Did the devs did something to the economy?

[Pak0tac]

So its been a while since I played, and now I have a new play-through, but there is something strange with my game... I play on Hard difficulty, Large map, and I am now at the year 2020, but I only just lately began using large airfields or dual-factory supply per city (per item) as it is just now that at least 3 of the cities on the map are large enough to support an advanced industry logistics. Also for some reason my high speed passenger trains are far from being profitable at all, my buses and passenger planes make FAR more money then trains, and these high speed trains were running for more then 100 years by now, connecting 3 big cities... Also for some reason city buses are far more profitable then trams...

And all of that is pretty strange considering this is not my first playthough, I did my economy as I always do it (trucks for short range, trains for long range etc) but it feels like something doesnt work right...

Another strange thing is that the last time I played (a few years back) I could become a multi billionaire by the year 1950 or so, while now even though my logistics are fully optimized (down to power per maintenance cost ratio) I am still floating at an average of 500 million :x

[Vimpster]

The high speed passenger trains (240 kph+) have never been very economical. You really need long stretches with no stops and no tight curves in order for them to be cost effective, particularly on hard difficulty. Some are easier to make money with than others. It really comes down to the capacity to weight ratio. The Speedance, for instance, is really heavy relative to it's passenger capacity, making it one of the hardest ones to make money with.

The reason the weight is so harmful to the profitability is because the heavier it is the more power it needs to get up to speed and the power of the train has a large impact on the running costs. And simply having a good power to weight ratio isn't so important if the capacity is too small as it is a waste of power/money.

To answer your question, no, the devs did not change anything to the economy at all.

[numbat]

Also to note, I have found in the past that as soon as you add air routes, pax numbers on your trains will fall, affecting their profitability. Passengers will gravitate to the fastest service and therefore the slower ones will need to be tweaked to ensure they remain profitable.

Cheers,
Chris.