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gamemanual:linesvehicles

Lines and Vehicles

The core of every company in the transportation segment is the disposition of vehicles on routes. This page covers the management aspects for both lines and vehicles.

Line Management

A line in Transport Fever 2 is a list of stops, e.g. train stations. A vehicle assigned to the line will try to travel from one stop to the next. When the last stop is reached, it will travel back to the first stop in the list. A line should consist of more than one stop and two consecutive identical stops are not allowed.

In the above example, the line has four stops. A train travels from A to B to C to B, and then back to A. Instead of traveling a route back and forth, it is possible to create lines like from A to B to C to D and then back to A. Such circular lines might be helpful in some situation when transporting cargo across the map or for bus lines in towns. For long distance passenger lines, it's unlikely that such a circular line is helpful as most passengers want to return where they came from at a later point of time.

If the network grows and multiple trains are running on one line or multiple lines on one track, the use of signals is recommended.

Please refer to the signaling guide to find out more.

To create and manage lines, select the line manager in the toolbar. The line manager window contains two areas, a list of all lines on the left 1 and the details of the currently selected line with a list of all stops on the right 5.

The list of lines can be filtered by different categories 2:

  • shows all lines.
  • shows only bus and truck lines.
  • shows only tram lines.
  • shows only train lines.
  • shows only ship lines.
  • shows only aircraft lines.
  • shows all lines that are visible in the current viewport. This filter can be combined with any of the previous.

While hovering a line in the list on the left, that line will start to blink in the 3D world. If a stop in the list on the right is hovered, only the line segments that arrive or depart from this stop will blink.

Above the filter icons is a search field 3. It can be used to search for a text in the names of the lines.

To show the details of a line, select the line in the list. Then the details appear on the right side. To rename a line from the list, hover over the line name and click on the button. Save the name by pressing ENTER. It is possible to delete a line from there too by pressing the button. To manually set the color of a line, select it and click on the colored bar on the right side to pick another color. To define a custom color, hold Shift and click on one of the custom colors in the pop-up.

To create a new line, press the NEW LINE button 4.

Adding and Removing Stops

On the right side is the detailed list of stops 5. A new stop can be added to the end of the list by clicking on the ADD STATION button 6. Click on a station icon or the station itself to add it to the list. The mouse cursor indicates correct spots to click by turning blue . If you select a stop from the list first, new stops will be added right after the selected stop.

To remove a stop from the list, hover over the row of the stop and press the button on the right side. If you like to remove all stops from the list, press the REMOVE ALL button below the list 7.

Terminal Assignment

Terminals are assigned automatically to each stop of a line based on the reachable platforms and their utilization. To manually adjust the terminal assignment, select the platform number next to the icon indicating the type of station (e.g. ) and select another terminal 9.

Alternative Terminals

Alternative terminals are used, if the primary terminal is occupied, when a vehicle approaches a station. When enabled, they will often increase the throughput of a station, as multiple vehicles of the same line can stop at the station at the same time.

The decision point of which terminal to use is different for the different vehicle types:

  • For trains it is the last signal before the station. This signal is marked with a blinking arrow in the color of the line, while the line object window or line manager is open. All enabled alternative terminals must be reachable from this signal, otherwise a warning will be shown.
  • For road vehicles it is the entrance of the station.
  • For ships it is the waiting point slightly outside of the harbor.
  • For aircraft it is the end of the runway.

To enable alternative terminals, select the alternative terminal button 9 and activate the terminals that may be used as an alternative to the primary terminal.

While the checkbox of an enabled alternative terminal is hovered in the pop-up, the line segments connecting that terminal will blink in the 3D world. This is similar to hovering the stop name, but highlights only the segments connecting this specific terminal.


Connection Problems

If some terminals can't be reached from the stop before or the next stop could not be reached, the terminal is marked with a yellow arrow and an explaining text can be seen when hovering over the arrow. If there is a major problem with more than one problem occurring, the arrows turn red. In addition, the line graph on the left of the terminals turns red in the problematic sections between stops. Sometimes it is possible to solve the problems by automatically reassign the terminals. Press the button in the red error message at the bottom to try this.

If a station appears twice with no other stop in between, this causes an error too. Then the line graph on the left shows red station blobs to highlight the problematic entries.

Note that mixing station types on a line (for example a bus stop and a train station) is not allowed either. A warning will be displayed. As already mentioned above, the line should also contain at least two stations. You will be warned about that, too.

Keep an eye on the warning icon at the top edge of the screen. Problems with lines are listed in the warning window too. They might be caused outside of line management by changing tracks and signals!

Waypoints

Trains, street vehicles and ships will always use the shortest route to travel from one stop to the next. But sometimes it can make sense for the player to adjust this behavior, e.g. for traffic regulation. The player can influence a route by placing waypoints and adding them to the stop list of its line (similar to stations). As with stations, the vehicle is obligated to visit the waypoint and thus changes its route, if the waypoint was not placed on the previous shortest route. Vehicles will not stop at waypoints.

In the case of trains, signals can also be used as waypoints.

In the case of street vehicles, it is also possible to choose the traffic lane that should be used. To do so, select the lane number next to the icon and select another lane 9. Lanes are numbered from the right in direction of travel, meaning lane number 1 is the rightmost lane. Vehicles can switch lanes at intersections and wherever a street segment ends.


Loading and Unloading

An important aspect when it comes to loading and unloading is the length of a platform in comparison to the length of trains using that platform. If a platform is shorter than the train currently using it, the loading and unloading respectively will be slowed down. If this is the case, the vehicle window will show an appropriate warning like depicted on the right.
“Loading speed: 0.50x” means the loading is only half of what it could be.

On PC this penalty can be disabled completely by changing the parameter in the base config.

It is possible to fine-tune the behavior of vehicles at stations in various ways:

  • How long should the vehicle wait until leaving the station?
  • Should the vehicle load/unload at the station?
  • Which type of cargo should be loaded?

The configuration can be set per stop by using the buttons at the right side of each row 8.

Departure configuration



There are three modes available regarding the time to stay at a station:

  • Load if available: The vehicle will stop and load any compatible cargo
  • Full load (any): The vehicle will stop and wait until one cargo type is fully loaded.
  • Full load (all): The vehicle will stop and wait until it is fully loaded.

Note that in the vanilla game “all” and “any” only applies to trains and ships, they are the only vehicles that have separate compartments or wagons and thus can load multiple cargo types at once. Any other vehicle type will wait for full load in both cases.

To avoid vehicles waiting indefinitely long when waiting for full load or to force a minimum stop time, the two sliders offer the possibility to set a minimum and maximum time. The default timeout is 3 minutes and refers to real time passed, when playing at default game speed. A vehicle will wait at least the minimum time and leave at the maximum time regardless of the condition specified in the dropdown above.

Cargo filters

To restrict the type of cargo that can be loaded or unloaded at a station, there is another filter dialog that can be accessed with the button at the right end of the stop row. The dialog consists of a list of possible cargo types, which allows to exclude some types from loading or unloading. It is also possible to restrict loading to a certain percentage to ensure there is still some space left for stops further along the line.

Vehicles

In Transport Fever 2, there are different types of vehicles available. This section describes how to manage all the vehicle types. For a detailed explanation of the different vehicle types, see the vehicle reference.

To buy and manage vehicles, select the vehicle manager button in the toolbar. The vehicle manager window contains two areas, a list of all lines and depots on the left 1 and a subset of all vehicles on the right 3.

The list of lines and depots can be filtered by different categories 2:

  • shows all lines and depots.
  • shows only bus and truck lines and depots.
  • shows only tram lines and depots.
  • shows only train lines and depots.
  • shows only ship lines and depots.
  • shows only aircraft lines and depots.
  • shows all lines and depots that are visible in the current viewport. This filter can be combined with any of the previous.

Select a line or depot, select multiple of them with the checkboxes at the left edge or select All to display the vehicles associated with the selected items on the right side 3. It is possible to filter those displayed vehicles further by using the search field in the top right corner 4. It looks for the entered text in the names of vehicles and the names of the lines or depots they are associated with.

To buy a new vehicle, select a depot from the list or somewhere on the map. Then you can click on the BUY VEHICLE button 5 to open the vehicle purchase window.

Vehicle purchase window

The main column hosts a list of every currently available vehicle 1 that can be purchased in the selected depot. It can be filtered by the categories in the left column 2. In train depots there are:

  • ALL does not restrict further.
  • LOCOMOTIVES restricts to powered vehicles without capacity.
    • Steam restricts to steam powered vehicles without capacity.
    • Electric restricts to electric powered vehicles without capacity.
    • Diesel restricts to diesel powered vehicles without capacity.
  • WAGONS restricts to unpowered vehicles with capacity.
    • Passenger restricts to unpowered vehicles with passenger capacity.
    • Cargo restricts to unpowered vehicles with cargo capacity.
  • MULTIPLE UNITS restricts to powered vehicles with capacity or multi part vehicles.
    • Electric restricts to electric powered vehicles with capacity or multi part vehicles.
    • Diesel restricts to diesel powered vehicles with capacity or multi part vehicles.



In other depot types, the categories are often split up between passengers and other cargo types. Every depot has a search field too, that can be used to search for a vehicle name 3. It is also possible to sort the vehicles by various criteria 4. Additionally it is possible to only show vehicles that can load a certain type of cargo using the cargo filter 5.

When using vehicle mods, some vehicles might not match any of the available categories, e.g. steam powered train cars with capacity. These can be found with the ALL filter setting.

The technical data of vehicle types are listed in the right column 6. There it is possible to color individual wagons too if they support custom colors. If a modded vehicle provides several subvariants, there is another short list in the right column to select the variant.

The top speed of a train is determined by the lowest top speed of any locomotive or wagon in the train. Top speed is a factor in setting a train's transport price per Km.

For more information about weight, lifespan, tractive effort, power and top speed please visit the vehicles page.

Press the Add button to add the vehicle to the train composition 7. It is possible to rearrange or remove vehicles in the train composition by hovering over them and clicking on the arrows or the button there 7. The numbers below the composition are the calculated technical aspects of the whole train. Be aware of its power on the very right in regards to slopes and the overall length of the train. It should fit the smallest platform on the route. Furthermore it is not economically reasonable to use a very long train for a small amount of cargo. Gradually extend the train step by step once the cargo production or passenger amount rises. The composition editing does not exist for transport types other than railway.

To buy the composition or vehicle, select the quantity and press the BUY FOR button in the bottom right corner 8. To close the vehicle purchase window, press the button in the top right corner or the CANCEL button in the bottom left corner 9.


Manage Vehicles

The vehicle manager window offers various options for vehicle management. To apply an action to multiple vehicles, they have to be selected in the vehicle list on the right side first by activating the checkboxes. The actions are located in the blue bar above the list 6. The available actions depend on whether the vehicle is currently waiting in the depot or running on a line:

  • sends the selected vehicle(s) to a line that is chosen in a dropdown. The dropdown list can be limited to the currently visible lines and it is possible to switch to the line manager and create a new line ad hoc.
    • Road freight vehicles will always go to the first stop on the assigned line first.
    • Road passenger vehicles will attempt to spread themselves out on an assigned line. e.g. If eight road passenger vehicles are bought and assigned at the same time to a four stop line, two new vehicles will be routed to each stop.
    • New trains will always go to the nearest station along their assigned route.
  • sells the selected vehicle(s) after confirmation.
  • sends the vehicle(s) to the next reachable depot.
  • creates a clone in some compatible depot. This might not be connected to the line of the cloned vehicle.
  • allows rearranging of trains by moving wagons in trains and between selected trains. The trains can be extended in this menu too. The menu is similar to the vehicle purchase window.
  • completely replaces the vehicle(s) with a new vehicle type. The menu is similar to the vehicle purchase window.
  • allows modification of the maintenance level. Higher level results in higher running costs but less emissions.
  • allows to select the color for vehicle(s) or whole train(s).

Vehicles can't be transferred from depot to depot directly, so make sure to buy them in a depot, from which they are able to reach their intended destination. However, if a vehicle is sent back to the depot, it will not go back to the depot it was bought, but to the nearest reachable depot.

Vehicle Maintenance

In contrast to Transport Fever 1, there is no automatic replacement feature available. Instead, it is possible to keep the vehicles in acceptable condition by raising the maintenance level. Then the vehicle conditions are not getting worse and the emissions do not raise that much when the vehicle gets older.


Vehicle window

It is possible to show details of a vehicle by clicking on a vehicle in the table of the vehicle manager window, the actual vehicle in any camera view or any other place where the vehicle is mentioned. The OVERVIEW tab of the vehicle detail window is composed of a current view of the vehicle, some information about the vehicle, like the current line and destination, balance, speed and cargo load and various controls.

The vehicle controls on the right side of the 3D view include:

  • (re-)assign vehicle to a line.
  • send vehicle to the (closest reachable) depot or directly sell it.
  • reverses the vehicle. Reversing a vehicle twice may sometimes be useful to “skip a stop” along some routes and to fix train traffic jams and stuck trains.
  • stop/restart vehicle.
Press H while the vehicle window is open to trigger the horn sound.

By clicking on the symbol in the upper left corner of the 3D view it is possible to get into the cockpit camera mode and ride along the line in first person perspective. Keep in mind though, that it is not possible to control the vehicle from there interactively. Some vehicles offer additional camera perspectives, they can be visited with Page Up and Page Down. It is also possible to trigger the horn sound by pressing H.


gamemanual/linesvehicles.txt · Last modified: 2023/12/04 12:15 by marlon