Useful Links

I recommend watching youtube video's of let's play's, reading game material, playing out the campaign, and becoming fully acquainted with the basic functions and interface before attempting to understand and use this guide.

The wiki provides some nice starter information here and moreover contains a wealth of details that you will want to bookmark:

TPF2 Beginner's Guide [www.transportfever2.com]

You will also want to keep in mind the game manual for reference:

TPF2 Game Manual [www.transportfever2.com]

YouTubers

Here are some youtuber's who have tons of great content to help you learn and otherwise get psyched up to play:

Stephen Spry https://www.youtube.com/@saspry

GrandT https://www.youtube.com/c/GrandT1

Colonel Failure https://www.youtube.com/c/colonelfailure

Ajaxpost Plays https://www.youtube.com/c/AjaxpostPlays

Mods

Urban Games has done a spectacular job with game mechanics and tools and in my opinion you can pretty fully enjoy without the use of mods. With that said there are a few quality of life mods I would suggest considering, and I will assume you are using them for some of the sections of this guide:

• Track/Street Builder Info provides helpful data for building networks, especially height and sloping changes. https://psteamcommunity.yuanyoumao.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2298331429
  
• Better Countours makes it easier to visualize terrain elevation by increasing the resolution between steps which is very useful for building functional and realistic networks. https://psteamcommunity.yuanyoumao.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1939329411
  
• Different Cargo Icons 1.0 makes it easier to differentiate station types by color-coding their icons. https://psteamcommunity.yuanyoumao.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1959849662

There are also many beautiful models available for sprucing up your collection of vehicle options so don't stop there, have a look-sie.

Inspiration

Don't forget to look to google maps and images to stimulate your imagination. Zooming around the globe or looking at historical railroad maps are great ways of getting a sense of how cities and railways interact.



Left: Schaffhausen Station; right: Conway Yard

These images can assist you in laying out realistic railways and roads appropriate to the location you are trying to emulate. It will help you design networks that look realistic and even give ideas of how to solve network problems. If you see something in real life, you can almost always recreate it in Transport Fever 2.

There is some information that will be helpful for you to know to understand the language used and philosophy discussed in this guide. So let's dive in!

Terms

Here is some jargon I will use in this guide. Disclaimer: these definitions are my own words, and some may not be textbook correct as I am not an expert.

• grade separation - the characteristic of a junction in the case whereby the two ways do not intersect directly, rather they pass at separate elevations and are connected by ramps/sliproads (or sliprails? it's a thing now.)
  
• at grade/level - at the same relative elevation, for example a "level crossing" is "at grade," or a station that at the same level as the rest of the surrounding network is an "at grade" station.
  
• junction - an intersection where ways are joined.
  
• crossing - an intersection where two ways are joined directly crossing one another at grade. All crossings are junctions but not all junctions are crossings ;)
  
• turnout/switch - a railway feature characterized by a divergence of track into two or more tracks.
  
• cutting - a depression excavated into the terrain in the interest of reducing the sloping of a road or railroad.
  
• node - a point of activity along a route/in a network such as stations where pickups, transfers, or delivereries occur.
  
• network - an interconnected set of transport nodes, lines, and/or infrastructure.
  
• block - a section of track between two consecutive signals that can be occupied by no more than one train at a time.
  
• siding - a section of track characterized by turnouts from a main track that allows for the parking or passing of trains, such as a simple industry or station stop, so as not to interfere with through traffic.
  
• wye - a triangular joining arrangement of three rail lines with a railroad switch at each corner connecting to each incoming line.
  
• double slip switch - a mechanism that allows a train traveling along a track to cross over or switch to another track (whereas a regular switch will only allow the switching to take place).

Network Hierarchy

The building blocks of your transportation network are waterways, roads, railroads, and the sky. Waterways and sky are free and offer approaching unlimited space to operate, but roads and railways are finite and expensive. Implementing and observing good road and rail network hierarchy practices will increase the realism and efficiency of your networks.

One of the biggest challenges to the profit of your transportation network you are likely to face is delay and congestion resulting from an inadequate network design/crossings/junctions. At the end of the day observing the below hierarchy features will make it easier to make money, for as long as your vehicles keep moving (and you haven't overspent on vehicles), you are most likely going to turn a profit. As such the next two sections are dedicated to providing some background information on these hierarchies.

While the game will build plenty of roads automatically as cities grow, letting the AI run amok can result in massive traffic congestion as the game progresses. With a little bit of intervention on your part, you will be able to maintain a sensible road network that will function long into the late game. Doing this early on before cities really develop can also save you money in the long run as it can be astronomically expensive to relocate or demolish buildings on occupied roads later. So take the time to (mentally) identify and adjust your road types accordingly.

In terms of not only efficiency but realism, remember that major roads lead somewhere. Roads that go and end nowhere interesting are neither useful nor realistic. So as you are tinkering, ask yourself, "do my major roads connect cities to cities? Industries to stations/cities?" etc.

Arterial roads whisk people and cargo between cities and into city centers (areas of high density) at relatively high speeds. Having a good arterial system is arguably the most important element of road hierarchy in the game in terms of preventing traffic breakdown so I recommend at a bare minimum planning out these roads in advance and locking them so they don't get funky. They:

• connect city centers ideally in a continuous way
  
• have a bare minimum of junctions (e.g. spaced by ~two blocks)
  
• ideally area grade-separated from railways
  
• usually work best as large avenues within city limits

Collector roads are secondary roads that surround or radiate out from your city center in different directions. Circular routes around your city at a distance from the center provide vehicle shortcuts to other arterials away from your city center, also making it easier to reduce the impact of emissions. on high-density residential zones. Collectors:

• are long and connect local roads up to arterial roads
  
• provide access to key destinations like stations or industries
  
• usually end near a city border.
  
• have priority by minimizing junctions when possible
  
• Medium roads work well for these but sometimes bigger roads are in order.

Local roads are your numerous basic small streets that mainly provide access to homes and businesses. They:

• comprise your city blocks
  
• mainly only connect to collectors
  
• Small roads are perfect for this purpose

Freeways Move sims and road freight long distances at high speed such as between major cities. Freeways can be used to grow your city as it will increase the private transport destinations modifier. Freeways should be grade-separated and connected to arterial roads only to work nicely. Useful in the late game dates when trucks become king. Here is an example of what road hierarchy may look like in game:



The arterial roads (fat blue) provide a clear uninterrupted path between cities to the city center to minimize stops and crossings of heavy traffic. There are few junctions. The collector roads (green) are long; a couple of them bypass the city center allowing traffic another way to get to the next city rather than going through the arterials, freeing up traffic. They also link up key infrastructure including the stations and nearby industry into the network.

Railroad networks raise additional challenges for you over road networks. Unlike roads, railways are divided into blocks by signals (essentially railroad traffic lights), sections that a single train can occupy. They also only allow travel in one direction per track at a time and may need a parallel track to have an uninterrupted bi-directional flow of multiple trains.

Main lines are the freeways/arteries of the rail world. Design mainlines to move your trains at high speeds and without interruption between major cities and key network destinations such as passenger stations and freight hubs. Main lines generally:

• are mostly double-tracked with dedicated directions (left and right hand traffic)
  
• can accommodate a number of trains only limited by the number of blocks
  
• have regular signaling, e.g. every 300-600 m. May need more at junctions and stations but can make do less in long uninterrupted or less busy sections
  
• have minimal curvature to maintain a high rate of speed
  
• prefer grade separation from other lines and roads especially at the busiest junctions

Branch lines "branch" off from mainlines to provide local service. Designating branch lines enables the separation of sometimes necessary slower vehicles and railroad features like level crossings, turnarounds, stops, etc. from interrupting continuous mainline service. This is useful for example when connecting industries or remote town passenger stations that would be circuitous, uneconomical, or just too time-consuming to connect following mainline best practices. Branch lines:

• are often single-tracked or have passing sidings
  
• usually accommodate only a few or as little at a single train at a time
  
• May only have a few signals such as in a siding block, or none required for a single train
  
• may have some or mostly level crossings/slower (more curvaceous) sections
  
• may be completely segregated from mainlines, connected only by terminating at a shared station hub

See an example of mainline and branches in action in the diagram below where the black lines represent mainlines, and the branches are represented by the prideful rainbow of other lines:



In this example, all the branch lines are running parallel to the mainline in some fashion, but do not intersect! They link up at the cargo station in town and/or pass directly to their nearby downstream industry. In this configuration, all the cargo is accumulated and transferred at the train station without interfering with the mainline traffic. Also, it just looks tidy.

Another advantage of this configuration is vehicle optimization. Mainline vehicles generally are going to benefit from an efficiency standpoint from being able to carry a huge load over a long distance with access to large hub stations and reach a high speed. As the mainline is designed to be faster/flatter you can choose vehicle configurations that capitalize on that without needing to worry about slowdowns. Meanwhile, you might want vehicles that can accelerate more quickly but don't need to be so fast in order to meet the needs of a branch line focused on say, raw materials (more on that later). This results in cheaper/more efficient operations.

Note the sweeping curves of the mainline as it steers clear of features like hills and valleys to preserve speed. The key junction on the above map (with white flyover bridge) involves the intersection of two mainlines, the one heading E-W joining with one heading north. The value of this type of overpass on a busy mainline allows traffic to join while significantly mitigating the likelihood of delays that comes with a level crossing, in what's called a "flying junction (hastily-built detail example illustrated below [not the same one])."


At the station, each of the lines has a dedicated platform in a siding so the trains can park while trough traffic continues unmolested.

Your map settings will have a major impact on gameplay and network design demands so choose these settings based on what experience you prefer. In my opinion the biggest influencers are industry density, town density, and start date.

Start Date

The game starts in 1850 and you can choose dates up to 2000. 1850 is the age of rail transport and shipping. Road transport capacities are extremely low and speeds extremely slow.

As time progresses you will unlock trucks and trams that have capacities that rival the earliest trains with a price tag to match. You will gain access to planes in 1920 which revolutionizes your transport options by removing all the challenges of network transportation from the equation.

Meanwhile, the cost of locomotives skyrockets, rendering some of your train networks obsolete, and making road transport the only economical option. If you want to play a long game, be prepared to reinvent some of your networks as time goes on to keep profits rolling in.

Industry and Town Density

These settings will impact the space between towns and industries and therefore the feasibility of modes of transportation in your game. These will also impact your ability to build large networks and grade-separated junctions.

For example, on a low-density map at an early start date, you might need hundreds of trucks to maintain a line rate, leaving the only sensible connection in most cases to be a railroad. The same rates might be achievable with a handful of trucks on a high density map; meanwhile, it will be very difficult to fit in large, grade-separated junctions with all the towns and industries in the way.

Understanding the various features of railways and build techniques will help you design the prettiest and most profitable rail networks.

Laying Track

Choose between high-speed and standard rail based on how much money you feel like spending. When rich you could high-speed track everything, but wheres the fun and realism in that? Standard track is always well suited to branch lines. High-speed rail can be a nice replacement for mainlines.

With that said tracks that you laid in the early game are probably going to be curvier than necessary to fully capitalize on the high speed upon straight upgrade. Don't knock your head against the wall trying to straight replace standard lines with high speed, or run them alongside for the whole length of a route. Creating a new high-speed mainline as flat and straight as possible that only occasionally runs alongside the old one works much better and is much more realistic to boot.

When laying track near a station try to maintain a few 100m at least at a 0% slope. If you can keep a track slope at 0% for an entire route do so using the track elevation adjustment/"fix slope" buttons. This is much easier to see and do with the mod. Otherwise, i suggest to try to keep your slope steady between 0-30% for best performance.

If you need to make a big change in elevation it can be helpful to use the contour lines layer which will show you the elevation at your mouse cursor, then you can use this to compare the starting elevation to that at the destination. It can be very helpful to use the info mod for this. If you just lay down a dummy line between the two points, the mod UI will show you the average slope to your destination. This is helpful just to understand the feasibility of the desired route. If the slope is 50, 60, 70%, then you need to find a more gradual approach. Example below:



With an average slope of 50%, even hugging the nearby hills, this is probably not a route you want to run--time to scout out a flatter approach.

When you are climbing try to lock the slope in and follow it to the destination. The slope info you obtained can be helpful for figuring out a sweet spot that will get you close. Hug terrain features like hills as running parallel to ascending contour lines will help you to control the sloping. The below example shows a couple other techniques that you can use to control the ascent. You can use a helical viaduct to raise your track elevation over a very short distance and tunneling to bypass inconsistencies in the hillface:



Lastly consider raising or lowering the elevation of a station to help cut down the heigh difference that needs to be achieved.

Signaling

Signaling is the process of placing signals along your tracks where trains can operate. Signals are railroad traffic lights. You will need to use signals to protect switches and junctions. Signals will also be necessary any time you want more than one train to operate on a track section. A series of signals constitutes a "block" which occurs by default in:

• the space between two subsequent signals
  
• the space between a signal and a subsequent station
  
• the entire length of an unsignalled track between two stations

Each block allows the operation of a single train. In other words, the hypothetical capacity of a track is the sum of all the blocks along the line, so to increase the number of vehicles that may operate concurrently on given a track section, increase the frequency of signals on the track. The image below depicts how to set up a typical junction and block with signaling:


This is a three-way junction with the upper of each track pair dedicated to westbound traffic and the lower to eastbound traffic. The most important thing about signaling the junction is to place the signals on the approaches leading to the junction. This ensures the junction stays clear as it prohibits a train from entering the block containing the junction until there are no other trains in the block. You may place freeing signals at the junction exists which will allow trains behind to move ahead sooner, but you will risk blocking the junction!

Decide the frequency and interval of signals based on the length and number of trains you want to operate. You will need a relatively higher frequency of signals on mainlines, near stations, and junctions to keep the flow going, compared to branch lines or remote sections where there may be only one or two trains operating. Look out for blocks that are shorter than the longest trains you are operating on the line as this can result in blocked (heh-heh) junctions.

You can make your signals one-way or not if you really want to dedicate a track for one-way traffic only using the settings menu. Generally, you can use regular non-one-way signals pretty much always without issues.

Turnouts and Junctions

Turnouts are where tracks diverge allowing trains to transfer from one track to another. Junctions are the intersections where your tracks (or roads) heading in different directions pass one another. Understanding different turnout and junction designs and when to use them can improve the rate that your trains change tracks and reduce congestion, which means more realism and more profit for you. Your junction design decisions may be influenced by:

• how much space/track distance you're able to use for the switch section
  
• how fast you need the train to travel
  
• how many other tracks you want the train to be able to switch to along the same path
  
• just how much time you're willing to waste and how fancy you want to get

Following sections provide examples of turnout and junction designs and suggested use cases.

Single Switch

Your standard switch. Not much to say here; useful to create a siding track. Since I am an american and need to drive on the right, there is a signal on the upper track before the switch to protect the junction from becoming blocked.



Double Switch / Scissors Crossover

In this case we have a two-way system with the signals protecting the crossing in each direction. Most useful when you have multiple parallel lines of trains that are turning around and reversing direction such as at a terminal station, as they can approach from one track and then exit using the reverse.



Doublecross Switch

This crossover design is extra nifty (aside from having the best name) because trains can transfer between all four tracks. To add the necessary double slip switches just hover your mouse over the four points over the location pictured above to turn them on! Please note these junctions are best reserved for use near slow areas like terminal stations as slip switches significantly reduce track speed.



Double Wye

The turnout angle of the wye is at half the deviation over a given distance compared to the standard switches pictured above, resulting in an equilateral branching rather than one just hanging off to the side. You could stack these parallel indefinitely. This is an excellent construction for creating a through station bypass.



Ladder

Ladders provide a series of consecutive turnouts branching from the same track. This is one way to efficiently provide access to multiple platforms at a station such as to provide access to a train depot. The trick to building these is that you have to start each branch from the diverging point as close to the previous track as possible. Extend a new track parallel until the too much curvature message goes away, continue to create the parallel straight section to the endpoint, then rinse and repeat.



Wyes vs. Double Plus (good) Switches

Standard and double switches are quick to build and very compact, but switching speed is slow (and when traversing double slip switches, as slow as <40 km/h), and the many switching options runs you the risk of blocking multiple lines of trains trying to pass the junction while they wait their turn (although building flying junctions can help to mitigate this problem). Use when efficient switching is desired at line termini or sidings ideally where there is little to no through traffic, specifically where trains are either about to come to a stop anyway or still moving at a slow speed.

Wyes allow switching at relative speed over a shorter switch distance than a standard (in the example previously pictures the switch is at 100 km/h). This makes them really useful for creating bypass lanes where you want through traffic to go fast, such as on high-speed/mainlines. Further, the result is a nice clean transition that will also improve the look of your turnout.

With that said the wye is a one-trick pony, giving your train one option to change in contrast to a double-slip switch configuration that lets you cross or switch many tracks at once. Lastly, these are very tricky to build as you will need to create the three tracks by eyeballing, then link them up after. So you won't want to waste time making these on unimportant switches.

Case Study

Here is an example of a number of these techniques in practice at a cargo station.

• (1) wye
  
• (2) series of single switches
  
• (3) ladder
  
• (4) dedicated bypass track
  
• (5) bi-directional sidings

The wye (1) provides the station a high-speed through traffic option by diverging the mainline into a third track, a dedicated bypass lane. The sidings (5) can be used by trains as a primary stop, trains that want to reverse direction after stopping via the series of switches (2); or when unoccupied, through trains can use these to pass the station as an alternative to the primary bypass. The upper half of the station grants unidirectional access to many platforms via the ladder track (3) for trains heading west on the upper mainline track if the primary siding is occupied, or perhaps trains that need to stay a while. These features enable this station to comfortably accommodate many trains and lines without congestion. This configuration minimizes crossovers, further contributing to its efficiency.

Junctions can be at-grade, AKA level crossings, or grade-separated (although your junction can have some combination of both). The more grade separation at a junction, the better the flow. Level crossings:

• take up less space
  
• are cheaper
  
• are quicker and easier to build
  
• can lead to slowed or stopped traffic
  
• are suited to branch lines or remote sections of mainlines

Grade separated junctions:

• accommodate more trains simultaneously
  
• can be expensive, requiring overpass bridges and cuttings
  
• can be tricky and time-consuming to build
  
• allow faster or even unhindered speeds
  
• are suited to high-traffic areas and improving flow through stations
  
• can be huge and not work well over short distances or on maps with higher density of towns/industry
  
  To follow are examples of junctions in order of increasing complexity and throughput capability. Combine features of multiple junction types to create interesting, unique, and lovely junctions that suit the needs of your specific situation!

Three-Way Junctions

Wye Level Crossing

Cheapest and easiest to build, but vehicles may need to come to a complete spot to pass the junction. Ideal for branch lines, slow station areas or low-traffic mainline crossings.



Trumpet

The trumpet is a middle-ground for traffic capacity and build complexity. The helical loop is good for making a significant grade change over a short distance. Trains will need to slow down a lot to make the loop unless it is very large, and if the locomotive is not very powerful it may struggle to make the climb. With that said it is a useful construction for a slow speed area to send trains in a perpendicular direction such as near a main station. You could do a sunken rather than an elevated loop, or add more loops to upgrade to a four way.



Grade-Separated Wye

Huge and hardest to build but allows trains to pass either at a high speed or without slowing down at all if the curves are sweeping enough.



Four-Way Junctions

Level Crossing

Like the wye, cheapest and easiest 4-way to build, but vehicles may need to come to a complete stop to pass.




Roundabout

How about a little whirly-go-'round? I doubt there are any level junctions like this in real life but in theory, this thing could work. While this eliminates conflict points since everything flows in the same direction, speeds will be slow and long trains trailing through the entire circle will clog up the works. I challenge Colonel Failure to give it a try and post eponymous videos of trains stuck in a messy cluster along this silly thing.




Stack Junction

This big daddy will accommodate tons of trains moving very fast. Note that there are four grades of separation in this build. The two mainlines passing straight through have the most extreme grades, one high with the suspension bridge and the other low with a tunneling. The diverging tracks provide trains the ability to switch, with two opposing pairs of tracks, one in a slight cutting and the other slightly elevated but below the big overpass bridge.




Grade-Separated Junction Building Techniques

It can be tricky to get the angles and grades to cooperate on a big build. Here is one technique you can use to make it easier.

1. lay out the junction track at grade first. Start with getting the cardinal directions of the mainlines right at 0% sloping.



UI from the road and track info mod. "s:" means slope.

2. delete the sections that need to be grade-separated, leaving small track sections at each end as a guide.
3. use the snapping to re-lay the deleted sections of track, this time using the M and N keys to adjust the curvature. Hold the shift button to make fine adjustments until you just clear the next track. If you can't get the clearance, you may need to make the thing bigger.

I notice players tend to either build stations far on the periphery of their towns and cities, cutting them totally in half with no road connections on either side, or making the station a border at which the town unnaturally never grows beyond. This is a missed opportunity for both realism and network efficiency. Here are some station-building techniques with some accompanying road infrastructure to help you think about ways to get stations closer to your city center.

At Grade Through Station



A through station allows traffic to flow "through" either stopping or passing. Make sure that if you want to run a lot of lines into a through station like this that you provide sidings for trains to park and consider adding a dedicated single or double bypass track for through traffic. You may need to use signals to manually direct bypass for through traffic. Moreover, you absolutely must not allow trains to park on through tracks in a station positioned on a busy mainline or your operations will grind to a halt.

The ideal configuration of nearby roads is to grade-separate them so the road traffic does not interfere with the station business. In the upper-right there is an arterial road that crosses right over the station which will let the city continue to grow on the other side of the station, using a loop to get clearance for the overpass. In the foreground of the picture, there is a collector road running parallel to the station entrance, with a large tram/bus stop just across the street. Route your local and intercity bus lines into this station for good network connectivity. It's nice to put an entrance on the other side as well to expand accessibility.

Now let's take a closer look at the elements of this particular station that you might employ:



This design best supports lines that are not turning around, rather they stop on a platform siding parallel to the track in the same direction of travel, and then rejoin it on their way out either using via the track ladder (1) in a crossover-free configuration. This station does not have any bypass lanes but you could add one or more if you like.

There are three platform configurations in use in this station which is essentially symmetrical along an imaginary middle axis. From top to bottom, first there is a very large continous platform that spans the length of the station (2) well suited to huge express trains. Next up below is an island platform (3) which has a break splitting into two. By setting it up this way the game gives you two separate platforms to operate along the same track. Between the islands are some crossings/ double slip switches which grant the stopping lines four options to choose from, meaning trains will almost never get hung up waiting for a platform. In the middle are two bay platforms (4) where the tracks are surrounded on three sides essentially forming a mini terminus. This allows the red line to enter and exit without crossing over the through track options passing around it.

Sunken Through Station


This is a very similar general layout to the previous station, however with the main road overpass being at grade this time. The one thing here is that if you build below sea level, sometimes you will have to contend with funky generation of water features which the only fix that I know of is to raise the terrain height in the affected area. Devs is there anything that can be done about this???

At Grade Terminal Station


The main advantage of the terminal station is that it makes it easy to park right in the city center, since most arterial and collector roads radiate parallel rather than perpendicular to your tracks. On the other hand, emissions may become more of a problem should the station be extra close to residential. As such I like to route my terminal stations so they end in the commercial/industrial district side rather than the residential side of the city.

Lastly, it can be trickier to keep a very busy station free of congestion since you will either need crossovers or flying junctions to keep the traffic going. Here is a detail of the track system leading up to the station which uses both a flying junction and a tunnel to allow trains at the far sides of the station to more easily switch directions without crossing lots of tracks.



Here is a detail of the lines between the station and this junction to understand the setup:



Keep in mind this station is trying to maintain handedness with entering traffic coming in left to right (lower tracks) and exiting right to left (upper tracks). If the red line for example wanted to join the upper tracks to exit the station, the train would need to cross multiple tracks to get there using crossovers, blocking multiple platforms. Instead, the train exists in a contraflow direction via the lower-most track that passes over the tracks to rejoin the normal exit direction without crossing any tracks. Maybe a bit overkill for a small station like this, but the usefulness of this configuration increases exponentially as the number of tracks that need to be crossed to get to the exit tracks increases.

"Teardrop" Terminal Station with "Balloon Loop" Turnaround


This is one of my favorite designs. This station is a one-way system with trains entering on the lower left and queueing up as needed along the copious and lengthy approach tracks before entering their platform. You could probably run a million trains non-stop through this thing comfortably since there are no crossovers needed. Here are some lovely colors to visualize how this works.



The disadvantage is that this takes up a lot of space; with that said I went a little overboard with the queueing tracks which you can tighten up to make a much smaller footprint. But go big or go home, that's what I say.

Note that this freight yard is also parked right next to an industry. While you can have many different things going on, meanwhile you can also count on one or more cargo types being unloaded directly to industry by design without further distribution. Plus it adds some realism and aesthetics to the site.

Yet Another Through Station

Here's another one where the bypass lanes are on the perimeter this time rather than straight through the center of the station. Instead, ladder tracks in the middle lead to a staging area for trains waiting for cargo transfers to come in rather than on the outsides of the station.



A Bus Station for Good Measure

You can apply similar techniques to other stations than trains. Here is an example of how you can configure a bus station in a through style:



This system in conjunction with setting your lines to use the alternate platforms will allow a lot of buses to flow since they will not be doing doughnuts in your station generating all kinds of congestion.

Here are ways to maximize your profit per line.

Optimize the settings stop parameters and filters. These settings help you to maintain load ratios and operate vehicles as close to capacity as possible each leg of their journey. Here is an explanation of the parameters and when they are usually useful.

• Load level %: If you are running a chain of coal -> copper -> steel factory for example, you will want to set the line loading to 50% at each stop so as to not create waste from disproportionate amounts of supply materials.
  
• Departure Configuration: "full load (any)" ensuring a freight vehicle makes the most of it's journey. This will also have an effect of spacing out vehicles on a line. Make sure the vehicle has space to park so it doesn't interfere with through traffic at the station while it waits.
  
• Departure Configuration: "full load (all)" similar to full load "any," you have a mixed consist vehicle that you want delivering full in equal measures, such as transporting plastic and steel to a goods factory.
  
• Departure Configuration: "load if available" you want a non-stop service and 100% fullness is less reliable, such as passenger transport. Good for preventing congestion.
  
• Departure Configuration: min stop time you want to space out vehicles evenly such as passenger service. For example, if your bus frequence is 10 minutes, you might set the min time at the terminal station to 9 min. This means a bus will depart every 9 minutes but hopefully 1 minute before the next one arrives to ensure a more regular service. Important: make sure there is a spot for vehicles to queue that won't block the traffic, such as at a station with a long platform at an end terminal. Not recommended for very busy platforms/stations in the middle of a route or close to city center.
  
• Departure Configuration: max stop time you want vehicles to stay on schedule, for example, you may want a passenger train to wait no more than 30 s. Or, you want to allow time for cargo to accumulate before a receiving vehicle gives up and leaves; useful in conjunction with "full load." 3-minute default is pretty nice, but sometimes I just set the thing to unlimited (does't work great if you have a slow supply rate). However, you can use line frequence to fine-tune this by calculating wait time based on the rate that the supply line is expected to amass a full load for the transfer line:
  
  supply rate = (supply vehicle capacity) / (supply line frequence)
  max loading time = (receiving vehicle capacity) / (supply rate)
  
  Here is an example of how you can calculate how long a train waiting to fill up on logs would need to wait for full load assuming the train is standing for the whole period:
  
  supply rate = (30 u logging truck) / (3 min frequence) = 10 u / min
  max loading time = (90 u transfer train) / (10 u/min supply rate) = 9 min
  
  Since in this case the supply line frequence is high there is not much to worry about, but if you have a low frequence transfer service (e.g. greater than 9 min), you may want to make sure you set a max stop time that gives a window to top up just in case. WIth that said setting an unlimited time can be risky and lead to long wait times but can be an easy option to go with if you have a reliable supply rate.
  
  
• alternate platforms Reduce congestion and increase station capacity--use them regularly for platforms suited to similar service (e.g. vehicles standing for a load, vs vehicles making a brief stop then moving on).

Route the line in the ideal node order (cargo). Here are three hypothetical scenarios depicting the flow of cargo along a production route to illustrate. The circles represent raw material nodes, the squares are factories, and the ovals are transfer stations or towns. The fullness of the arrow represents the fullness of the vehicle during the trip, and the percent is a hypothetical figure of the total route time involving full load:



A route that only links one resource to a factory with an onward journey to delivery is the least efficient line route order where the factory does not produce 1:1 output to starting materials, always resulting in a partial load trip (left). The second case (middle) where two batches of raw materials are being brought to the factory before the onward journey is better since it eliminates the partial load trip. Routing to two different raw material industries allows you to maximize the output of the factory but you can get the same effect just doing two runs to the same raw material node. The best possible route order, however, is one where the vehicle is picking up material at some point on it's way back (right).

With the right setup and a little luck you can get this number close to 100%! Provided you have a reasonable route and vehicle set up you should be able to turn a profit at 50% load trips, but on higher difficulty you may barely break even and will need to focus on setting up routes that are much more efficient to get ahead.

As the game progresses you may find yourself eventually managing hundreds of lines which can take forever. Standardized conventions for naming lines are helpful for you to identify and find lines very quickly so you spend less time looking for crap and more time playing the actual game.

Here's an example of a system that I believe tells you everything you might want to know about a line at a single glance. Plus it looks professional as heck. Anywho, I will share mine with you below. here are the features I use for each line in order:

• Service/end product type: <4 letter code>. Examples: express passenger service = EXPR; construction materials = CNMT.
  
• Vehicle type: - <1 representative letter>. Examples: train = -T; bus = -B.
  
• Towns: <four-letter code>. Examples: Dark City = DKCY; Biggleswade = BGWD.
  
• route characteristics: come at the end, various.

Formatting:

< service code >< vehicle code >; <town code(s)><route characteristics>
This is read as "cargo/passenger X serviced by Y vehicle type going from X to Y location, so on."

Examples:

• CNMT-R, BGWD Branch = construction material rail branch line local to Biggleswade
  
• EXPR-B, BGWD-DKCY = express bus line between Biggleswade and Dark City
  
• XFER-S, BGWD-DKCY = multi-cargo shipping between Biggleswade and Dark City ports
  
• CMTR-B, BGWD N-S = commuter bus service line running north/south on the Biggleswade main artery
  
• CMTR-B, BGWD N-S+1 = first commuter bus service line running north/south right of the Biggleswade main artery

Note that there is also a (seemingly secret) little carrot in the line menu that allows you to sort by cargo type.

Now that you have identified a line and operating parameters let's talk about setting up vehicles to operate the route.

Assignment and Optimization

Keep the number of vehicles operating to a minimum. Fewer vehicles are the single easiest way to prevent congestion on your network, resulting in bigger profits. Further, as your number of vehicles increases, so will the demand for complex networks and junctions to support the flow of your network.

The ideal number of vehicles operating a line = 1. The only disadvantage of fewer vehicles is when it comes to trains, where the length of the train may become unsupportable at some point to achieve the rate you need.

If your line needs 20 or 30 vehicles or more to achieve transport rates, then you should upgrade your line with higher capacity/speed vehicles. If this isn't enough then you may want to upgrade the line to a higher vehicle capacity route type (e.g. implement a branch line to replace a truck route).

Assigning vehicles based on rate will also help you keep vehicles to a minimum. Add one or two vehicles to a line and then use the line rate to estimate how many are needed. Here is an easy technique you can use to figure out how many vehicles you will need on the line. For example:

• 1. you want a line rate of 200 to match the production rate of a factory.
  
• 2. you add 2 trucks to a new line, giving you a line rate of ~ 60.
  
• 3. you estimate that each truck yields a rate of 30 (60 divided by the two trucks).
  
• 4. Add 5 more trucks (7 trucks times 30 u), giving you the desired line rate ~200.

Use the most specific vehicle/wagon type(s) for the job. It makes sense to link certain nodes together with the same vehicle, or break down a line into more than one in order to use the best vehicle. Let's say you want to deliver tools by truck. The tools supply chain involves two cargo formats. Here are potential choices:

• Option 1: run one line for the whole route: "all cargo" truck type. This is the easiest to set up and yields the fewest number of lines.
  
• Option 2: run two lines. On line 1, operate trucks with side stakes from forest to sawmill and onwards to tools factory. On line 2, operate all-cargo format trucks from tools to town. This is the cheapest configuration as vehicles matching their cargo format will always offer a higher capacity, allowing you to achieve the same rate with fewer vehicles.

Configure and support vehicles to operate at top speed. Aside from discussed techniques for laying out networks and junctions, ensure engine speed, wagon speed (trains only), and network speed (e.g. road level) are as similar as possible to ensure your vehicles operate at maximum speed.

Minimize the distance traveled between nodes. You profit each time a vehicle delivers cargo or passengers to a node--any node. Line profit is essentially the sum of profit accumulated across each of the nodes at which vehicles are doing a drop-off. Longer routes between nodes means less profit.

The game determines route length "as the crow flies." In other words, your highest theoretical profit would be a straight line from a pickup node to the dropoff node, NOT a straight line from cargo sources to towns. This is very important because it means that transportation hubs where a leg of the journey may be in the opposite direction of a final destination are fully feasible.

Minimize the distance that your line needs to traverse by routing straight and flat as possible between nodes. Setting up dedicated, high-speed mainlines will as discussed earlier will further help you achieve this.

Upgrades

Consider upgrading/replacing vehicles on your line with newer models when you:

• want to reduce the number of vehicles needed/congestion for the same line rate.
  
• want to increase the line rate.
  
• want to reduce emissions.
  
• want shiny new.

An alternative to replacement is transitioning the train to a different use. Trains that no longer provide the performance to keep up with the mainline may work perfectly well on a branch line and could serve as an upgrade to those trains.

Maintenance

Maintenance expenditure improves the emissions profile of vehicles. This can prevent adverse town growth impacts of vehicles operating through or near residential areas. Here are some examples of when you might want to use the different settings:

• normal: freight lines operating in the middle of nowhere.
  
• high: Commuter trains stopping near residential areas. Inter-city buses that spend most of their time in the nowhere but ocassionally stop near towns.
  
• very high: commuter bus lines in a city, delivery trucks. Or, you just want that shiny new look. And, you aren't worried about drivers hitting bears and other animals crossing the tracks due to smoking lots of marijuana.

Locomotive Selection

Analyzing locomotive performance characteristics during the build process will help you optimize a train's performance and minimize costs based on it's use case.

• top speed: Important for trains traveling long distances/operating on the mainline.
  
• power: ability to reach top speed, useful in assessing trains' speed perfornance on different grades. Lower powered locos can be a more efficient choice for long haul lines. The vehicle menu will display an assessment of the adequacy of a consist's power from "excellent" to "poor." For trains traveling up a steep slope, I recommend keeping the power in the good-excellent range. For trains travelling on flat terrain, feel free to keep adding cars until the power is "mediocre." If the power drops to "poor," consider double-heading, that is, putting two locomotives together on the same train.
  
• tractive effort: ability to set the train in motion / accelerate at low speeds. Most useful for trains that make frequent stops or are carrying a large load, like commuter trains or branch line freight.
  
• loading speed: useful for trains that make frequent stops, especially freight trains that are delivering raw materials and local service passenger vehicles.
  
• length: useful for planning platform lengths. a platform section is 40m long.

Later in the game date you can choose between electric/non-electric locomotives. Electric locomotives tend to be more powerful and produce less emissions, while diesels tend to be cheaper.

Car Configuration

You can create any consist you like in Transport Fever 2. If you want to go crazy you can even combine passenger and freight cars on the same train, so long as you route them to both passenger and cargo platforms to do their duty. This could hypothetically be the most economical consist to deliver goods and passengers to a remote town rather than using two or more trains.

While you can mix different types of cars to haul the load you need ("wagonload service"), it's hard to match the efficiency of a single wagon type ("trainload service"). One case where this works would be a train that is being used to transfer cargo between two hubs. For example, "hub A" could send ores (gondolas) and plastics (boxcars) to "hub B" which sends back grain (gondolas) and goods (boxcars). See more on hubs later.

Don't be shy to really stack those cars. It's normal to have 10-20 cars on a single train, and not unheard of to have many more. In real life some trains can have 100 cars! Just make sure that if the train needs to park at a station that there is sufficient platform length and/or approaching track space to accommodate it without overlapping onto other tracks.

Expanding your first lines into an operating area will require you to form complementary local networks that service clusters of cities and industries. There is no strict definition for a local network, although you may identify natural areas of operation based on relative positions of cities/industries and geographical features like rivers, mountains, and areas of significantly different elevations. Here is an example:



The local area is denoted by the thicc black ring, enrounded by natural boundaries including hills to the north and east and the map border to the immediate south and west. The mainline is highlighted in blue (3) and branch lines are highlighted in other colors (1 [planks branch], 2 [food branch], and 6 [steel branch]). This area has a public transport hub (5) and a freight hub (4). The passenger hub links intercity bus (slow service option, pink line) and train (fast service option, line not highlighted) passengers with local city commuter service (detail below). Several active industries (circled in black) are tied into the freight hub (4) as illustrated by the black web of lines, which integrates a truck station, a freight station, and a cargo airport.

I used Paint 3D to create this area map. It can be efficient, cost-effective and fun to plan out a local network using these techniques even before starting your work to help you sort out the best layout, give it a try!

Bus Network Design

Here is a detailed view of the Biggleswade bus network:



The local bus network is comprised of the red and blue lines running in axial directions through the main artery. The circular green line represents two lines running in opposite directions along a collector road.

Note that stops are placed 2 blocks apart for optimal coverage. Also note that the routes are concentrated in medium and high-density areas. You can run routes out to the edges of town if you like, but these will have low ridership and will reduce your profits. When setting up your own be sure to doublechkeck the destinations map layer to confirm the suitability of your routes.

Foe vehicles low emission, high loading speed vehicles are selected for these routes.They are all running at very high maintenance due to their closeness to residential areas.

The purple line represents an inter-city bus line. This line is routed around the residential area using waypoints to minimize emissions, as the vehicles selected produce more emissions and are running at a lower maintenance level. Large capacity buses are selected for these routes. The bus only stops at the station which is situated next to the train station. Passengers can then transfer to the local bus network or walk to the next door train station for an onward journey.

Hub and Spoke Networks

Do you want to create sprawling network nodes bustling with activity and lots of fun and interesting things to watch? Then you are going to want to implement transport hubs in your network. There are also many other functional advantages for your network by building hubs.

The simple and obvious approach to networks is a point-to-point system where each source location is simply connected directly to the intended end node. Alternatively, a hub and spoke network transports cargo and passengers between points via hubs where everything comes together and facilitates long-distance travel. This is illustrated in the previous diagram showing the Biggleswade area where the hub is point (4), and the lines radiating to the local industries are the spokes.

This offers several benefits beyond aesthetics. Firstly, the number of lines and infrastructure you need to create is minimized, reducing the overall complexity of the system. Secondly, this improves the efficiency of your system by allowing you to design stations and dedicate vehicles that are most suited to their legs of the journey. Lastly, it is much easier to oversee your lines because clicking on a single hub will let you visualize a large number of stuffs in one menu or on-screen view. Here is an example of a freight hub:



The hub is situated next to industry (6) and a river chokepoint on the map which makes it a natural hub location for intermodal transport. The transport modes interface via adjacency allowing automatic cargo transfers between the lines (stations ([3] truck, [3] ports, [7] train). The stations have a variety of platform lengths and additional storage (7). There are multiple depots available to easily launch and store vehicles to and from the serviced lines ([1] road depot, [4] shipyard, [5] train depot).

The train station has lanes for through traffic (blue lines) and parking spots for trains loading, unloading, and transferring cargo (red lines). For example, there is a designated spot in a protected middle section of the yard where you can see a grain train waiting to fill up with deliveries coming in from port, and a delivery training waiting in a siding to collect products for a town delivery at the upper part of the yard.

My favorite spot for a freight yard hub is next to a goods factory. Goods factories accept two cargo types that will give you immediate profit. Secondly, the factory is fairly unique in that it accepts and produces a product that can be transported by boxcar (plastics and goods themselves). This makes it a natural spot to run a full load of product both legs of a journey for maximum profit, and also distribute goods to potentially multiple destinations, as many end products are transported by boxcar.

Alternative Rail Network Designs

We touched on this earlier with the "trunk" configuration illustrated previously in the guide, where lines branch off gradually downstream of the mainline in a two-way system. On this topic I want to take a moment to show you an alternative way to set up as a one-way system:



This system is characterized by a one-way loop that circumcises the town rather than a two-way line passing through. There is access to three mainlines located, at the top left, right, and bottom left of the image and a terminal station snaked directly into the center of town (bonus tip, did you know you can combine passenger and cargo stations? they are in this picture ;)).

Perhaps the most obvious advantage of this network layout is that it is extremely easy to set up and presents few technical problems from an operations perspective due to the one-way traffic and ability to easily connect many lines to the loop.

The downsides are that the route takes a bit longer for mainline traffic since there is some circumnavigation needed, as well as some slowdowns in the curves. Next, this setup is prone to potential road crossing headaches--in this case we have level crossings over all the arterial roads leading through the city. Lastly you will have to watch out for emissions, as part of this line will inevitably run close to residential zones. As such this works great for linking up remote towns that you don't mean to grow, and/or where through trains are not needing to get somewhere in a big hurry.

Your regional network will provide service between clusters of cities and industries and will dictate how cargo and passengers travel across your map.

Network Master Planning

Consider creating a master plan for your network. I usually like to start with a rough plan even before laying my first track, then build out each area using the plan as a guide. To do this, I recommend getting a screenshot of your map settings before you start your game because this will be the last time you will have a chance to see an overview of the entire map. Here is an example:



In this example I went with one region per city, but you can do this however you like, for example, if you are playing with high town density you might want to have a cluster of towns in a region. Start by determining the natural borders of each region (highlighted in light gray). I like to use natural map features to help me define them.

Next, I identified likely locations for freight hubs (green nodes) and passenger hubs (blue nodes). For freight, notice I prioritized the river where possible giving an intermodal option of shipping. The passenger hubs will have airports later to give a fast travel option across the map.

Afterwards I planned out my desired mainline routes (red) to connect towns and hubs. Lastly (definitely not required) I threw down some potential branch line routes (black) as an idea of how to connect the industries to their regional hubs.

Once you get on the ground you will need to adjust your plans as you get a better lay of the land, but this is a great way to start.

Hub to Hub Networks

Lastly, let's dive into regional cargo transfers. At first you may be inclined to try to control every single supply line, point-to-point. You may be led to believe the right way to play is to force cargo destinations to specific towns and industries using the line operating parameters. Part of this inclination may come from a misconception that this is necessary to maximize your profits.

The reality is that this becomes unsustainable in the late game. The AI is smart about determining cargo destinations and cities and industries will automatically draw from various cargo sources quite intelligently. You will indeed profit provided that you set up sensible, balanced routes to begin with. So let go of trying to force cargo into specific corridors and to specific destinations at all times. Once you start to develop a network with lines that allows the AI to choose the destinations of cargo, you will be able to manage a much larger network.

It's important to understand what needs to happen between cargo hubs in order to set up the right lines and infrastructure to achieve this effect. In the end though, you will be able to simply hook up new industries to your network and optimally the network will start to distribute the resources without you needing to micromanage.

Hubs will not begin to work until you have lines set up that link the entire route between industries to their factories and towns. The below diagram illustrates how two cargo hubs servicing different areas should interact with each other.



The diagram highlights a consist of boxcars, gondolas and flatcars transporting multiple cargo types between the hubs. Here are the operations going on in and between these hubs:

The left-hand hub:
- collects stone from the quarry
- distributes grain to the food plant
- distributes lumber to the sawmill
- distributes tools and conmat to the towns

The right-hand hub:
- collects grain from the farm
- collects lumber from the forest
- distributes planks to the tools factory
-distributes stone to the conmat factory
- distributes food to the town

The two hubs transfer:
- stone in exchange for grain on the gondola cars
- planks in exchange for conmat and lumber on the flatcars
- food in exchange for tools in the boxcars

This transfer route will make an astronomical amount of money because it has the hypothetical capability to run full in both directions, bridging the logistics chains of the two areas. Lastly, bear in mind the same principles will work for passenger transportation. You can imagine this if you were to substitute the two cargo hubs for say, airports and/or major train stations situated in major towns. Buses or trains may pick up passengers from a cluster of other towns that upon arriving at the hub pick up a speedy long distance flight or mainline train service earning you bookoo bucks.

Here are a few common problems you may encounter and potential solutions to consider.

My line is not profitable
- Run less expensive vehicles/longer trains
- Minimize time to get to the drop off point, e.g. congestion, slow, or indirect route
- Ensure vehicles are traveling in an order of destinations that keeps them full most of their journey
- Do not use more vehicles than needed to meet capacity
- Check if cargo/passengers are preferring a faster mode of transport along a similar line of service
- use more hub transport/reduce point to point networks

Passengers are not using public transport
- Service route unsuitable/not enough destinations in the area of service
- Upgrade to faster vehicles/roads
- make sure passengers can get to a destination of another type (e.g. commercial from residential)
- Inadequate network/access to destinations/other cities

My city is congested
- Ensure arterial roads flow without dead ends
- increase road/rail grade separation
- Reduce intersections on arterial roads
- Implement more public transport
- Add shortcut roads that are faster for through traffic
- Minimize bus station wait time parameters

Transport lines are bunching up
- Use line operating parameters to set a node with a min-max wait time based on frequence

My truck station is congested
- Optimize truck wait parameters/minimize waiting
- Use a through station instead of a a dead end
- Switch to a higher capacity transport mode/too many vehicles in use

My railroad is congested
- Operate fewer trains
- Increase interval of signaling
- Do not mix mainline/branch line traffic

my rail stations are congested
- Reduce number of crossovers
- Ensure trains stop at sidings and not along mainline
- Add dedicated bypass tracks in through stations
- Add longer sections of track dedicated for queueing
- Add more platforms
- Reduce number of slow switches

My rail junctions are congested
- Add grade separation
- Increase speed along junction tracks/bigger junction
- Eliminate switches/double-switches

Fast trains are overtaking slower ones/stopping
- Reduce interval between signals
- Avoid mixing mainline/branchline traffic
- Avoid mixing old trains with new
- Avoid mixing high speed rail with standard/traffic

Supply chain isn’t working/not producing
- Ensure no missing lines/supplies are reaching factory/city
- Ensure vehicles are assigned to right lines
- Ensure no missing connections/adjacent stations out of range
- Ensure no more than one station for automatic transfer

No path error
- Missing electric tracks
- Break in the line
- Missing switches
- Signals blocking direction

Thanks again for reading my guide. I hope you got something out of it and enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed creating it. Lastly, I have created a supplemental save game for you to look at to see some of the tips in this guide in practice, as I believe a live demo where you can look over a working operation is the best guidance i can offer. You can get the savegame here:

https://psteamcommunity.yuanyoumao.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2817594354
I am happy to take requests, answer questions, and even help you/troubleshoot your maps if you like, just post a comment / drop me a line and post your savegame and I'll have a look!

Please remember to leave 5 stars, like, favorite, and tell your Transport Fever 2 friends to stop by :) Happy trails!