The standard Monopoly board has four railroad properties.
The railroads are Reading Railroad, Pennsylvania Railroad, B&O Railroad, and Short Line. They are purchasable properties, but unlike colored streets they do not use houses or hotels. Their rent increases according to how many railroads the same owner controls.
Railroads occupy one space on each side of the board. Owning all four produces the highest railroad rent under the standard rent table. This makes them strategically valuable because they generate income without requiring construction.
The railroad names are based largely on real American rail companies or recognizable railroad terminology. Reading Railroad is often mistakenly called “Reading Railway,” while B&O is commonly expanded as Baltimore and Ohio. Special editions may replace the names with local or fictional transport systems.