Fast transport belt

Fast transport belt is the middle-tier transport belt in Factorio, visually red and twice as fast as the basic Transport belt. It serves as a higher-throughput option for moving items across a base while remaining cheaper than higher tiers. Fast transport belt is unlocked by researching Logistics 2.

Fast transport belt properties: it provides a maximum throughput of 30 items per game-second, a belt speed of 3.75 tiles per game-second, and a maximum density of 8 items per tile on a fully filled straight section. These figures are consistent with the game’s belt tier progression: Transport belt (yellow) is the slowest, Fast transport belt (red) is the second tier at 2× speed relative to Transport belt, Express transport belt (blue) is the next tier at 3× the base belt speed, and higher-tier belts reach still greater throughputs.

Belts can be integrated into the circuit network by connecting red or Green wire to an individual belt segment. A belt connected to the circuit network displays a yellow cage with a moving red scanner; clicking a connected belt opens a GUI that allows configuration of how the belt participates in the network. Circuit options for a connected belt include enabling/disabling the belt based on signals, choosing to read the items currently on the belt, and selecting a read mode of pulse or hold (pulse reads the belt contents for one tick when items enter, while hold continuously reads the belt contents each tick).

Practical notes and common uses:

• Fast transport belt is commonly used in main bus designs to carry mid-tier resources and intermediate products where Transport belt is too slow but Express belt is unnecessary or too costly.
• Belt balancers are used with Fast transport belt to evenly distribute throughput across multiple lanes and outputs; standard balancing techniques apply (splitters, underground belts, mirrored layouts).
• A fully packed straight Fast transport belt holds up to eight items per tile; this density is identical across belt tiers and affects spacing and throughput calculations.
• Circuit-network-enabled belts allow conditional flow control (enable/disable) and item detection for automation tasks such as selective routing or triggering inserters and other devices.
• Poor planning of belt layouts can lead to “spaghetti” — tangled, confusing belts that reduce efficiency and make expansion or troubleshooting difficult.

Advantages and limitations:

• Fast transport belt offers a clear throughput improvement over the basic Transport belt at moderate research and material cost, making it a common early-to-mid-game upgrade.
• It balances cost and performance for many build patterns but is superseded by Express transport belt and higher tiers when maximum throughput is required.
• As with any belt-based logistics, dense or ad hoc layouts can become difficult to expand; careful planning for balancers, branching, and future upgrades reduces the need to rebuild large sections later.