Artdink has announced that it will release the urban development and railroad simulation game “A-Train 9 PRIME LINE” for PC (Steam) on December 10, 2026.
Major Overhaul to Track and Road Laying! Now Supports Free-Form Curves and Operation of Full 16-Car Trains
This title is a new version of “A-Train 9,” in which players take on the role of a railroad company executive to lay tracks, run trains, and develop the city.
Under the theme “Urban Development: Beyond Evolution to the Supreme Realm,” the game completely overhauls the specifications for track and road construction—the foundation of city-building. Furthermore, it serves as the definitive edition, incorporating additional features from *A-Train 9 Evolution* (2026 Switch Edition 2), which featured revamped graphics and UI.
For track laying—the foundation of city building—a new “Flexible” setting has been added that allows you to create curves and gradients with free curvature and angles.
This enables ideal track layouts that were previously difficult to achieve using conventional specifications—ranging from subtle curves and undulations that follow plateaus and cityscapes to gentle curves over long distances, as well as sharp curves and steep gradients winding through mountainous areas.You can also choose from four types of track appearances: ballasted track (gray/brown), direct-lay track, and slab track.
The number of cars in a train formation has also been significantly expanded, supporting formations of up to 16 cars, up from the previous limit of 10.
In addition to running Shinkansen and metropolitan commuter trains in full-scale formations that match the real-life models, you can also recreate long freight trains of up to 32 cars by coupling trains together. Furthermore, “curved stations” have been added, allowing you to set up curved platforms and enjoy the sight of trains gliding in along beautiful curves.
The Japanese domestic version includes a total of 341 vehicles, comprising both JR and private railway lines.
A “Flexible” setting has also been introduced for road construction, just like for rail tracks, allowing you to freely build winding mountain roads and complex intersections as you please.
In addition to the existing single-lane roads, “two-lane roads (one lane in each direction)” have been added to the road types, making it even easier to create scenery along major thoroughfares.Numerous small objects that can be stacked within building lots have also been added. In addition to small items such as flower beds and bike-sharing stations, many modern large-scale facilities—such as green-roofed buildings and basketball arenas—have been added.
Evolved Visuals and Convenient New Features
Visually, lighting and reflection effects have been rebuilt, resulting in richer depictions of cloud shadows falling on the city and water surfaces; furthermore, all tree models and road textures have been updated.
New maps and completion conditions have been added to the game modes, and a tutorial map is also available, so even beginners can play with confidence. All game mode maps can be loaded in Construction Mode, allowing you to enjoy city development without worrying about funds.
Furthermore, systems have been introduced to support a comfortable playing experience, such as an auto-save feature that automatically saves your progress up to five times every 10 minutes, and a UI zoom function that allows you to adjust the scale to fit your monitor setup.
Furthermore, the game will support the import of train data created in the separately sold PC (Steam) title *A-Train 9: Train Construction*, as well as train data published on the Steam Workshop.
“A-Train 9 PRIME LINE” is scheduled for release on December 10, 2026, for PC (Steam). The price is 18,480 yen.
A “Switch Campaign” offering a special price for users who currently own any of the previous PC versions of “A-Train 9” (Ver. 1.0–Ver. 5.0) is also in the works. Details of the campaign will be announced at a later date via Steam News and the official website.
