Cost of railroad tracks

Workers & Resources: Soviet Republic has 3 types of train tracks. The costs in workers and resources to build each type of track is broken out. Wooden rail can be upgraded to Concrete or Electric. Concrete can be upgraded Electric. The costs and some tips to help you plan out your rail network are included.

Reason for this guide

When you are planning out your transportation network, the easiest and cheapest option is a mud road.

• They are free
  
• No workers
  
• No resources
  
• They build instantly
  
• You can upgrade over them easily later
  
• Free

And mud roads have several benefits

• Need to fix a traffic problem?
  
• Need to redesign an intersection?
  
• Need to build a bridge?
  
• Trying to add a railroad crossing?
  
• Trying to delete a railroad crossing?

The answer to all of those problems could be a mud road. It diverts traffic, frees up path locks that might prevent you deleting a road segment. And they are free. Plus it looks more realistic having a road run out to your remote electrical structures

But what does that have to do with rail tracks?
It was suggested wooden rails. And BOOM, this guide was born to explain why mud roads are not equivalent to wooden rails.

Types of Track

There are three types of track

• Wooden rails
  
• Concrete rails
  
• Electrical rails

Track speed limits

Wooden tracks are the slowest

• Wooden rails 70 km/h
  
• Concrete rails 150 km/h
  
• Electrical rails 150 km/h

Concrete and electrical tracks have the same speed but they are limited to diesel or electrical locomotives.

Track Construction Costs

For a segment of train track of the same length, on a flat surface laid parallel to each other, here are the construction costs


The pricing in ₽ and $ are for comparison purposes. Pricing changes based on your game play, exports, imports and a global economic index.

Construction and Planning

Plan first, and then construct only when needed
The Rail Construction Office (RCO) is a valuable part of your rail network. They build your train tracks, they help you save on costs. And they can mess up your rail network very easily if not used properly.

Some RCO tips

• RCO's build OUT from the RCO.
  
• RCO's don't build track in the direction coming BACK
  
• You can have multiple RCO's
  
• You can have 4 rail construction trains in a single RCO

And a few tips to reduce your train track costs

• Plan out your design
  
• Make room for switches
  
• Trains and rail cars get bigger over time
  
• Learn about blocks of track and add extra room for larger trains years later as your Republic grows
  
• You don't need to pack rails in on top of buildings and roads; leave room
  
• Plan for double rails
  
• Build rails one at a time as need

Should I build or buy track?

Good question.
The answer is always build
If you are playing WRSR on easy mode with plenty of funds and you want to buy track, enjoy your game your own way.

As you progress to harder play styles and difficulty levels, you will have less and less resources. You cannot afford to lay down.huge lengths of track. It costs resources. It costs workers.

Those workers and resources could be better used to make your economic independent or generate a surplus. Over-building or buying your track doesn't return anything to your funds account balance.

Most importantly, it is a game. Enjoy. So strike the above answer, and replace it with this one:
Play the game the way it is fun for you. If you want a bigger challenge, build your track with RCO's and materials you make from structure's you built with CO's.

Credits and thanks

Thanks to a few people for making this massive guide possible

theAmishStig for the discussion on CO's
Rever for his videos which at one point made me think the upgrade costs from concrete to electrical was just the electrical components
Adekyn for playing without a CO
Colonel Failure for laying down electrical track from the start with a sense of humor

By Vasily Perov - numerous reproductions, e.g. at http://otkritka-reprodukzija.blogspot.com/2008_01_01_archive.html, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6089358

Comments, feedback and updates

Thank you for reading my ramblings

I hope you find the numbers helpful to decide when to build your tracks and when to upgrade if at all.
Please post and comments or feedback. If there are any changes or updates, I will revise this guide.


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Dasvidaniya Comrade