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Reader question: Please explain “already in train” in this sentence: The year 2020 is a key date for us and a number of significant events are already in train. My comments: Already in progress, in other words. This indicates that not only many big events are in plans for the year 2020, but actually work on some of those events has already been done – is being done and will continue to get done. Here, the orderly work is likened to a train consisting of many cars or carriages moving forward together on the railway line. As the train moves, all cars and carriages start moving, one after another. In our example, the speaker likens the many 2020 events to the cars and carriages of a lengthy train and the work on them likewise, being done in an organized, steady and orderly fashion. Picture a train moving fast and you can imagine that many pieces of jobs are getting tackled one after another in rapid succession. Anyways, that’s the idea. Let’s read more media examples to get a better idea of something set in train, meaning it’s put in motion or progress. Oh, by the way, if you want to use this phrase, make sure you use it in situations where something like a chain of events is happening and things move in concert and especially in succession. In other words, if it’s in train, make sure it really does look like a train, figuratively speaking. | 
