Timetable issues

[Trippynet]

I've set up some fairly complex passenger networks with timetables and am running into a bit of a problem. The issue seems to be that the trains only seem to obey their timetable when they either reach full load, or when an extended period of time passes with no more passengers/mail arriving at a station. This is a particular problem as my network covers some very busy cities as well as some slightly smaller towns.

For example, a train may arrive at a town station on time. The timetable tells it to wait there for 5 days. After 5 days, the train is about 60% full of passengers. Yet instead of leaving, more passengers keep on arriving in dribs and drabs and the train just sits there and continues to load, even though its timetable states that it should have left by now. Eventually, the train either reaches 100% load and then leaves about 9 days late, or a few seconds pass without any more passengers arriving at the station - at which point the train then finally realises it's late and leaves the station. End result is that I now have a big gap in my trains, a train which is many days late, and a queue of trains all stuck behind it.

Is there any way of getting the trains to just obey their timetable and leave the station once the time is up - even if there are still passengers/goods waiting to load?

[Rainer]

Hi Trippynet,

Is there any way of getting the trains to just obey their timetable and leave the station once the time is up - even if there are still passengers/goods waiting to load?

would you like this if you were one of these "passengers waiting to load"

cu
Rainer

[Trippynet]

I wouldn't mind as much if I arrived at the station 6 days late and there was a second train waiting to enter the station and pick me up just after the one that was due to leave.

However, I'd be annoyed if I was on that train in the station and it had been due to leave the station 6 days ago. Or if I were stood at the next station on the line and had been waiting for a train that was due to have arrived 6 days ago.

[PhilSophus]

Is there any way of getting the trains to just obey their timetable and leave the station once the time is up - even if there are still passengers/goods waiting to load?

No, none that I'm aware of. I'm having the same problem. Just setting a minimal waiting time at stations with few passengers and giving some additional time at busy stations to catch up helps a bit, but somehow defeats the purpose of a timetable.

Playing around with improved loading and gradual loading settings might also help, though it might have negative impacts on other trains (e.g. freight trains with full load).

would you like this if you were one of these "passengers waiting to load"

If it were just, due to amount of passengers, you are right. But to me it seems that this problem occurs mainly when you have only few passengers arriving at the station. Moreover, when I have this problem, normally additional trains queue up at the station entrance.

Here, when the first underground train after a service disruption (platform crowded due to the left out trains) enters a station and you see that next trains are following in 1 minute intervals, I normally don't join the crowds that take the first one, but wait for the next one having some air to breath and maybe even a free seat And I'm not the only one.


Edit: I've looked a bit at the source code. As a workaround disabling gradual loading should "solve" the issue.

However, as a better solution I suggest an "improved timetabled gradual loading" setting with the following behavior: If the current gradual loading step loads all cargo that is currently at the station and the timetabled waiting time is exceeded after this loading step, the vehicle will leave without checking for newly arrived cargo. I think this is a good compromise between "not leave behind passengers that already waited at the station" and "not wait forever as new passengers are dripping in".

I just look, how this could be best implemented and might write a patch during the next days.