Train Jam Fix suggestion

[Traktorfisch]

Hi,

I've been struggling with Train Jams in my internal cargo network over and over (with a 9 tile city, some mods like TM PE and more road types). I tried to apply the hints and tips I found here, on Steam and Youtube. I separated my rail network into internal and external networks, also separating the internal ones in freight and people transportation. I used one-way tracks to allow crossings / merging of rail lines without trains locking up.

Still, I'm getting stuck in freight train jams with deadlocks regularly, when there are waves of cargo traffic.

In my eyes, the main problem is that freight stations (including the ones in Hubs like airports or harbors) keep spawning new trains, instead of giving priority to the trains which are already waiting to enter the station. This way, the number of trains is increasing and filling up the rails, until the newly spawned trains cannot leave the station because of the jam, and the waiting ones cannot enter. This leads to the deadlock.

So my suggestion is: Give incoming trains priority, only spawn new trains if no trains are waiting to enter (or even better: also check that the exit ways are clear with enough free space for at least the newly spawned train to leave).

Could this be implemented in the game? Or is it technically possible to implement this using a mod?

Another (minor) suggestion is to allow priority signs on railway junctions - this would allow for deadlock-free roundabout like designs.

 

[Alias_RM13]

I think trains should be treated as trucks and there only be a limited number available per station. Or let us set our own lines like passenger rail and control the number of vehicles on the line manually.

does seem that the majority of issues in game with all the trains / trucks is the game doesn’t seem to like storing anything until it’s full. If every train was full to 100% then a lot of issues would be solved. This applies to cargo ships and cargo planes too.

 

[want_to_know]

@Traktorfisch what Budget Setting you have? How many Train-Cargo's and how many external Connections?

 

[Traktorfisch]

Hi,

Does seem that the majority of issues in game with all the trains / trucks is the game doesn’t seem to like storing anything until it’s full. If every train was full to 100% then a lot of issues would be solved. This applies to cargo ships and cargo planes too.

Waiting for the train to be full could potentially take forever. But maybe waiting for either the train to be full, or the last train to the same destination to complete his tour?

Sounds like a nice idea, which could be combined with mine

 

[Traktorfisch]

Hi,

@Traktorfisch what Budget Setting you have? How many Train-Cargo's and how many external Connections?

My budged was upped quite a bit (as I had problems with some of my bus and metro lines). As those problems are sorted out now, I could lower my global budget again, and have just some individual lines raised (most of which are now running around or below 100% per-line budget).

I had 7 cargo train stations, 2 cargo harbor hubs, 2 cargo airports, and an "internal-external" gateway consisting of 2 cargo train stations connected via a short road.

Yesterday night, after posting my suggestion, I revamped my whole cargo train system a lot. Now each of my two big industry areas has it's own cargo airport hub, with the train connecting exclusively to a cargo harbor at the coast each. The remaining 5 cargo stations (two on each big industry area, the 5th on a smaller industry area) are connected to the "internal-external" gateway and a third cargo airport hub and third cargo harbor hub which are both close to big commercial area at the coast.

Apart from some traffic jams in my oil industry area which I'll have to sort out now, seems to work fine for now... But I've also not run into a big traffic spike yet, as I'm running out of new areas to build up (at least without using a mod to increase the 9 tile limit: )

 

[LucusLoC]

Not spawning trains when there are trains waiting to enter the station seems like a really good solution. The waiting trains are presumably there to drop off goods, and so will have capacity to take on new cargo, possibly eliminating the need for a new spawn in the first place.

 

[EFGCities]

Improve the balance of your overall import and export. If you see more freight trains(and trucks for that matter)coming in than going out then that means you're buying more than producing locally from industries and thus causing more outside trains and trucks coming in. My current city and the one before that have on average a 1:5-1:8 import:export ratio and I was able to eliminate so many trains coming in and have more trains going out, on top of making functional anti-jam rail networks. I nearly gave up on the game just after my first city but watching Biffa's older tutorial a couple times gave me hope and me analyzing train behavior and routes on a micro level made my life easier dealing with freight trains. Unfortunately there isn't a direct way that I've found yet as far as dealing with intercity trains is concerned. It just keeps sending trains and tourists in as soon as the city gets more touristy and attractive. Oh and also, having substantial local and organic produce commercial areas reduce imports(from the green cities dlc)thus reducing overall truck and train overload.

 

[Traktorfisch]

Hi,

Improve the balance of your overall import and export. If you see more freight trains(and trucks for that matter)coming in than going out then that means you're buying more than producing locally from industries and thus causing more outside trains and trucks coming in. My current city and the one before that have on average a 1:5-1:8 import:export ratio and I was able to eliminate so many trains coming in and have more trains going out, on top of making functional anti-jam rail networks. I nearly gave up on the game just after my first city but watching Biffa's older tutorial a couple times gave me hope and me analyzing train behavior and routes on a micro level made my life easier dealing with freight trains. Unfortunately there isn't a direct way that I've found yet as far as dealing with intercity trains is concerned. It just keeps sending trains and tourists in as soon as the city gets more touristy and attractive. Oh and also, having substantial local and organic produce commercial areas reduce imports(from the green cities dlc)thus reducing overall truck and train overload.

Actually the jam was mainly in my internal cargo network, mostly trains between my different industry/commercial areas.

 

[EFGCities]

Hi,


Actually the jam was mainly in my internal cargo network, mostly trains between my different industry/commercial areas.

You have too many stations and some lines are probably not setup properly.

 

[Traktorfisch]

You have too many stations and some lines are probably not setup properly.

All this might be true, given that I fixed the train jams now by reworking my train system, at the cost of mugh higher traffic.

But how is this an argument against trying to improve the game itself, so it will reduce train jams and avoid deadlocks?

 

[EFGCities]

All this might be true, given that I fixed the train jams now by reworking my train system, at the cost of mugh higher traffic.

But how is this an argument against trying to improve the game itself, so it will reduce train jams and avoid deadlocks?

Having too many freight train stations and lines internally is unrealistic and impractical. No city that I'm aware of, at least here in NA, has freight train stations and lines in each industrial areas just to exchange and deliver goods and materials to and from. That's not how intracity logistics work IRL. Laying down road networks with dedicated in and out via freeways or big main roads in industrial complexes and freight station/yards that then branch out towards the city center and outskirts will eliminate constant truckjam, assuming one also has a good commuter transport system in the city. The current game's algorithm is fine as it is, train-wise, provided the above is in practice.

 

[Traktorfisch]

Hi,

Having too many freight train stations and lines internally is unrealistic and impractical.

If we deign to argue with realism, it's neither realistic to "spawn" dozens of trains and trucks on demand at a freight station, nor having only two platforms. Not speaking of running trains completely without schedule, or trains deadlocking each other at the rail crossing directly at the entry of the station.

We all agree it's a game, and one could argue that using more freight stations is just some kind of compensation for having only two platforms.

Why are you all arguing against a small micro-optimization in the games algorithm which will not hurt anyone adhering to your rules (if there's no jam, the game just behaves as before), but helps people with more creativity by preventing deadlocks and most likely also reduce train jams, while also making it a slightly little bit less unrealistic?