Railway Traffic Jam

[hillcf]

There I was extending my city when I noticed that I had a LOT of trains not moving - 17 passenger and 9 cargo.

Looking at where they were going I could see

T1 - to Rockfield
T2 - to Train Station
T3 - to Train Station
T4 - to Train Station
T5 - to Springfield
T6 - to Train Station
T7 - to Train Station
T8 - to Train Station
T9 - to Train Station
T10 - to Train Station
T11 - to Train Station
T12 - to Train Station
T13 - to Springfield
T14 - to Lakevalley
T15 - to Portes
T16 - to Los Cruz
T17 - to Rennmont

C1 - to Cargo Station 2
C2 - to Las Cruz
C3 - to Cargo Station 2
C4 - to Cargo Station 1
C5 - to Cargo Station 2
C6 - to Cannville
C7 - to Cargo Station 2
C8 - to Westvalley
C9 - to Springvalley

So, 10 incoming and 7 outgoing passenger trains; 1 incoming freight to Cargo Station 1, 4 to Cargo Station 2 and 4 outgoing.

I was thinking about increasing the number of lines from 2 to 4, but that would need the junctions rebuilt and the game does not have a 4 way railway track.

Then I looked at the junction just above Cargo Station 2 and found this.

That is incoming T12 blocked by outgoing T13, which is blocked by C4 which is blocked by T12 - and so the trains just stop until some get deleted.

So, all I need to do is make the sections on the junction just long enough for one train so that they do not block the section they are coming from.

 

[EthanZak]

It was snarl-ups like those that caused me to have dedicated lines for freight, local passenger, and intercity trains - I usually use separate lines for freight import and local freight transport as well, the Cim signalmen (and women!) aren't particularly adept at their job

 

[Luckless]

Not a fan of the always doubled track and the level crossings. Would love to be able to split out a single line and do an over pass instead of having the train turn and block the track beside it.

Maybe we'll get a rail-fan DLC sometime with signals and more refined controls? Cities Skylines meet Transport Tycoon kind of thing might be fun.

 

[ristosal]

Not a fan of the always doubled track and the level crossings. Would love to be able to split out a single line and do an over pass instead of having the train turn and block the track beside it.

Mass Transit does have a single one way train track, right?

 

[Turjan]

Mass Transit does have a single one way train track, right?

Yes, those came with the game update.

 

[hillcf]

It was snarl-ups like those that caused me to have dedicated lines for freight, local passenger, and intercity trains - I usually use separate lines for freight import and local freight transport as well, the Cim signalmen (and women!) aren't particularly adept at their job

I would have expected to do that later, but I am just expanding out of the first square. More of an issue is the inability of the system to let you put roads and railways with the correct curves and joins.

 

[MarkJohnson]

Try rebuilding that track intersection. It is way too small. You can clearly see the trains are linger than the track sections causing one train to block everything.

It may not cure your problem, but it will reduce rail traffic a bit. I always make them slightly larger, then trains will wait and not enter and block the intersection.

Another thing is making separate cargo and passenger tracks that never meet. That may you don't have two different kinds of traffic on your track.

Watch your train stations as well. The more stations the more trains will spawn.

Making local tracks only with no connection to other tracks, will keep local trains traffic light.

You can also segrage trains further bu local loops connected to outside connections. Here's a disagram Grapplehoeker created:
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=492699773

But I recommend enlarging your train track intersections first.

 

[Promethian]

Your intersection is too small. At a bare minimum there must be enough room for a full train to stop at an intersection and not block trains going different directions. Even that will sometimes give you traffic jams. I've gotten in the habit of the arcs between connecting tracks being 3 train lengths.

Also the advice about multiple train lines based on how they are used is sound. Mixing external cargo, external passenger and internal passenger lines is a good way to get non functional railways.

 

[EthanZak]

I would have expected to do that later, but I am just expanding out of the first square. More of an issue is the inability of the system to let you put roads and railways with the correct curves and joins.

The track-laying could do with a bit of love, I agree - I always find the way it splits a railway line to be visually offensive; it curves the wrong way. I'd definitely recommend splitting your rail types up from the start though, once you get a dozen freight trains hauling a 2% load each through your passenger network because reasons you'll wish you'd installed another line

 

[Promethian]

The track-laying could do with a bit of love, I agree - I always find the way it splits a railway line to be visually offensive; it curves the wrong way. I'd definitely recommend splitting your rail types up from the start though, once you get a dozen freight trains hauling a 2% load each through your passenger network because reasons you'll wish you'd installed another line

Someone isn't taking advantage of the new mass transit tools. You don't need the DLC for them. If the automated trains are sending out too small of loads you can cut funding then increase the number of trains on your passenger lines manually.

 

[EthanZak]

Someone isn't taking advantage of the new mass transit tools. You don't need the DLC for them. If the automated trains are sending out too small of loads you can cut funding then increase the number of trains on your passenger lines manually.

I haven't built a city with a combined rail system for so long that it hadn't even occurred to me - once I'm done editing this map I'll give it a go, check back with me in about a year

 

[Fox_NS_CAN]

As soon as I saw that picture, I noticed the delta intersection, and knew what happened. I have seen it before in my own old cities. I never got a screenshot, and since I build them bigger now, I probably won't.

Anyway, I also noticed that at Cargo Station 2 in Emerson Park, the distance to the junction may be a little too short as well. If a train arrives while another train is in the station and has to wait, it may protrude onto the main line and block it.

 

[hillcf]

Rebuilt the junction with longer sections and split the freight from the passenger trains. Once the cities get bigger I will look at splitting them apart toally.