Taking a cue from director John Ford, Ben Johnson originally asked director Spottiswoode to give his character Carne less dialogue in "Terror Train", rather than more. Jamie Lee Curtis also provided input in regard to her character during the filming process: The kissing sequence between her character and that of the killer was an idea that she originated: "I just thought that if she kissed him that it would bring a lot of tenderness to the scene and to the film," she recalled. "The kiss was totally my idea. All during filming, I was looking for ways to make my character more interesting but there weren’t many opportunities because most of the film was about the action and the killer."