Train stop

Train stop is a rail building used to mark a place where a train should stop. Every placed train stop appears as a possible destination in a train’s schedule, making it the basic building block for loading stations, unloading stations, and other rail logistics points.

When several train stops share the same name, trains do not choose by simple rail distance. They use pathfinding distance instead, which also accounts for trains already occupying the rails, so an empty stop is often preferred over an occupied one if it is not too far away. Trains also try to avoid routes that pass through stops that are not their next destination, which adds a pathfinding penalty and often pushes them toward a shorter route.

A train stop’s interface shows information about every train connected to that stop, including the train’s name, current activity, and map location. The stop can also be given a train limit through its GUI or the circuit network. This limit determines how many trains may reserve the stop as a destination at once. If the limit is lowered below the number of trains that have already reserved it, those trains still continue toward it.

Train stops can be enabled or disabled by the circuit network. A disabled stop is ignored by trains; if a train’s schedule points to a disabled stop, it will look for another enabled stop with the same name. If none is available, the train enters the “destination full” state and waits until one becomes enabled again. If a train is already en route to, or already waiting at, a stop when that stop is disabled, it continues there and finishes its wait conditions. A train limit of 0 behaves the same as a disabled stop.

When multiple valid stops share the same name, priority is checked next. Priority can be set manually or through the circuit network from 0 to 255, with 50 as the default. Trains prefer higher-priority stops; if priorities are equal, the closest stop is chosen. Priority is only considered when a train is dispatched, so a train that is already en route does not re-path just because priorities change afterward. Priority can also affect departure order: if several trains are waiting at different stations for the same destination to open, the train whose current station has the higher priority leaves first.

While a train is traveling, it may repath to a different train stop with the same name if the new stop still has capacity. If it does, the train no longer counts toward the original stop’s train limit. Train stops can also be used to pass circuit signals to trains, read train contents, identify trains with an ID number, and count how many trains are going to the stop.

The indicator lights on top of the stop provide quick status feedback:

• Solid light: the stop is unoccupied and available.
• Alternating blinking: a train is approaching or passing the stop.
• Simultaneous blinking: a train is stopped at the stop.
• No lights: the stop is invalid.
• Blinking red: the stop is disabled via the circuit network.

When reading the contents of a stopped train, fluid amounts are rounded down to the nearest whole number, except that any fluid amount below 1 is shown as 1.