Streets and tracks are essential to build a comprehensive road and rail network in the game. Streets are automatically built when a new game is created, so that towns and industries can directly be connected. In contrast, tracks can only be built by the player. Streets are also automatically built and upgraded when towns expand. In contrast to tracks, the player usually does not own streets (even if they have been constructed by the player). Towns can construct new town buildings along streets and AI controlled cars and pedestrians can use them without restrictions.
The construction costs are a combination of:
Streets and tracks have speed limits, depending on the type used. On curved tracks, the speed of trains is also limited by the curve’s radius. A smaller radius will result in a lower top speed. Rail bridges have an additional speed limit, which may lower the speed limit of the used tracks. The top speed of tracks is displayed while constructing tracks and can later be seen in the according data layer.
See the list below for detailed information on costs and speed restrictions.
The street construction menu can be reached by selecting the road button in the toolbar and switching to the STREETS tab 1.
The menu consists of several button groups with different purposes.
It is possible to filter the list of available street types by using the category filters 2 .
There are 4 categories:
Vehicles will make best use of all available lanes depending on their destination - if multiple lanes are available to the same destination, faster vehicles will make use of the additional lane(s) in order to overtake the slower one.
Below the button groups is the list of available street types 3 . They can be used in three different build modes. You can select one of the modes by clicking the buttons on the right side 4 .
curves of straight and curved mode
construction tool guidlines 45° and 90°
slope aligned to ground
manual slope gradient selection
bending with M and N
There are two modes available for building new streets that you can find in the top right corner 4.
With the straight building mode the street forms a straight connection between the start and end point. The only exception is when streets are pulled from existing streets or intersections and the angle to an existing street is too narrow.
In contrast, the curved building mode tries to arrange the road in an arc in such a way that the transitions to existing road segments can be made without sharp bends. It also depends on the direction in which you drag the road after you have pressed the left mouse button .
For easier alignment during road construction make use of the 45° and 90° guidelines that show up automatically when extending an existing road segment or align it to any angle in between by simply moving the mouse a bit further.
To build a new street segment, click at the place where it should start and drag the mouse to the place where the street segment should end. After releasing the left mouse button, it is possible to move the end to another place by picking up the grey circle (that is highlighted blue on mouse over) . The streets usually snap to existing streets if they are close enough. The area in which this effect occurs can be reduced by holding SHIFT while dragging the street . The street will snap to a straight segment when aligned within a few degrees. This can be disabled by holding SHIFT too.
After releasing the left mouse button , an arrow button indicating the current slope appears at the end of the segment. Then the segment is aligned to the terrain height at the end position. When that arrow button is pressed, the manual slope selection mode is activated. Then it is possible to manually select the desired slope gradient by using the and buttons. With SHIFT pressed, the steps are smaller for finer control. By pressing on the slope indicator, the automatic slope alignment can be activated again.
To control the height of the street use the following buttons:
If buildings have to be demolished to build the street, a yellow warning message will pop up and the buildings will be highlighted in yellow. To finally confirm and actually build the street segment, press the button or press the button to dismiss the current proposal.
Whenever the distance of the street level to the ground level is big enough, a bridge or tunnel is proposed. Before finishing the construction, choose the bridge or tunnel type to adjust the look and maximum speed. This can be done by clicking on the bridge respectively tunnel icon above the road .
Note that bridges can also be built partially and curved. Enabling the manual slope gradient control described above will avoid an automatic adjustment to the ground. Bridges can also be fitted with waypoints. The same is possible with tunnels as soon as the street is far enough below ground level.
To create a tunnel or bridge directly use , respectively . at least 5 times before dragging .
To replace existing streets with a different type, select the street type with which the existing one should be replaced in the list 3 and activate the replace mode by clicking on the button in the top right corner 4 .
Sections that do not have the selected street type are displayed in red, all others are blue. Usually the tool is applied to all sections between two intersections or until the next street type change. If you like to modify only some sections, hold SHIFT while applying the tool. The affected sections are highlighted in blue as well.
In addition, it is possible to add or remove tram tracks or bus lanes at the same time. The default setting “keep” will replace the street type but keep bus lanes or tram tracks, if there are any.
Switch to the STREET CONSTRUCTIONS tab on the top 1 to get to the street constructions. These are template structures consisting of different streets. Once placed they are editable as if they would have been constructed by hand. Before being placed, some parameters like the number of lanes and the size can be set. There are several constructions available:
Switch to the TOOLS tab on the top 1 to get to the modification submenu. You can add or remove tram tracks with or without catenary as well as bus lanes. Bus lanes are generally not used by individual traffic. Also you can change if a street is owned by the player. Streets that are owned by the player are not automatically upgraded by towns, but you pay maintenance costs for them. Lastly, you can upgrade intersections to use traffic lights. Sections that do not have the selected tool applied yet are displayed in red, all others are blue.
To swap the direction of one-way streets and highways, use one of the first three modification tools or use the replace mode and right click on the street segment .
Usually the tools are applied to all sections between two intersections. If you like to modify only some sections, hold SHIFT while applying the tool. The affected sections are highlighted in blue as well.
Bus lanes cost 10%, tram tracks cost 20% and electrified tram tracks cost 40% of the street costs.
Switch to the WAYPOINTS tab on the top 1 to get to the waypoint submenu. When creating lines, a waypoint can be used to force road vehicles to use the street where the waypoint is created to get from one station to another.
Waypoints can be placed along any road section that is not part of a construction like the roads inside industrial plants. It is also possible to select which traffic lane should be used. See the lines page for more details. Vehicles can switch lanes at intersections and wherever a street segment ends.
Type | Max. Speed | Lanes | Availability | Cost per m | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Small Street | 20 km/h 30 km/h | 2 | 1850 - 1925 from 1925 | 20 | ||
Medium Street | 40 km/h 50 km/h | 2 | 1850 - 1925 from 1925 | 40 | ||
Large Street | 60 km/h 60 km/h | 4 | 1850 - 1925 from 1925 | 60 | ||
Extra Large Street | 60 km/h | 6 | from 1925 | 80 | ||
Small one-way Street | 30 km/h | 1 | from 1925 | 20 | ||
Medium one-way Street | 50 km/h | 2 | from 1925 | 40 | ||
Large one-way Street | 60 km/h | 3 | from 1925 | 60 | ||
Small Country Road | 40 km/h 60 km/h | 2 | 1850 - 1925 from 1925 | 25 | ||
Medium Country Road | 60 km/h 80 km/h | 2 | 1850 - 1925 from 1925 | 50 | ||
Large Country Road | 80 km/h 100 km/h | 4 | 1850 - 1925 from 1925 | 75 | ||
Extra Large Country Road | 100 km/h | 6 | from 1925 | 100 | ||
Highway Ramp | 60 km/h | 1 | from 1925 | 25 | ||
Medium Highway | 80 km/h | 2 | from 1925 | 50 | ||
Large Highway | 100 km/h | 3 | from 1925 | 75 |
Tracks are required for any train to be used. They connect stations and depots. The track construction menu can be reached by selecting the rail button in the toolbar and switching to the TRACKS tab 1.
The menu consists of several button groups with different purposes.
alignment along existing tracks
45° and 90° guidelines
track laying with contour line layer
To build tracks, switch to the TRACKS tab on the top 1. Below the button groups is the list of available track types 2 with the two types:
Type | Max. Speed | Availability | Cost per m | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Standard Tracks | 120km/h | from 1850 | 75 | |
Highspeed Tracks | 300km/h | from 1925 | 150 |
In contrast to streets, there is no distinction between straight and curved build mode. The build tool always tries to arrange the tracks in an arc in such a way that the transitions to existing track segments can be made without sharp bends. It also depends on the direction in which you drag the track after you have pressed the left mouse button . If you drag the track to an existing end, it will snap there too at an appropriate angle. As the speed is restricted by the radius of the curves, small numbers indicate what the final speed restrictions in that area will be. Make use of the 45° guidelines in order to better align your tracks.
The dragging and snapping behavior can be controlled in the same way as described above for streets. The same applies to the height adjustment of tracks. Keep in mind that tracks can't be placed as steep as streets and that there is a minimal curve radius for tracks. To see the contours of the terrain better it is recommended to use the contour lines layer while building rails along mountains.
If buildings have to be demolished to build the tracks, a yellow warning message will pop up and the buildings are highlighted in yellow. To finally confirm and actually build the track segment, press the button or press the button to dismiss the current proposal.
To build a parallel track, point next to an existing track (the cursor will turn blue), left click and drag along the existing track. This can be repeated multiple times.
To build a switch, point at an existing track, where the switch should start, left click and drag at a narrow angle away from the existing track. Dragging at a large angle will create a crossing instead of a switch.
The technics of switches and parallel tracks can be combined to construct various types of switches and crossings:
1. Double Switch
2. Crossover
3. Extended Crossover
4. Diamond Crossover
5. Double Slip Switch
6. Three Way Switch
Rails and streets can be crossed in any way possible. Simply drag a track over a street or the other way around to create a railroad crossing. You can change the crossing type either during the construction or afterwards by clicking on the crossing bars and selecting the new type.
Like with streets, whenever the distance of the track level to the ground level is big enough, a bridge or tunnel is proposed. Before finishing the construction, choose the bridge or tunnel type to adjust the look and maximum speed. This can be done analogous to the streets. See the section above for a list of available bridges.
Note that bridges can also be built partially and curved. Enabling the manual slope gradient control will avoid an automatic adjustment to the ground. Keep in mind that tracks can't be placed as steep as streets. Bridges can also be fitted with switches, signals, and waypoints. The same is possible with tunnels as soon as the track is far enough below ground level.
To create a tunnel or bridge directly use , respectively . at least 5 times before dragging .
To change the type of a bridge or tunnel is is not required to demolish a bridge or a tunnel for replacement. Simply click on the bridge or tunnel that you want to replace to open the bridge / tunnel selection window. Now select the new model of your choice and the cost for the replacement will be displayed in the REPLACE FOR button. Once clicked the bridge / tunnel model will be 1:1 replaced with the just selected type.
The cost of the replacement is dependant on the length and depth/height of the existing bridge as well as the type of the new bridge.
Switch to the TOOLS tab on the top 1 to get to the modification submenu. You can add or remove catenary or up- respectively downgrade the track type. Sections that do not have the selected tool applied yet are displayed in red, all others are blue.
Usually the tool is applied to all sections between two switches or several hundred meters of track when there are no switches. If you like to modify only some sections, hold SHIFT while applying the tool. The affected sections are highlighted in blue as well.
Switch to the SIGNALS tab on the top 1 to get to the signal submenu. Signals are used to split the track network in smaller parts so that more than one vehicle can be driving around safely.
Signals can be turned into one-way signals. Trains may only pass them if the signal is pointing in the direction of the approaching train. One-way signals are indicated by a symbol with one white and two black dots in the signal icon.
When creating lines, signals can be used as waypoints, too.
Switch to the WAYPOINTS tab on the top 1 to get to the waypoint submenu. When creating lines, a waypoint can be used to force trains to use the tracks where the waypoint is created to get from one station to another. Also there is a special waypoint that will additionally cause passing trains to use their horn.
Waypoints can be placed along any track section that is not part of a switch or construction like the tracks inside stations. They are valid in both directions and are indicated by a marker with a single white dot.
Learn more about signals and waypoints usage in terms of line management.