why my trains don't use maintenance station automatically?

[Armed Cumin]

The in game description for the maintenance station said the train will use it automatically when in need. But my trains would just not go into it even though its in bad condition and out of operating supplies. I built the maintenance station as a side track next to the main track to avoid traffic, is that why its not working? Do my trains have to go through it for it to work?

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2919900409&fileuploadsuccess=1

[X037]

Because your trains will always use the shortest route unless told otherwise by means of waypoints. In your case the maintenance station is a detour. Remove the shortcut so that all trains have to make their way through the maintenance station, and trains will stop if they have to or run straight through otherwise.

[vengen]

I thought that the message "missing operating supplies" meant your train needs a supply tower.

[chaney]

One way to set these up while avoiding traffic is to build tracks as you have, and set only an occasional stop on the route. If moving between two Cities for example, you can set up the route as a-b-a-b-a-Maintenance Station-b using a Waypoint to force the detour.

These giant things have Supply Towers integrated so trains will resupply there, too.

I have found Maintenance Stations to be terrible if traffic is moving both directions. The trains all tried to go to the first track, and counter traffic would get in each other's way. If set up connected to only ONE direction of traffic, there is rarely any need to do anything else - no bypass/Waypoint method. Trains all going one way they have high capacity.

[Maxim]

Bidirectional traffic at a Maint-Station is solved easily.

This is just another perfect example of why you want to learn to use waypoints to force a train from one direction to use tracks one or two and from the other direction to use tracks three or four. (or any combination you like.)

One other idea is to always use track four as the unconditional pass-through for any trains that are not scheduled to stop at the maintenance station.

[chaney]

Good point - Waypoints within the building could keep one direction off of tracks 1 & 2 to avoid the massive interference of bidirectional connections. I don't recall using routes that need maintenance more than once per full trip, so the extra setup detail isn't something I would use but lots of players love long routes so it would be helpful in that case for sure.

I don't get the "track four" thought, can you expand on that please?

[Maxim]

Completing the previous thought above.. using track four as a passthru point doesnt mean the train wont stop, it means it will not stop for repairs as long as you dont add the Maint-Station as part of the line/schedule...

...but it will stop and use the built-in sand/water tower if there are no supply towers to give it sand/water elsewhere..

So waypoints, and other supply towers need to be planned if you expect the train to go thru non-stop.

An overview image and a closeup image.. and an image with train route displayed in green/gold.. waypoints on track 4 setup for city to city traffic, and the plan is for the passenger train to run thru non-stop..

The curved tracks (at either end of the Maint-Station) can be built outwards to connect rural businesses with warehouses at different points.. or cities further out... and by hauling heavy freight, those freight trains can use the maintenance station as often as they are told to stop there, or possibly only use it once while passing thru in one direction but not when coming back thru the 2nd time.. whatever you want..

https://i.imgur.com/CI2Zx8i.jpeg
https://i.imgur.com/P3kBesb.jpeg
https://i.imgur.com/S724uzd.jpeg

[chaney]

Sure the Waypoints will keep trains that are mostly passing through from getting so much in the way, but does that really work any better than having a totally separate track that bypasses the Station completely? Or connect track 4 just for going one direction to allow maintenance and supplying while tying up the track much less for trains passing through?

I'm still not warming up to these Stations for low or moderate traffic, and for heavy traffic one way only gives plenty of throughput while sacrificing even track 4 for bidirectional traffic seems to push things if traffic is heavy. I guess we've just got different heuristics, with fairly strict P2P I just rarely see that much of a jam with 2 Large Stations in a City, maybe a Warehouse or even 2 in some cases. If a City does warrant more traffic, 1 way MS can handle it nicely, so I guess there is a little room there for what you show.