Tips and Tricks

There are countless strategies for tackling the economic and logistical challenges in Transport Fever 2. This page therefore only gives a small overview of things to consider when getting started.

There are two ways to earn money:

1. Transporting passengers in or between towns.
2. Transporting cargo from industry to industry and from industry to town.

To transport passengers, start with a direct train connection between two neighboring towns.

• There are different types of stations for passengers and cargo - make sure to use the right one!
• All stations have a limited catchment area. To allow passengers from all over the town to reach a train station, connect it with bus lines to the rest of the town.

To transport cargo, start by setting up a simple cargo chain.

• For example, transport grain and livestock to a food factory and from there transport food to the commercial zone of a town, that requires food.
• Cargo chains have to be complete in order to work properly.
• See industry for more information on cargo chains and where cargo has to be delivered too.

When building tracks and roads, try to follow the contour lines or build level – terrain modification is expensive and vehicles may be slowed down at steep hills.

• Use the contour lines overlay to find the ideal route.
• Build along rivers.

Build a depot and buy vehicles in the depot

• Vehicles do not have a schedule or target when they are bought. Instead, vehicles have to be assigned to a line. Lines are created in the line manager.
• Buy enough wagons for a train, otherwise it is likely to make a loss.
• For a cost-effective operation, the locomotive and wagons should have a similar top speed.

Here are some additional tips to get you started:

Money is earned by transporting passengers and cargo. For the calculation of revenue, two measurements are taken into account:

• The faster people and cargo travel, the higher the revenue.
• The farther people and cargo travel, the higher the revenue. For purposes of revenue calculation, distances are measured “as the crow flies” between the pick-up point and the drop-off point.

Empty vehicles aren't earning any revenue so minimize the portion of the time vehicles run empty. One method of doing this is to have vehicles that deliver raw materials carry finished goods on their return journey (or at least a portion of it).

When constructing complex networks, an upfront investment is generally needed. This might result in a loss for the first couple of months, but may pay off later.

If you run out of money, you can borrow more in the finance window. Be aware that you have to pay interest, so it's a good idea to pay back as soon as possible. In Hard Mode interest rates are higher.

As mentioned above, you get paid by aerial distance. A line with a long detour in form of an S or U may not make good money because you pay maintenance for real track length. Thus it is a good advice to rather build it in the form of a Z or V with seperate straight lines and reloading stations.

An industry gets upgraded if the production remains at high levels for several months. Conversely, it gets downgraded if the production remains at low levels for several months.

Cargo chains need to be complete. Make sure to transport the output products, otherwise the storage will fill up and the industry will stop production.

If the Industry density target is larger than the current amount of industries, additional industries will start to spawn over time.

If the Industry closure frequency is not set to Never, unused industries will close over time. See the industries page for more details.

Towns are divided into three different districts: residential, commercial and industrial.

• Commercial and industrial districts consume some end products. The town's demand is shown in the info window and next to the town name. If enabled, towns will demand multiple different cargo types as they grow, watch out that you do not miss new demands which appear over time when towns start to build higher leveled buildings.
• Residential districts generate customers for passenger transport.

Accelerate town growth by fulfilling the cargo needs of the commercial and industrial districts and try to minimize negative effects like overcrowded stations, emissions and traffic jams.

Residential areas don't like emissions of planes, trucks, ships and trains. Use waypoints to keep your truck lines out of residential areas and place your airports in a way that planes don't land and start over homes. Modern and well maintained vehicles usually have less emissions than older models or vehicles in bad conditions, that make a lot of noise.

When setting up a line, try to avoid empty runs. If possible, use the same vehicle to haul cargo back and forth. Freight wagons, trucks and cargo ships get refitted automatically at stations, unless they are restricted to a specific cargo type.

There are several smaller tips for construction:

• Build high bridges over rivers so ships can pass under.
• Use the track modification tool to electrify an existing rail line.
• Try to avoid tight road and rail curves as these restrict traffics speeds.
• Use the C (or SHIFT ) modifier to disable snapping for more precise construction.
• Use the SHIFT modifier when upgrading a street to enable segment-wise operation.
• To build a bridge or a tunnel, raise and lower a street or track with the M and N keys.

Rotate constructions with the M and N keys. Hold SHIFT and use the M and N keys for smaller steps. Another way to change rotation is by pressing SHIFT while holding left mouse button and moving the cursor sideways.

To increase the catchment area of a station that is not near the center of a town, connect it with a town by building a bus, tram or truck line.

The storage capacity of stations can be extended by increasing the platform length or by building side buildings, which provide shared storage capacities usable by all platforms.

Ensure your station's platforms have at least the same length as your trains, otherwise loading and unloading will be slowed down.

Please check the stations page for more information.