El-Train vs. Subway

[katamariguy 6]

I'm rather confused on the utility of using the elevated rail. Subway networks seem to have all the advantages, the only downside being higher construction cost. When would I want to use the elevated train?

[Pinstar 13]

I'm rather confused on the utility of using the elevated rail. Subway networks seem to have all the advantages, the only downside being higher construction cost. When would I want to use the elevated train?

EL trains cost less to maintain IIRC. That aspect can be huge as it isn't just the initial construction costs you are building. If you are running a line through an area where space isn't at a premium, such as a medium/low density residential suburb or maybe an industrial sector...it would be more cost-effective to have EL trains rather than subways. The benefit of EL trains is that they can become subways when they need to. So you can link a bunch of low/medium density suburbs with EL-trains and have them turn into subways when they reach the high-density downtown area...where space IS at a premium.

 

EL rails are inferior to monorails, which are much faster but take up about the same amount of space...and ground rail, which is much cheaper AND can handle freight traffic as well as passengers at about the same speed. The main thing EL rail has going for it is its ability to turn into subways and back without passengers having to exit the rail system during their trip.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

EL is a means to provide passenger service to rural communities without the vast expense of subways.  It is also more sensible when there is no superstructure.

[TekindusT 3,809]

Please have in mind that EL-rail generates a small amount of pollution. If you want shiny skyscrapers growing in the area, it's better going for subways.

[omnimutant 2]

There is a trade off for both, but I think it probably boils down to flavor. Nothing wrong with more options.

[Ganaram Inukshuk 906]

A few (additional) things to keep in mind:

- Under the NAM Traffic Simulator, Elevated Rail is about 10km/h faster than Subway, which gives ELR and GLR a little more usage over Subway. This is to balance things out when previously, having ELR and SUB at the same speed meant that ELR would be unused when both ELR and SUB existed in the same city.
- Elevated Rail was never designed to carry the same traffic that Heavy Rail does. The only reason that you can is because the Heavy Rail paths are strictly for Elevated Rail UDI. That's how Elevated Rail UDI was implemented, by throwing in "dummy" paths that accepts UDI.
- GLR and ELR Dual Networking. Think ELR takes too much space? Think again. Done right, ELR will take up almost no additional space. This is due to the fact that the NAM has Elevated Rail over Road. Don't like Elevated Rail, but you also don't like Heavy Rail? Ground Light Rail is essentially the ground-level equivalent of Elevated Rail, and like ELR over Road, there's GLR in Avenue, GLR in Road, and other similar networks like this. (You could say that if I were to choose between ELR and SUB, I'd go with neither and say GLR.)

[docj101 99]

Nobody mentioned the obvious visual factor.  You can see elevated rail and not subways.  I, for one, like seeing my transportation networks running through my city/region.

[Pinstar 13]

A few (additional) things to keep in mind:

- Under the NAM Traffic Simulator, Elevated Rail is about 10km/h faster than Subway, which gives ELR and GLR a little more usage over Subway. This is to balance things out when previously, having ELR and SUB at the same speed meant that ELR would be unused when both ELR and SUB existed in the same city.

- Elevated Rail was never designed to carry the same traffic that Heavy Rail does. The only reason that you can is because the Heavy Rail paths are strictly for Elevated Rail UDI. That's how Elevated Rail UDI was implemented, by throwing in "dummy" paths that accepts UDI.

- GLR and ELR Dual Networking. Think ELR takes too much space? Think again. Done right, ELR will take up almost no additional space. This is due to the fact that the NAM has Elevated Rail over Road. Don't like Elevated Rail, but you also don't like Heavy Rail? Ground Light Rail is essentially the ground-level equivalent of Elevated Rail, and like ELR over Road, there's GLR in Avenue, GLR in Road, and other similar networks like this. (You could say that if I were to choose between ELR and SUB, I'd go with neither and say GLR.)

 

How does ground rail (The vanilla stuff that industry likes to use for their freight) compare in terms of speed and capacity compared to Elevated Rail. Is that what you mean when you say "Heavy Rail"?

[Ganaram Inukshuk 906]

How does ground rail (The vanilla stuff that industry likes to use for their freight) compare in terms of speed and capacity compared to Elevated Rail. Is that what you mean when you say "Heavy Rail"?

To differentiate between Ground Light Rail and the standard rail, standard rail is oftentimes called Heavy Rail. Also, GLR and ELR, as I said, were not designed to accept traffic from Heavy Rail. You can "force" it to work, but it's best to separate it all. It won't work when you convert to Subways, and it's still slower than Heavy Rail. Heavy Rail is meant for Heavy Rail traffic, it's not made to run on GLR tracks.

Here's an analogy: Would you want to see a freight train rumbling down the same tracks as the San Francisco streetcars?

[Turjan 1,048]

Here's an analogy: Would you want to see a freight train rumbling down the same tracks as the San Francisco streetcars?

 

Heh, it would be a once in a lifetime experience . On the other hand, in real life, the borders between heavy rail and streetcar companies are gradual and fluid, and it's not unknown that a streetcar company drags short freight trains through streets of a city with either a short streetcar or a dedicated locomotive (technically, these are "real" railway companies that just happen to use streetcars for passenger traffic).

[Mr_Maison 2,426]

I use El Rail when I want to cross a river or body of water that is too deep for the subway tubes to be built.

 

Thanks Ganaram Inukshuk for your explanation. Never knew those facts.

[z1 566]

I use El Rail when I want to cross a river or body of water that is too deep for the subway tubes to be built.

 

You can also use slope mods, such as the one by Ennedi, to make subway construction here easier.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

As a concrete example, I used a relative short stretch of ELR to cut down congestion on one of my highways today.  There is a big space between the two communities, and too much traffic on the highway.  So, I added a stretch of ELR between a couple of long haul highway exits.  Seems to be working, and the load on the ELR is building up.  Could have put in more subway, but is is a long way from my existing subway network on the same tile, and I didn't really want to have two subway systems.

[Mr Saturn64 742]

While the L is definitely cheaper, the subway is more convenient as less space is taken up, and if you hav any mods (available on Simropolis) subways are definitely your way to go

[Gurning_Chimp 398]

The El-rail looks cooler in low wealth areas (particularly when it's the El-rail over road pieces!)

[T Wrecks 10,209]

Yeah, I also like EL rail for the visual aspect. There's a 'cosmetic mod' that automatically fills the otherwise empty ground under EL rail lines with textures and random objects that match the adjacent buildings, so unless you are focused on everything that's beautiful, wealthy, green and shiny, you can use EL rail to give your city some character and make it look good in a realistic sense. EL over road or diagonal EL rail crossing roads can also look pretty cool. Not to forget, you can also use EL rail and canal lots with overhanging water props to simulate a light rail bridge going over a canal - looks pretty neat!

 

Originally, I suppose cost was to be an important factor, but since the game is actually rather easy, as soon as you have a city that needs subway, you should be able to afford it without any problem. This really makes EL rail look somewhat superfluous and unnecessary.

[Ltw 401]

I use the El-Train and Subway. I think both the transport types have several pros and cons. The thing I like about is that you can lay a big network through your city without the problem that it takes up space, it's more expensive though. I use this type in high density and mid-density areas (which is usually a lot). Normally, I start with an El-Train network because this is cheaper, most of the EL-lines I have are from the beginning. I prefer to build EL-lines in low-income residential zones because of the cosmetic aspect and I think it's a good way to decrease the desirability of R$$ and R$$$ (mainly because of the pollution), which could be preferred when I mostly need low income citizens. I usually don't experience any problems with the development of high-rise buildings. However, when I need more space for further development I demolish these EL-lines.

[katamariguy 6]

Very strange. My game says that subway tunnels are 0.3 per segment per month, while elevated rail track costs 1.

[Gurning_Chimp 398]

Yeah, I also like EL rail for the visual aspect. There's a 'cosmetic mod' that automatically fills the otherwise empty ground under EL rail lines with textures and random objects that match the adjacent buildings, so unless you are focused on everything that's beautiful, wealthy, green and shiny, you can use EL rail to give your city some character and make it look good in a realistic sense. EL over road or diagonal EL rail crossing roads can also look pretty cool. Not to forget, you can also use EL rail and canal lots with overhanging water props to simulate a light rail bridge going over a canal - looks pretty neat!

 

Originally, I suppose cost was to be an important factor, but since the game is actually rather easy, as soon as you have a city that needs subway, you should be able to afford it without any problem. This really makes EL rail look somewhat superfluous and unnecessary.

 

Which mod is that?

[T Wrecks 10,209]

I believe it should be this one.

 

@ Katamariguy: Really? Subway is cheaper to maintain? Well, maybe it's even realistic. The above-ground structures are subject to weather, whereas a subway tunnel - once built properly - might not need that much maintenance. I couldn't even tell how much each of the networks costs because by the time they are required the maintenance costs have typically become a non-factor.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Since that mod is by the NAM team, I wouldn't rush into it before you found out it is in the NAM V31.1

[Ganaram Inukshuk 906]

Since that mod is by the NAM team, I wouldn't rush into it before you found out it is in the NAM V31.1

It's not a NAM plugin, and it even conflicts with the NAM.

[Gurning_Chimp 398]

Best not to get it then? That's fair enough.

[T Wrecks 10,209]

Since that mod is by the NAM team, I wouldn't rush into it before you found out it is in the NAM V31.1

It's not a NAM plugin, and it even conflicts with the NAM.

It does? This is strange, seeing how I've been using it for quite a while now - together with the NAM, of course. Could you expand a little? Does the incompatibility issue only affect newer version of the NAM? (the region I last played was obviously started with an older NAM version)

[Ganaram Inukshuk 906]

It does? This is strange, seeing how I've been using it for quite a while now - together with the NAM, of course. Could you expand a little?

There's a GLR Extended plugin that adds in two textural variations of the GLR network. But since it had issues with the pillars, they had to be re-added via T21 exemplars. The ELR FLM uses T21 exemplars. What happens if you have two T21s modifying the same network? Conflict.

Not to mention there's also the ELR Alternate Implementation that also has its own T21s and ground textures... This is why the ELR FLM was never added into the NAM, it would conflict with other NAM plugins.

[T Wrecks 10,209]

FLM = facelift mod, I assume?

 

Ok, I don't think I've been using the GLR extended plugin. Could I have been using a NAM version prior to the re-addition of the pillars as T21 exemplars then? Do you know when this process took place?

 

That ELR Alternate Implementation sounds interesting, though, especially if it features ground textures.

 

All I can say right now (not @ my SC4 machine, that is) is that I have been using the ELR facelift mod together with a Japanese ELR catenary & fence mod and the NAM happily without noticing any problems, be they functional or visual in nature.

[Ganaram Inukshuk 906]

If you don't have the GLR Extended Plugin installed (and it's been around since NAM 29 or NAM 30), you don't need to worry about the pillars. The ELR-AI, I should mention, also has overhead wires. There's some documentation pending on that at the moment...

[T Wrecks 10,209]

I may be using NAM 29 in that region, but in any case without the GLR Extended plugin. However, since much has been going on in the NAM department between 29 and 31, I'll have to make a new NAM installation from scratch for the next region (if that ever comes) anyway. Good to know that there will be an EL-Rail facelift right in the NAM. Thank you for the clarification, too.

[z1 566]

Very strange. My game says that subway tunnels are 0.3 per segment per month, while elevated rail track costs 1.

 

El rail tracks cost 0.2 per segment.  And although subway tunnels cost 0.3 per segment in the vanilla game, they cost 1.2 per segment in the NAM, making the extra costs of subways much more realistic.

 

And to summarize about the El Rail Facelift Mod, as long as you don't have the GLR Extended Plugin installed, there should be no problem.  But if you like El Rail, you should really give the El Rail Alternate Implementation a try.  If you do, you should remove the El Rail Facelift Mod.

[Gurning_Chimp 398]

Very strange. My game says that subway tunnels are 0.3 per segment per month, while elevated rail track costs 1.

 

El rail tracks cost 0.2 per segment.  And although subway tunnels cost 0.3 per segment in the vanilla game, they cost 1.2 per segment in the NAM, making the extra costs of subways much more realistic.

 

And to summarize about the El Rail Facelift Mod, as long as you don't have the GLR Extended Plugin installed, there should be no problem.  But if you like El Rail, you should really give  the El Rail Alternate Implementation a try.  If you do, you should remove the El Rail Facelift Mod.

 

Yeah I tried the El-rail Alternate Implementation and I really didn't like it. My bridges looked funny and I just didn't like the design of it. I preferred the grotty look of the steel tracks. The only thing I liked about the ERAI was the truss that appeared over avenue intersection but that was it.