Trains

Each train can carry as many as 400 Sims, so don’t be surprised if a large crowd emerges from a Passenger Train Station.

While buses and streetcars are ideal for transportation within the city, trains address regional transit concerns by moving vast numbers of Sims between connected cities.

To take advantage of trains, your city must have an existing rail line, usually located on the perimeter of the city site. Build a Passenger Train Station directly on the main rail line, or draw the rail system deeper into your city with the addition of Heavy Rail Tracks, creating a rail hub right next to your city’s busiest attractions and shops.

The Passenger Train Station is only useful for commuters if neighboring cities also have a train station of their own. If not, the Passenger Train Station is worthless, requiring commuters to rely on other forms of transportation to reach their job in a neighboring city.

Don’t be surprised if floods of tourists arrive at your city’s Passenger Train Station, looking for fun and excitement. For this reason, always make sure there’s plenty to do around your Passenger Train Station—zoning commercial or plopping a casino or landmark nearby will keep those tourists busy!

Passenger Train Station

• Cost: 40,000
• Operational Cost: 375 per hour
• Train Capacity: 500 Sims
• Prerequisites:
• City Hall in region
• Department of Transportation in region
• Description: All aboard! Build this station along rail tracks to service trains from the region. Passenger trains bring commuters and shoppers from cities connected by train, plus low and medium wealth tourists from the region.

If your city has a rail connection, plop a Passenger Train Station along the tracks to serve as an alternative mode of transportation for commuters and tourists flowing in and out of your city.

This station can be placed directly on the existing rail line running through your city, or you can branch off the main rail line using Heavy Rail Tracks, directing incoming trains to any point in your city.

This is helpful when you want to plop a Passenger Train Station in a more central location, allowing riders to disembark and walk to nearby shops, attractions, and jobs. Once connected to the rail line, then you must connect the station to your road network.

The road attached to the Passenger Train Station has two connection points—connect both ends to encourage better traffic flow in and out of the station’s parking lot. If you have other forms of mass transit in your city, build a Bus Stop and Streetcar Stop in front of the train station to provide multiple forms of transportation to and from this central hub.

Up to 400 Sims can arrive in your city per train, so you need to provide an efficient way to transport these Sims throughout the city.

And if your city is drawing tourists from the station, make sure there’s enough shops, parks, and other attractions nearby to hold their attention. It’s best to keep tourists busy within walking distance of the station to prevent them from clogging the roads or your buses and streetcars.

Modules

Train Station Sign

• Cost: 200
• Operational Cost: None
• Maximum Modules: 1
• Description: Danger, train crossing!

Heavy Rail Tracks

• Cost: 20
• Operational Cost: None
• Prerequisites:
• City Hall in region
• Department of Transportation in region
• Description: Tracks to connect the Passenger Train Station to the rail network or to connect up to a Freight Rail Terminal at a Trade Port.

In most cities with rail service, the tracks run along the perimeter of the city site, far from key attractions, shops, and industry. Therefore, placing a Passenger Train Station along these perimeter locations doesn’t always make the most sense.

Instead, use Heavy Rail Tracks to branch off the main rail line, drawing trains deeper into your city to service both the Passenger Rail Station and the Freight Rail Terminal at Trade Ports. Simply extend these tracks from the main rail line the same way you would draw a road.

These rail tracks can intersect existing roads, but traffic only stops when a train is rolling through town—trains yield to no vehicles, moving directly from the main rail line to their destination without interruption.

Once a train has reached its destination, it automatically switches directions and returns to the main rail line—there’s no need to construct a circuit or loop circling back to the main line.