism, their cars' coloring differs depending on the travel region. Usually the train is comprised of four cars.
SeeD Cabin
In some trains SeeD have special cabins designated for private use. The cabin includes a large couch and two bunks as well as providing entertainment for long journeys such as magazines.
Rollcars and Monorails
Trains and monorails are predominantly seen traveling through Timber. Composed of three cars each, the roll cars are given a flush and crisp design, while the monorails have more curved appearances. Local residents coming and going from the TV station make use of the roll car lines.
Doomtrain
Doomtrain is a train-type Guardian Force. Similar to a ghost train, the Doomtrain appears and disappears into thin air and several issues of Occult Fan magazine make mention of it and its appearances.
Stations
Train Stations are dotted throughout the country of Galbadia with some located within towns/cities while others are solitary, located in various areas of wilderness. While most are in varying degrees of operation there are one or two that have fallen in disrepair due to lack of use, the most extreme examples of this being in Fisherman's Horizon and the station near the Great Salt Lake, which have both been abandoned, due to the Sorceress War and Esthar's self-imposed "silence" thereafter.
Far East Galbadia Station
A solitary train station in Galbadia for embarking and disembarking Galbadia Garden students. The station has a direct link to Deling City and is a constant site of students waiting for trains or simply "hanging out" after a hard day of school.
City/Town-based Stations
Other Stations
- Dollet - Near Dollet
- Desert Prison - Near D-District Prison
- Seaside - Near the Great Salt Lake
- East Academy - Between Timber and Galbadia Garden
- Far East - Next to Galbadia Garden
Gallery
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