Questions to Connect

Make time for connection – On the train you can

Try out our 36 Questions to spark deeper conversations with loved ones on your next train journey

Transform travel time on the train into time for what matters most to you – whether that’s boosting productivity, unwinding, or connecting more deeply with others. After all, On the train you can.

One of the most powerful, and fun, ways to make the most of your journey can be through building meaningful connections with others. That’s why we’ve created 36 Questions to Connect, a new set of conversation starters designed to transform your time on the train into a journey of discovery with friends and loved ones.

These carefully crafted questions last the length of an average train journey (with an alternative version available for shorter journeys) and will spark conversations between you and your loved ones that you’ll remember long after you reach your destination.

Try out the Questions below, and watch how father and son duo Larry and George Lamb got on as they put our 36 Questions to Connect to the test on a recent train journey together. You can also watch their full conversation on YouTube here(external link, opens in a new tab).

Watch our video

I really enjoyed playing 36 Questions to Connect with my son George. I didn’t realise he didn’t actually know what my first job was, and there’s a few things I learnt about him too!

Larry Lamb, actor

36 Questions to Connect

These questions have been crafted with the support of a psychologist, to spark a mix of interesting, light-hearted and sincere answers highlighting the most basic and surprising bits of knowledge that people don’t know about their loved ones.

The 36 Questions are designed to last a typical train journey in Britain, approximately 1 hour. A shorter version of 12 Questions is also available further down the page, for those taking a 20 to 30 minute train journey.

You can also download a copy of our Questions to Connect (PDF, 77kb).

Instructions

During your train journey, go through the questions and let each person answer each of the 36 or 12 questions, depending on the length of your journey, so that you both get a chance to answer all the questions. Take turns in who asks the questions first. Try not to take too long to think about your response, go with your instinctual answer as this will be the most genuine. The aim is to suspend time for a short while and experience a meaningful conversation.

The 36 Questions are ranked in order of ‘level of personally intimate’:

Questions 1 to 13: the ‘safest’ questions to ask
Questions 14 to 24: an intermediate level of questioning
Questions 24 to 26: the most difficult and personal questions to ask and answer

Questions 1 to 13

1. What was your favourite activity growing up and why?

2. What’s the most rebellious thing you’ve ever done?

3. What’s a time you laughed so hard you cried?

4. What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?

5. If you could live anywhere in the world for a year, where would you go and why?

6. Who was your childhood hero? Why?

7. What’s something small someone did for you that you’ve never forgotten?

8. What’s a book or movie that changed the way you see the world?

9. If you could do anything before your next birthday, what would you want to do?

10. If you could have an hour train journey with anyone in the world (dead or alive) who would that be and why?

11. What song would sum up our relationship?

12. Who was your first love?

13. What was your first job?

Research shows us that we often have blind spots and gaps in our understanding of those around us. A train journey can offer a rare window of undistracted time, creating a perfect setting to connect with others

Dr Madeleine Mason Roantree, psychologist

Questions 14 to 24

14. What is your earliest memory ever, what happened?

15. Name a habit you would like to change

16. What grudge do you hold that you should probably let go of?

17. What’s a moment in your life when you felt truly proud of yourself?

18. If we could take another train journey anywhere in Britain together, where would we go, and what would we talk about?

19. If you could send a message to your younger self, what would it be?

20. Finish this sentence “I wish...”

21. What’s something you admire in others that you wish you could cultivate more in yourself?

22. What are you most grateful for in life?

23. Name 3 things we have in common

24. How do you show people that you care about them?

Questions 25 to 36

25. How do you think your younger self would view the person you are today, and what would they say about you?

26. What’s a fear you’ve overcome, and how did you do it?

27. What’s 1 thing you really value about the person you’re talking to right now?

28. What’s the hardest lesson life has taught you so far?

29. What’s something you’ve always wanted to ask the person you’re talking to?

30. Share something you are struggling with at the moment, something that is on your mind a lot recently.

31. What is your biggest regret and why?

32. What’s a part of yourself you’ve had to hide in order to be accepted?

33. When are you most happy?

34. In what way is our relationship special?

35. What can I do more of to show how much I value you?

36. What has been your favourite part of this conversation? What did you learn?

On the train you can

On the train you can reclaim quality time for what matters to you.

So, whether you need time to sort your life admin out, find a moment to unwind, or catch up with Sarah uninterrupted for 37 whole minutes – on the train you can!