How to make passengers take trains?

[Antonin]

I am playing the default pak64. I began in 1900, and have done well enough that by 1910 I decided to eliminate my carriage service between cities and begin a passenger train service.

I placed my train stations on the outskirts of 3 cities. They are next to bus stops. The idea is that city bus loops will bring passengers to the bus stops next to the train stations, and those passengers who want to go to another city will transfer to the train station to catch a train.

I stopped running passenger carriages between the 3 cities, but few people are taking trains. More than 100 people are still waiting at each bus stop next to a train station, and only a couple are at each train station. My trains have capacity for 100+ passengers, but are only carrying 2-10 at the most.

If anyone can tell me what I'm doing wrong I would appreciate it.

[Fifty]

Are the bus stops connected with the station? By that I mean, do the bus stop and the train station have the same name and are the same stop and not two adjacent not connected stops? Passengers will transfer only within the same station

Also, have you removed the carriage service that the train line duplicates? If there is also a bus line to the destination with fewer transfers then the passengers will take that route, even if it is slower or with less capacity than the train.

[Michael Hauber]

What can happen sometimes if you place the bus stop first is that you start building a train platform with a section not next to the stop, and then build the platform next to the stop last.  This will result in a new station being created, even though they look joined. 

eg b is busstop, - is rail line with no platform, and = is rail line with platform.

-----
b

----=  (two stations created at this step)
b

=====
b

Correct is

-----
b

=----
b

=====
b



If this is the case then the stations will look joined but will have two names with one for the rail platform and another for the busstop.  In that case demolish station squares until only one name remains, and then rebuild, making sure to keep all station sections touching at every step.

And no bus stops cannot be placed on rail.

[Fifty]

Ah, thanks. I understand now.  My train stations and bus stations now have the same name.  But I think that maybe I established my inter-city train lines too soon.  My trains are now carrying 20-45 passengers per trip, but they have capacity for more than 140.  My company is bleeding money, and in 3 months I will be in negative figures.

Use the minimum load feature: in the line or vehicle schedule click on the listing of the station where you want the train to wait for passengers, type in a percentage into the box, for passengers 80 to 90 is what I like, and the train will wait at the platform until it is loaded with that percentage of passengers. That way, your trains will run only when fairly full and you'll make money.

[Ters]

The first intercity line will always have low passenger numbers, unless perhaps you have two really big cities near each other already. Once you connect more cities, passenger numbers will increase more and more for every city. Until then, don't spend too much on a big fancy train and big stations, and use minimum load as Fifty suggested.

[el_slapper]

+1 with Ters. Simutrans is a good way to learn about the network effect. The more lines you connect, the more passengers each line carries.