How to effectively build railroad infrastructure?

[Patrick216 0]

I have NAM and all, and for some reason I can't master the passenger railway system. I've used monorail, subway/el train, bus, and they all work perfectly well. But I can't recuperate the cost of them until way later. So they are expensive early on, especially monorail. For some reason industry uses rail a lot, but I can never get commuters to use it.

 

Is there a way to build them effectively that commuters will use them? 

[Superbacon 380]

I find that connecting inter-city rail lines will get your sims to use them. Especially if there are a lot of jobs next door. If you have the NAM, then your road capacities are higher, and so your sims will be more likely to drive or take something quick like subways or EL-rail. I can often get upwards of 20,000 sims traveling by heavy rail to the city it's connected to. Going to and fro. 

[z1 566]

Is there a way to build them effectively that commuters will use them? 

 

First, make sure your rail lines are along the directions that Sims want to use to go to work.  Then be sure to put enough stations on your rail lines.  Without enough stations, Sims have to travel too far to get to your trains, and the extra speed isn't enough to compensate.

 

Next, be sure you have good bus access to all your rail stations.  This means having an extensive bus network throughout your city, but that's good to have anyway.  All the new rail stations that come with the NAM have built-in bus stops, so that helps out a lot here.

 

Subways are a special case.  They're expensive, so you shouldn't overdo it at first.  (The same goes for monorail.)  But the traffic simulator really likes subways.  When you can afford it, an extensive subway system will not only speed Sims around town, but it will do a lot to prevent abandonment and dilapidation.  All of the various types of elevated rail stations included in the NAM come with optional subway access as well.

 

Finally, give strong consideration to (RTMT) and its add-on pack, This will allow you to put lots of bus and subway stations on your roads, so they don't need to take up valuable real estate, and so you don't have to demolish anything to make room for them.

[SimMavGER 8]

On topic:

 

Lots of bus stations, several subway stations (also work behind oneanother: build the bus station, set a PedMall tile, build the subway station; you can even build the PedMall all the way to the center of a block and join two/three/four busstations with a subway station in the middle); a few rail stations now and then, because you will want to build rails in your industrial areas anyway so why not fully use them!

As soon as you have built a few cities in your region mass transit usage will rise, I mean RISE - or maybe I am just not zoning enough jobs in my biggest cities?

 

But if f your sims still insist on driving their cars and if you would have to bulldoze to much for a new mass transit system:

Build a highway around your city, they actually value the higher speed and the less congested route.

If your city is high enough above sea level - not like mine, which I constantly dread whenever I try to build a bridge high enough for ferries ... but hey, it was my first attempt on a greyscale generated region ... where was I? Ah yes, so if youre high enough you can dig some hollows for tunnels for the highways to go under your city and maybe to the city center. Another plus: tunnels do not add pollution.

This might not be your goal for this city, but the little buggers dont want to ... it might be an alternative if only to get your commuters of your avenues!

 

 

And here we go:

 

Is the orientation of rail stations important in any way? They seem to work for me if on rail tile is "behind" the station building, even if it is just a curved tile and even if the rail is several meters of the ground ("vertical slope") but still on the next grid tile of the map. I always build a road along the "road-arrow-side" of the lot, but is that really necessary?

I find freight station especially difficult to place, many trucks on route to the next highway out of town ...

 

Do subway/EL-Rail-stations add to commute time if they are built into the route? Should they be built next to the tube/rail?

(This is probably once again one of my famous "better ask then scratch your scalp off" questions ...)

 

Regarding the RTMT:

- Does it create ZOTs in front of buildings? (RTFM? :kitty: )

- Will I be able to see the traffic arrows of the query tool when I check on them?

(Another similar mod did not show them, not even any buses on the roads in the area I tried these station out - I picked it over the RTMT because it had no dependencies, but now I cant tell if it even works!)

 

If I install the SAM as a dependency will it interfere with anything else even if i only install it to make use of the RTMT as long as I do not use the SAM itself?

(I have been veeery careful regarding installing mods with lots of dependencies in  fear of incompatibilities - and lazyness to load them all, yes ..., but I am now at a point where I will have to enlarge the contents of my plugin folder "slightly" ... Only wished there were more mega packs so there wouldnt be so many!)

 

A question I always ask myself when browsing alternative masstransit stations: Is the capacity of the RTMT lots fixed or does it correspond with the settings in NAM? (Does NAM change the stations at all or just the roads etc. I wonder ... hm ... )

[z1 566]

Is the orientation of rail stations important in any way?

 

No; the transit switches are four-way symmetrical.

 

I always build a road along the "road-arrow-side" of the lot, but is that really necessary?

 

No, for the same reason as above.  For the Maxis train station, you can put roads and rails on any side of the station.

 

Do subway/EL-Rail-stations add to commute time if they are built into the route?

 

No; properly modded stations do not have any significant effect on commute time.

 

Should they be built next to the tube/rail?

You can do this, as long as the Sims can travel over a network tile between them.

 

Regarding the RTMT:

- Does it create ZOTs in front of buildings? (RTFM? :kitty: )

 

Please see the first question in the RTMT Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ).  There is also more information on this topic in the ReadMe file.  Once you get used to using RTMT, you find that this problem is easily avoidable.

 

- Will I be able to see the traffic arrows of the query tool when I check on them?

 

Yes.

 

If I install the SAM as a dependency will it interfere with anything else even if i only install it to make use of the RTMT as long as I do not use the SAM itself?

 

No, it won't; the SAM doesn't conflict with anything whether you use it or not.  But you don't need to install it for the sake of RTMT if you're not going to use the RTMT SAM stations.

 

A question I always ask myself when browsing alternative masstransit stations: Is the capacity of the RTMT lots fixed or does it correspond with the settings in NAM? (Does NAM change the stations at all or just the roads etc. I wonder ... hm ... )

 

The capacity of the RTMT stations is fixed, but it is fixed at a level high enough to be used with the NAM's Ultra traffic simulator.  Also remember that a station's true capacity is at least four times the nominal capacity; please see the second part of for details.

 

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

I don't understand why people are reticent about using rail systems.  They are very straight forward, include parking in the stations and are cheap. 

 

If you want to have a little model railroad system on your city map, this can be a lot of fun in itself.  Think about the problems you can create for yourself if you assiduously segregate freight lines from passenger lines.  Lots of interesting cross-overs.

 

Instead of getting in a swivet and asking a question on the forums, how about asking your computer?  Try something out, be investigative.  And before someone says they don't want to make a mess in their city, remember what sandbox regions are for.

[AcronShinra 60]

This small, pure commercial tile (created to soak up surplus of demand from neighbouring large tile) was meant to be experiment at first; to create rail-heavy tile with bus support, where whole train network would be a giant, segmented loop without dead ends apart from connections to neighbours.

Was a bit surprised that it worked even better than I expected. And number of spawned automata has pleased my train fetish!

 

http://imageshack.us/a/img267/1203/timberfeb19291369317913.jpg

 

http://imageshack.us/a/img38/3826/timbermar7291369317972.jpg

 

http://imageshack.us/a/img266/3686/timberapr4291369318063.jpg

[T Wrecks 10,210]

If you want to have a little model railroad system on your city map, this can be a lot of fun in itself.  Think about the problems you can create for yourself if you assiduously segregate freight lines from passenger lines.  Lots of interesting cross-overs.

Agreed. Well, in fact you can start by making realistic railway networks, i.e.:

• no steep slopes
• no level crossings with roads (except for low-speed side lines with low usage and smaller roads, or remote places out in the boonies)
• No sharp turns
• No 90° crossings between rail lines
• No 'rail roundabouts'

=> Lots of digging underpasses, building dams, bridges, tricky rail interchanges... and we haven't even started on railyards yet!

 

As for recovering your costs, you need an attractive line between a large concentration of residents and a large concentration of jobs. Only then will you have decent rail usage. However, regular heavy rail is really dead cheap to build and maintain. If you start a map by dragging one or two avenues and some main roads through it before you build the city, you may face surprisingly high infrastructure costs from the get-go. With rail, it's not nearly as bad.

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

Yes.  From your pictures you must be getting filthy rich on tolls and fares.  Well done.

 

Enjoy the animation.  Just watching all those trains running around can be quite amusing.

[Patrick216 0]

This thread was really helpful thanks. I would be quite lost if I hadn't come across this forum. 

This small, pure commercial tile (created to soak up surplus of demand from neighbouring large tile) was meant to be experiment at first; to create rail-heavy tile with bus support, where whole train network would be a giant, segmented loop without dead ends apart from connections to neighbours.

Was a bit surprised that it worked even better than I expected. And number of spawned automata has pleased my train fetish!

 

http://imageshack.us/a/img267/1203/timberfeb19291369317913.jpg

 

http://imageshack.us/a/img38/3826/timbermar7291369317972.jpg

 

http://imageshack.us/a/img266/3686/timberapr4291369318063.jpg

 

I really like your city layout, gave me a little inspiration . 

[Cougar2004 127]

This small, pure commercial tile (created to soak up surplus of demand from neighbouring large tile) was meant to be experiment at first; to create rail-heavy tile with bus support, where whole train network would be a giant, segmented loop without dead ends apart from connections to neighbours.

Was a bit surprised that it worked even better than I expected. And number of spawned automata has pleased my train fetish!

 

http://imageshack.us/a/img267/1203/timberfeb19291369317913.jpg

 

http://imageshack.us/a/img38/3826/timbermar7291369317972.jpg

 

http://imageshack.us/a/img266/3686/timberapr4291369318063.jpg

 

Enjoyed seeing your test masterpiece.  I didn't expect it, but tons of items in your city Ive never seen before and look forward to learning how to find and create.  Thanks for sharing this with us.

[Jared001 2]

Always loved how SimCity 4 can allow you to create your own little miniature model railway without taking up the room of a real one. It's a pity the limitations in SimCity 5 doesn't allow you to have the same ccity building experience.

 

Anyways, my advice is to continue building out your city to connect with neighbouring regions; then limit road/avenue/highway access to them. If you do it right, and build an effective railway (supported by a good bus network), you'll keep transit time below 100 minutes (post-NAM) and make a nice little profit on the side.

 

 

You can also cut down transit time by moving your railway network underground or above ground (i.e. Shameless self plugs):

 

 

 

 

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

Interesting.  You can also increase the efficiency of the simulation by turning off UDI when you don't want to go riding.  Gets rid of UDI balloons.

 

I note you don't have any tolls.  Do you not have any road/highway neighbour connections?

[Jared001 2]

Yep, but the majority of my connections are highway connections of avenues. My city centre is laid out in a big grid pattern; and I don't connect the roads/streets to the neighbouring cities - forces my sims to ride the train a lot more due to the congestion created on the avenues and highways.

BTW, how do you get rid of the UDI balloons. They drive me mad most of the time; when I'm trying to plop something down.

[Indiana Joe 1,752]

BTW, how do you get rid of the UDI balloons. They drive me mad most of the time; when I'm trying to plop something down.

 

When you click on the UDI menu button, the button beneath the car/boat/plane buttons toggles the balloons.

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

Yep.  Quick trick: F3 takes you to My Sims, click on car icon (bottom), click on toggle icon (bottom), F2 back to mayor mode.