On a Monday morning in October, Carl Collingwood and his 20-year-old son Bruce hijack a New York City commuter train. They board the diesel-powered train at its northern-most terminus, Wassaic, New York. That sets events in motion that alter the lives of a host of characters including: Mike Snead, the arrogant, Machiavellian CEO of Transport International; David Price, a tough, action-oriented F.B.I. agent: and Juli Gables, an energetic but neophyte TV journalist. A brilliant inventor, Carl developed the "personal aircraft" -- a vertical take off and landing fixed-wing airplane -- that the military needs but Snead saw a way to divert some of the steady flow of government dollars away from Transport International. When Carl needed capital for his company, he took Mike's bait and mortgaged his intellectual property. Carl inadvertently missed a payment, allowing Mike to spring the trap. Carl sought redress in the courts, but somehow Mike had been able to dodge the legal bullet, leaving Carl despondent and bereft.
Now, Carl and Bruce let all the passengers off except Mike. Carl's objective is to deliver Mike to Washington, D.C., to testify before a Congressional Committee on corporate corruption. Can a commuter train on a line that dead-ends in Grand Central make this trip?