What's up with trains anyway?
 

"Who is G-Man" Is the sentence on everyones lips. Or maybe "What's in his briefcase?" Or of course the classical "Highest bidder? WTF?!" But the sentence on my lips is the followingÞ: What's up with G-Man and trains? The beginning of Half-Life one: You're riding on a train (and you're thinking: "What does that have to do with G-Man?") Well, your first G-Man spotting is of him in a train on your way to the Death... i mean Test-Chamber... At the beginning of half-life 2 (I don't remember the end of Half-life 1, sorry.) You end up in a train after having a loooong good chat with your pimp, (well after all he sells you to the highest bidder, or so i heard from him.) You end up in a train. The end oh Half-life 2... Train. i don't remember the beginning of episode 1 because i was so dissapointet with the games shortness. But i bet it has some sort of train in it. So again: What the hell's up with trains and the G-man/G-pimp?

I guess they wanted to make the game end as it began. As for HL2, I don't see anything rough with starting it on a train.

EP1 starts with Dog trying to get your out of all the rubble from the tower you were in at the end of HL2... And it ends with you and Alyx on a train on your way out of City 17, when everything blows up once again. I don't remember any G-Man sightings tho... But I may be wrong

End of HL1 you are on a train, start of HL2 you are on a train... see the link? It makes alot of sense to start on the train.

Nickname him the "train-driver". But honestly, i dont really think Gman has anything to do with Half Life. I mean, he never appears to ha spoken with Alyx or any of the major characters, only the minor ones. And apparently he doesnt like Xen or Vortigaunts.

If this has not been answered yet, HL1 ends on the same type of train you are in at the beginning of the game. I would figure either of these two:

Theory 1. There are many times in which writers want to end the story in the way the went in. Like in the comic series Concerned, or if any of you have recently seen The Bourne Ultimatum (water is a hint), Valve wanted to end the game like they went in, on a train. It normally gives the players a feel that they have come a long way, looking back at the beginning, it helps you feel like you the journey is ending, ect. As for Half-Life 2, well, the series had been pretty quiet for six years except the two expansion packs. So starting HL2 on a train would be a very fresh way to start, and it would remind players of the first game most likely. And once again, Valve wanted to go out the way they came in, the endings of Half-Life and Half-Life 2 bear similar to the "wrap up" style that allows players to suddenly remember where they started, and how far they went. As for Episode One, a train ride is a nice exit to City 17, just like you came into City 17, and Episode Two starts with a train because it has to pick up right where Episode One left off, on a train.

Theory 2. Trains are actually something important to the storyline, possibly linked to the G-Man, or whatever.

Theory 3. Riding trains to get somewhere is just Valve's way to pay homage to the whole train trademark starting in the first Half-Life.

And not too many cars exist anymore, you certainly can't grab a dropship, you'll have no clue how to fly it.

Trains are just the most obvious transport. Seeing as they go fast, without danger, and can outrun a gunship =P

I'm thinking it's just the homage thing. Everyone remembers the intro to hl1! It was one of those "great moments in games" Also think how else would freeman get into city 17? or out for that matter. Helicopter or jet? Nope no airport, and helicopters are combine controlled. Car? All the cars you see besides the buggy in this game are wrecks. Invisible nod-esque flame tank bombardment? Maybe... I'd pay valve to do that in episode 2.

A dimensional rift has occured due to the citadel exploding whilst transmitting across the dimension! These mysterious tanks from another universe have landed! They spout flame and have a prawn in a triangle on them! Wait... it's a scorpian tail? That's crazy talk alyx. Shut up and go make me a new car.

Spoiler:
Hl2 they are used to transport people to and from Nova Prospekt to make them into 'stalkers' or combine slaves and are taken to the Citadel with these trains for slave labor. You were about to board the express to Nova Prospekt.
List of humanoid and synthetic Combine in Half-Life 2 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

As for why you are always in a train, why wouldn't you, what ride a go kart or land in a jet? Trains are fast and convenient and hold many people, as for half life 1, I always though of it as like a tram or something.

The use of the train is a transitional image. The train signifies movement, stolid unflinching movement toward the the unescapable future. Because a train cannot change course, cannot turn off the tracks, it is a very powerful image illustrating Gordon's powerlessness in the face of the situation. Knowing that the train keeps reappearing we can as the player notice when this transition will happen in the storyline, movement from one section of the plot to the next. We start the series (In HL1) in transition, and we end (Ep1) in the same state. This is our cue that more is coming, that there is a series of future events to come.

Maybe that's reading into things too much. The short version: Trainz r kool.

I think that's a bit exaggerated...

Look... Its the future.. the combine destroyed almost everything, they use trains to transport people around because you cant do it in cars, its like the underground-massive transportation of ppl. Plus it makes MUCH easier map editing because the player is free to move only in the wagon and not have the free choice to actually drive around. You could just spawn in the middle of gunfire or something, but like in hl1 it makes it possible to make an intro or an outro. Again, you don't have ppl transporting around in gunships because well they're gunships or any flying ship at all, from which i would conclude and it makes it logical its only reserved for combine and its much less resource consuming(trains). Its like deciding (when you're the provider for it) if u wanna have your slaves drive bicycles or ferraris