Vehicles not properly spacing on lines

[rocket54321]

One of my main passenger lines is consistently running at a loss because vehicles are too clumped up, leaving some cities with massive passenger backlogs while trains run nearly empty on other sections of the line. Is there any way to get them to space better without having to manually hold each of the ~20 trains on a cross-map route?

[Metacritical]

delete signals, you should use the signals to space out trains. normally late game i leave a section between two stations completely signal free to help space out the trains

[AlwaysRM]

You can try the Unbunch function of the timetables mod.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2408373260
This makes sure trains will always be x min/sec apart from each other.

You can also set up departure times with this mod :p

[doug]

You've probably got too many signals on the line.
If you have 20 trains on the line, you really don't want or need any more than say 40 signal blocks over the entire length of the line (20 in each direction.)
Also, try to keep each block roughly the same length, or trains coming to the end of short block may often find themselves waiting for the vehicle in front of them to get to the end of a longer block.

[Northwold]

Wrote this in response to another thread, and it pre-dates the timetable mod which may solve the problem (I've not tried it), but in case useful...(I'm not a fan of the idea that you should adjust frequency by having the correct number of signals. That's not how things work in real life and is a nightmare if you want to increase or decrease line frequency later on.)

It's an old thread and the timetable mod now exists, but the other way of controlling frequency without a mod, at least for passengers, is to take trains out of the last station on a line (let's call it Anytown) into a loop of track. At the other end of the loop set up a tiny cargo (not passenger) station. Then take the track from the cargo station back into Anytown passenger station, probably on a different platform from the trains entering the loop.

In the line settings, set the line to unload only (deselect loading) when it arrives at the final passenger station, Anytown, before it goes into the loop. This empties the train. Then set the cargo station as the next stop and full load. Then set Anytown as the next station for the train's return journey up your train line.

Because it is a passenger train waiting to load at a cargo station, no passengers will ever be able to board it at the cargo station. Because you have set the cargo station for a full load, any train at the cargo station will wait the precise amount of time you have set for the line's maximum waiting time and then depart. In effect, the cargo station functions as a waiting point and gives you trains running along the line at a regular frequency.

If you have problems with trains backing up while waiting for the train at the cargo station to leave, add signals on the loop to allow trains to queue there (and possibly make the loop longer). This is not entirely unrealistic: some railways, such as metros, do sometimes use loops at the end of lines to turn trains around and have them wait there (examples include the Northern Line on the London Underground and both ends of the non-through lines of the Channel Tunnel).

[rocket54321]

Originally posted by Northwold:

Wrote this in response to another thread, and it pre-dates the timetable mod which may solve the problem (I've not tried it), but in case useful...(I'm not a fan of the idea that you should adjust frequency by having the correct number of signals. That's not how things work in real life and is a nightmare if you want to increase or decrease line frequency later on.)

It's an old thread and the timetable mod now exists, but the other way of controlling frequency without a mod, at least for passengers, is to take trains out of the last station on a line (let's call it Anytown) into a loop of track. At the other end of the loop set up a tiny cargo (not passenger) station. Then take the track from the cargo station back into Anytown passenger station, probably on a different platform from the trains entering the loop.

In the line settings, set the line to unload only (deselect loading) when it arrives at the final passenger station, Anytown, before it goes into the loop. This empties the train. Then set the cargo station as the next stop and full load. Then set Anytown as the next station for the train's return journey up your train line.

Because it is a passenger train waiting to load at a cargo station, no passengers will ever be able to board it at the cargo station. Because you have set the cargo station for a full load, any train at the cargo station will wait the precise amount of time you have set for the line's maximum waiting time and then depart. In effect, the cargo station functions as a waiting point and gives you trains running along the line at a regular frequency.

If you have problems with trains backing up while waiting for the train at the cargo station to leave, add signals on the loop to allow trains to queue there (and possibly make the loop longer). This is not entirely unrealistic: some railways, such as metros, do sometimes use loops at the end of lines to turn trains around and have them wait there (examples include the Northern Line on the London Underground and both ends of the non-through lines of the Channel Tunnel).

This sounds great, but how do I set more precise waiting times than 1 min, say, if I wanted 45 second frequency, or 1:30?

[AlwaysRM]

Originally posted by rocket54321:

Originally posted by Northwold:

Wrote this in response to another thread, and it pre-dates the timetable mod which may solve the problem (I've not tried it), but in case useful...(I'm not a fan of the idea that you should adjust frequency by having the correct number of signals. That's not how things work in real life and is a nightmare if you want to increase or decrease line frequency later on.)

It's an old thread and the timetable mod now exists, but the other way of controlling frequency without a mod, at least for passengers, is to take trains out of the last station on a line (let's call it Anytown) into a loop of track. At the other end of the loop set up a tiny cargo (not passenger) station. Then take the track from the cargo station back into Anytown passenger station, probably on a different platform from the trains entering the loop.

In the line settings, set the line to unload only (deselect loading) when it arrives at the final passenger station, Anytown, before it goes into the loop. This empties the train. Then set the cargo station as the next stop and full load. Then set Anytown as the next station for the train's return journey up your train line.

Because it is a passenger train waiting to load at a cargo station, no passengers will ever be able to board it at the cargo station. Because you have set the cargo station for a full load, any train at the cargo station will wait the precise amount of time you have set for the line's maximum waiting time and then depart. In effect, the cargo station functions as a waiting point and gives you trains running along the line at a regular frequency.

If you have problems with trains backing up while waiting for the train at the cargo station to leave, add signals on the loop to allow trains to queue there (and possibly make the loop longer). This is not entirely unrealistic: some railways, such as metros, do sometimes use loops at the end of lines to turn trains around and have them wait there (examples include the Northern Line on the London Underground and both ends of the non-through lines of the Channel Tunnel).

This sounds great, but how do I set more precise waiting times than 1 min, say, if I wanted 45 second frequency, or 1:30?

Unless someone mods these times somehow, we can only tell it to wait 1/3/5/10/forever.