A freight or passenger train scheduled to run from its origin to its final destination without stopping at intermediate stations to pick up or set out cars. Because they bypass local yards and sidings, they are given higher priority by dispatchers to keep the mainline fluid.
Hold the local in the siding at milepost 40, we've a hotshot through train coming up the main.
Dispatchers love through trains because they cover ground quickly and do not clutter up the mainline with complex switching moves.
Related terms
Manifest
A freight train carrying a mix of car types and commodities for many different customers.
Unit train
A train carrying a single commodity in identical cars from one origin to one destination.
Local
A freight train that works the industries along a line, setting out and picking up cars at each customer.