Track

Blueprints, not buildings

Everything you draw is a blueprint until you construct it. The blueprint panel totals the cost as you go and shows the upkeep it will add per day:

Track:          base cost per unit × length × cost factor
Stations:       base cost per station × level
Junctions, flyovers, crossings, crossovers:  each has its own base cost

The cost factor is the interesting part. It rises for rough ground and for track over water, and it is applied per piece, so a route over a river or through hills can cost several times what the same length costs on flat ground. The panel breaks the total down by kind, so you can see which part of your drawing is the expensive one.

Other things you can do to a blueprint selection:

• Undo / redo the last edit (Ctrl+Z, Ctrl+Y).
• Double up a run of track to quad track, one run at a time, at a quoted price.
• Rebuild a section at a different level or type.
• Remove the selection, or clear it with Esc.

Levels

Track can be drawn at seven levels, +3 down to −3. Shift+1 through

Shift+7 picks the level while you draw. Levels are how you cross things: a level difference turns a flat crossing into a flyover, and a flyover is not a detail — it is a capacity upgrade (see below).

Track types

Type	What it is for	Cost
Regular	The default. Works with normal trains.	Base
High-speed	For high-speed trains only. Lets a line run much faster over distance.	A multiple of regular track
Tram track	Track laid on streets for trams. Cheaper and more flexible in a city, slower.	Below regular
Single track	One track shared by both directions, with passing points.	Below double

High-speed track is a commitment: high-speed cars only run on high-speed track, so the line's whole route has to be built that way. The payoff is journey time, which is what the demand model actually compares against driving.

Why track gets full

The game is unusually honest about capacity. A track is not a pipe with a fixed flow — what limits it is a set of specific bottlenecks, and the game names them in the line inspector:

Bottleneck	What is happening	The fix
Track	Each train needs a gap behind it for braking and signals. The gap grows with speed.	Fewer trains, slower track, or more tracks
Single track	Both directions share one track and hold it from one passing point to the next	A second track, or a station where trains can pass
Junction	Trains cross each other's path and take turns	A flyover
Flat crossing	Trains on one route wait for the other route to clear	Take one track over or under the other
Merge	Trains from several lines join one track and wait for a gap	More track, or spread merges out
Shared track	Trains of several lines use the same track	Give some lines their own track beside it

Two rules of thumb follow directly from that table:

1. A flat crossing is a junction with a queue. If two busy lines cross at the same level, one of them is losing time all day. A flyover pays for itself.
2. Merges want space. The game's own advice is to place merges farther from other merges, junctions and stations — because each one is a place where trains queue for a gap.

Designing a route

There is no cost model for scenery, so the constraints are geometry, money and the capacity list above. A few things that consistently work:

• Keep the first line simple. A single route from a dense residential area to a dense job area, with no junctions, will out-earn a clever network that shares track everywhere.
• Separate the directions early. Double track from the start is usually cheaper than retrofitting it through a busy corridor later.
• Cross at different levels. Every flyover you build is a junction you never have to manage.
• Watch the platforms, not just the track. A line can be held up by a two-track station where every train stops — the station page covers the fixes.

What track costs you later

Upkeep is charged per day on what you have built, whether or not anything runs on it. A long, beautiful line through empty country is a permanent bill. When a route is not working, disabling or deleting it is usually the right move — and the finances tab will show you the difference the next day.