Streets and Tracks [Transport Fever 2 Wiki] (2024)

Table of Contents

Streets and tracks are essential to build a comprehensive road and rail network in the game. Streets are automatically built when a new game is created, so that towns and industries can directly be connected. In contrast, tracks can only be built by the player. Streets are also automatically built and upgraded when towns expand. In contrast to tracks, the player usually does not own streets (even if they have been constructed by the player). Towns can construct new town buildings along streets and AI controlled cars and pedestrians can use them without restrictions.

The construction costs are a combination of:

• costs per meter (depending on street/track type)

• costs for terrain terraforming

  See Also

  The Best Transport Fever 2 ModsRoundabout - Transport Fever CommunityOne-way road, Traffic Lights and Roundabouts - Transport Fever Community

• costs for bridges (depending on the height above ground)

• costs for tunnels (depending on the depth below ground

• costs for upgrades like railroad catenary

Streets and tracks have speed limits, depending on the type used. On curved tracks, the speed of trains is also limited by the curve’s radius. A smaller radius will result in a lower top speed. Rail bridges have an additional speed limit, which may lower the speed limit of the used tracks. The top speed of tracks is displayed while constructing tracks and can later be seen in the according data layer.

See the list below for detailed information on costs and speed restrictions.

The street construction menu can be reached by selecting the road button in the toolbar and switching to the STREETS tab 1.

The menu consists of several button groups with different purposes.

It is possible to filter the list of available street types by using the category filters 2pressing .
There are 4 categories:

• Urban streets have a pedestrian sidewalk. They usually are built in towns and town buildings can spawn along them.

• One-Way streets only have lanes in one direction. They usually are built in towns and town buildings can spawn along them.

• Country streets have higher speed limits. They usually are used for connections between towns. No new houses spawn along them.

• Highway streets have the highest speed limits. They are used for fast connections between regions of the map. No new houses spawn along them.

Below the button groupsThe main part of the window is the list of available street types 32. They can be used in three different build modes. You can select one of the modes by clicking the buttons on the right side 4 selecting a street and then pressing to open the settings window. Alternatively you can also press to toggle between curved and straight mode.

curves of straight and curved mode

slope aligned to ground

manual slope gradient selection


bending with M and N

There are two modes available for building new streets that you can find in the top right corner 4.

With the straight building mode the street forms a straight connection between the start and end point. The only exception is when streets are pulled from existing streets or intersections and the angle to an existing street is too narrow.

In contrast, the curved building mode tries to arrange the road in an arc in such a way that the transitions to existing road segments can be made without sharp bends. It also depends on the direction in which you drag the road after you have pressed the left mouse buttonset the start point.

To build a new street segment, clickfirst select a street from the menu, then press at the place where it should start and drag the mousemove to the place where the street segment should end. Press a second time to set the end point. After releasing the left mouse button, itIt is possible to move the end to another place by picking up the grey circle (that is highlighted blue on mouse over)pressing . The streets usually snap to existing streets if they are close enough. The area in which this effect occurs can be reduced by holding SHIFT while dragging the street while moving the start or end point. The street will snap to a straight segment when aligned within a few degrees. This can be disabled by holding SHIFT too.

After releasing the left mouse buttonsetting the start point, an arrow button indicating the current slope appears at the end of the segment. Then the segment is aligned to the terrain height at the end position. When that arrow button is pressed, the manual slope selection mode is activated. Then it is possible to manually select the desired slope gradient by using the and buttons. With SHIFT pressed, the steps are smaller for finer control. By pressing on the slope indicator, the automatic slope alignment can be activated again.

To control the height of the street use the following buttons:

• Use , and . before draggingsetting the start point to change the start height of the new segment. This is only relevant when not extending an existing piece of street.

• Use M and N while or after draggingsetting the start point to change the inner heightwise curvature of the street segment. This can be used to create small bend bridges or force small tunnels as underpasses (see image).

• Use , and . while or after draggingsetting the start point to change the height of the end point of the street segment. This can be used to form upward or downward ramps.

If buildings have to be demolished to build the street, a yellow warning message will pop up and the buildings will be highlighted in yellow. To finally confirm and actually build the street segment, press the button or press the button twice to dismiss the current proposal.

Whenever the distance of the street level to the ground level is big enough, a bridge or tunnel is proposed.Before finishing the construction, choose the bridge or tunnel type to adjust the look and maximum speed. This can be done by clicking on the bridge respectively tunnel icon above the roadfirst pressing to switch to the tunnel respectively bridge section you want to change, and then pressing to select the bridge/tunnel type. Afterwards press again to switch back to the end point. Then press to build the road.

Note that bridges can also be built partially and curved. Enabling the manual slope gradient control described above will avoid an automatic adjustment to the ground. Bridges can also be fitted with waypoints. The same is possible with tunnels as soon as the street is far enough below ground level.

To create a tunnel or bridge directly use , respectively . at least 5 times before draggingsetting the start point.

To replace existing streets with a different type, select the street type with which the existing one should be replaced in the list 32 and activate the replace mode by clicking on the button in the top right corner 4selecting in the settings, which are accessible by pressing .

Sections that do not have the selected street type are displayed in red, all others are blue. Usually the tool is applied to all sections between two intersections or until the next street type change. If you like to modify only some sections, hold SHIFT while applying the tool. The affected sections are highlighted in blue as well.

In addition, it is possible to add or remove tram tracks or bus lanes at the same time. The default setting “keep” will replace the street type but keep bus lanes or tram tracks, if there are any.

Switch to the STREET CONSTRUCTIONS tab on the top 1 to get to the street constructions. These are template structures consisting of different streets. Once placed they are editable as if they would have been constructed by hand. Before being placed, some parameters like the number of lanes and the size can be set. There are several constructions available:

Switch to the TOOLS tab on the top 1 to get to the modification submenu. You can add or remove tram tracks with or without catenary as well as bus lanes. Bus lanes are generally not used by individual traffic. Also you can change if a street is owned by the player. Streets that are owned by the player are not automatically upgraded by towns, but you pay maintenance costs for them. Lastly, you can upgrade intersections to use traffic lights. Sections that do not have the selected tool applied yet are displayed in red, all others are blue.

To swap the direction of one-way streets and highways, use one of the first three modification tools or use the replace mode and right click on the street segmenthold while applying the tool.

Usually the tools are applied to all sections between two intersections. If you like to modify only some sections, hold SHIFT while applying the tool. The affected sections are highlighted in blue as well.

Bus lanes cost 10%, tram tracks cost 20% and electrified tram tracks cost 40% of the street costs.

Switch to the WAYPOINTS tab on the top 1 to get to the waypoint submenu. When creating lines, a waypoint can be used to force road vehicles to use the street where the waypoint is created to get from one station to another.

Waypoints can be placed along any road section that is not part of a construction like the roads inside industrial plants. It is also possible to select which traffic lane should be used. See the lines page for more details. Vehicles can switch lanes at intersections and wherever a street segment ends.

Tracks are required for any train to be used. They connect stations and depots. The track construction menu can be reached by selecting the rail button in the toolbar and switching to the TRACKS tab 1.

The menu consists of several button groups with different purposes.

To build tracks, switch to the TRACKS tab on the top 1. Below the button groupsit is the list of available track types 2 with the two types:

	Type	Max. Speed	Availability	Cost per m
	Standard Tracks	120km/h	from 1850	75
	Highspeed Tracks	300km/h	from 1925	150

In contrast to streets, there is no distinction between straight and curved build mode. The build tool always tries to arrange the tracks in an arc in such a way that the transitions to existing track segments can be made without sharp bends. It also depends on the direction in which you drag the track after you have pressed the left mouse buttonset the start point. If you drag the track to an existing end, it will snap there too at an appropriate angle. As the speed is restricted by the radius of the curves, small numbers indicate what the final speed restrictions in that area will be.

The dragging and snapping behavior can be controlled in the same way as described above for streets. The same applies to the height adjustment of tracks. Keep in mind that tracks can't be placed as steep as streets and that there is a minimal curve radius for tracks. To see the contours of the terrain better it is recommended to use the contour lines layer while building rails along mountains.

If buildings have to be demolished to build the tracks, a yellow warning message will pop up and the buildings are highlighted in yellow. To finally confirm and actually build the track segment, press the button or press the button twice to dismiss the current proposal.

To build a parallel track, pointmove the start point next to an existing track (the cursorcircle will turn blue), left clickpress and drag along the existing track. This can be repeated multiple times.

To build a switch, point atmove the start point to an existing track, where the switch should start, left clickpress and drag at a narrow angle away from the existing track. Dragging at a large angle will create a crossing instead of a switch.

The technics of switches and parallel tracks can be combined to construct various types of switches and crossings:

1. Double Switch

2. Crossover

3. Extended Crossover

4. Diamond Crossover

5. Double Slip Switch

6. Three Way Switch

1. A double switch can be built by extending parallel tracks as a switch.

2. To build a crossover, point atmove the start point to an existing parallel track, where the crossover should start. Left clickPress and drag in the direction where the crossover should go.

3. The same concept can be used to construct extended crossovers crossing multiple tracks.

4. To build a diamond crossover, point atmove the start point to the end of an existing crossover (the cursorcircle will snap and turn blue). Left clickPress and drag to the opposite side of the crossover.

5. To build a double slip switch, point atuse the inspector (outside of construction mode) to select a crossing with a flat angle, left clickpress and select YES in the dialog. If the crossing is not highlighted while hovering it, the angle is probably too steep, and it cannot be upgraded.

6. A three way switch currently is not possible.

Rails and streets can be crossed in any way possible. Simply drag a track over a street or the other way around to create a railroad crossing. You can change the crossing type either during the construction or afterwards by clicking on the crossing barsselecting it with the inspector and selecting the new type.

Like with streets, whenever the distance of the track level to the ground level is big enough, a bridge or tunnel is proposed.Before finishing the construction, choose the bridge or tunnel type to adjust the look and maximum speed. This can be done analogous to the streets. See the section above for a list of available bridges.

Note that bridges can also be built partially and curved. Enabling the manual slope gradient control will avoid an automatic adjustment to the ground. Keep in mind that tracks can't be placed as steep as streets. Bridges can also be fitted with switches, signals, and waypoints. The same is possible with tunnels as soon as the track is far enough below ground level.

To create a tunnel or bridge directly use , respectively . at least 5 times before draggingsetting the start point.

Switch to the TOOLS tab on the top 1 to get to the modification submenu. You can add or remove catenary or up- respectively downgrade the track type. Sections that do not have the selected tool applied yet are displayed in red, all others are blue.

Usually the tool is applied to all sections between two switches or several hundred meters of track when there are no switches. If you like to modify only some sections, hold SHIFT while applying the tool. The affected sections are highlighted in blue as well.

Switch to the SIGNALS tab on the top 1 to get to the signal submenu. Signals are used to split the track network in smaller parts so that more than one vehicle can be driving around safely.

Signals can be turned into one-way signals. Trains may only pass them if the signal is pointing in the direction of the approaching train. One-way signals are indicated by a symbol with one white and two black dots in the signal icon.

When creating lines, signals can be used as waypoints, too.

Switch to the WAYPOINTS tab on the top 1 to get to the waypoint submenu. When creating lines, a waypoint can be used to force trains to use the tracks where the waypoint is created to get from one station to another. Also there is a special waypoint that will additionally cause passing trains to use their horn.

Waypoints can be placed along any track section that is not part of a switch or construction like the tracks inside stations. They are valid in both directions and are indicated by a marker with a single white dot.

Learn more about signals and waypoints usage in terms of line management.